How We Pick Skincare Products That Work Here At F247
Curating skincare products is an art - both fun, exciting and one that is anything but glamorous, if you consider some of its inherent risks. Over the years, this love and hunt for the best skincare has become a little obsession.
Here's what I look for when finally deciding which makes it to the "Freia Curated Edits":
- First impressions (often times) last - perhaps it's how our brain is wired but when it comes to skincare, I tend to agree that your first dance with a product in terms of texture, feel and the entire effect it has on you leads to quick assumptions & judgements.
- The Human Connection - for me, this is crucial. When I'm not accessible to a brand founder, I can lose interest quickly. For therein lies a fundamental #redflag of what drives the brand - profits or a genuine desire to help the community they serve.
- Versatility - how easy is it to be incorporated into a routine? Is it overly harsh? Are the ingredients questionable or unsafe? Is the concentration too high? Are there buffering ingredients to counter that? Gone is the era of pure single-brand-loyalty where consumers just use one brand. The common state nowadays is to use a selection of what works best. The criteria we look out for is can the product work on its own merit; stand on its own feet - to deliver the claims it purports to bring. Can it do it on its own or must be used as a brand collection to give those benefits.
- Consistency in Performance - not just Performance but the ongoing efficacy that matters. Love my hubby's analogy of #TheEmperorsNewClothes - is the love due to it just being "new" or can it weather through something we call "daily life" AND still capture our love for it 1 month, 1, 5, 10 years on.
- Ingredients / Concentration - are they too harsh? Too potent? And if so, what buffering ingredients are incorporated to mitigate typical side effects? There's no point being "organic" when a product does not bring your skin to a new level; on the reverse, you don't have to go all too crazy for skincare & damaging our skin barrier / mantle either.
- Marketing Hype - after being in the beauty industry for so many years, you understand that one product at its Retail Price has to include margins from all aspects - and one big one out there is marketing. For if you get a celebrity to endorse the brand, you pay into the millions and the bill has got to come from somewhere - invariably the product. Deduct operational costs to that and the "real cost" of the ingredients is something a fraction of what the end consumer pays. It's not rocket science but simple math. Which is why we choose to work closely with niche beauty brands - brands that are "lite" on marketing campaigns because they are focused on one mission - to create quality; not just hype; to differentiate themselves from the sea of skincare products; to create magic.
Real curation denotes an experimental nature - one cannot be too scared of a "negative impact". It's part and parcel of that process - like a marriage, we take the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly. With everything the team tries, I would always try it as well. Yes, it carries a degree of risk - and we've had our fair share of those. It could be skin peeling because the ingredients are just too harsh or they are mediocre or "underwhelming" or led to a reaction (although with this, we identify if it is an isolated incident or pervasive across the board). How else can we affirmatively tell our clients that "It Works"?
XOXO