KUSI COSMOPOLITAN BEAUTY

I spent an inordinate amount of time to find the sweet spot where authenticity and inconspicuousness meet on the internet, just to find two products that met my criteria: An all natural, creamy textured, cacao based and scented body butter. Considering today’s industry trends, this implies a market gap in the all natural, luxury skin care market.

While Korean brands may have pioneered marketing mushroom magic in commercial skincare, breakthrough labels are emerging from the US, making waves with unique product stories that seamlessly merge concepts of wellness, clean beauty, and a spin on the natural ingredient narrative to include “adaptogens”.

Is the activated charcoal craze worth all the hype? Or is it mostly linked to the intrigue of the weirdness factor? For beauty products the answer is YES, if combined with the right ingredients activated charcoal can meet specific skin and scalp needs BEAUTIFULLY.  When I noticed I had accumulated more than 3 charcoal + botanical beauty products on my bathroom counter, I realized a theme was born-  so here is the 411 on some fabulous products and a new initiative by Sephora to promote green cosmetics called “Clean at Sephora” 

I love the discovery of  under-the-radar, independent, indie brands whose products fulfill a seemingly intangible promise:  All-natural, truly effective product that genuinely reflects the purpose driven values of the founders.  Little Barn Apothecary, Oxalis Apothecary, and Poppy Austin are the brand that rose to the top of my list for the toners I was looking for, along with the appeal of the rest of the assortment. These niche brands tell a story and create a sense of community through their philosophy, unique voices, and ingredients. 

Authenticity and transparency when capitalizing on the appeal of what is natural, pure, and pretty. What began as a simple exercise of sorting through the clutter of the recent surge in rosewater toners transformed into a project entwined with aspects of chemistry and shadowy nomenclature nuances. And although it should not come as a surprise- price is no guarantee for a product that fulfills its brand promise of “pure and natural”, or even quality. It is no wonder that in this context, micro/indie newcomers with the ability to create strong product-to-customer connections and provide a stronger sense transparency may be changing the rules the of the marketing game. And as an added benefit- crafting products with love light, and bliss. 

Rosewater is being spritzed all over the increasingly mainstream natural beauty world.  

The growing appeal of the simplicity of nature’s secrets is an obvious factor to this growth, but could the mystique of ancient worlds past also be part of the trend?  Whatever the reason, when it comes to finding hair products based on this miracle tonic, products are limited and elusive.

Sephora is doing a great job at providing such a broad range of brand positioning with the “best of” of such a niche product segment. My only complaint is the lack of accessibility to test the 100% natural products only available on line.  This a growing segment- ESPECIALLY for the dry shampoo segment where the chemicals have a potentially higher impact and the where the consumer aversion towards chemicals is intensifying..

One simple beauty product can effectively serve so many purposes. Regardless of how you choose to use rosewater, it’s difficult to go wrong with the essence of a flower that has influenced the way we think about romance, health, beauty and luxury for thousands of years.

UK bloggers were found to be far more commercially successful than others across Europe. The study was conducted by IPREX using a Pan-Regional “Blogbarometer” and found that 93% of bloggers in the UK had been contacted for PR and marketing purposes, compared to just 68% in Europe.  And, 49% of UK bloggers earned revenue from blogging versus 16% in Europe, and only 9% in the US.