Consumers are demanding greater transparency from beauty brands. What does that really mean?

Abstract

Accessibility and transparency build trust,” declared Hilary Duff’s character Kelsey Peters in a pitch to investors during a recent episode of the TV Land show “Younger” called “It’s All About The Money, Honey.” She was talking about posting behind-the-scenes peeks at her hectic, yet endlessly fashionable life running fictional book publishing imprint Millennial on Instagram Stories, a social media strategy that actual companies have taken to forge deeper connections with their audiences. But consumers aren’t satisfied with peeks alone, and have been increasingly demanding beauty brands in particular be completely open with them about product contents and business practices. In survey results on women’s facial skincare considerations released last month, The NPD Group discovered skincare brands publicly vowing ingredient transparency like Deciem and Drunk Elephant are gaining share of mind. The market research firm reported over half of women hunt for skincare products featuring organic ingredients, and 46% purchase products without sulfates, phthalates and gluten, a six-point lift from two years ago