Direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brands have been on a wild ride the past year with the pandemic upending consumer habits. The Byzzer platform, powered by NielsenIQ, shows the beauty sector is rebounding, with categories like skincare growing 14% over the past four weeks alone. Not surprisingly, hygiene has emerged as an important purchasing consideration for many buyers. What might surprise shoppers though is how many products they likely already have at home that were designed with safety in mind.
 
Retail industry trends show that astute D2C beauty brands were already offering the trendy twofer of safer, premium packaging before COVID. Now though, some consumers are realizing the packaging designs they perceived as funky or modern have other, intentional benefits. Drunk Elephant is a popular example. The brand has been highly lauded in recent years for its clean ingredients and fun, bright branding. But part of Drunk Elephant’s success lies in its unconventional packaging — specifically the airless, antimicrobial design it employs on products like the ProtiniPolypeptide Cream— meant to protect the ingredients, and in turn, consumers, from particles that travel through light and air.
 
Another antimicrobial example is Evereden. The brand specializes in safe baby and pregnancy skincare. While safe, premium beauty products appeal to consumers of all demographics, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more discerning than an expectant or new mother. Evereden also has strategic packaging designs that prevent microorganisms from settling in products and turning them into petri dishes.
 
While the pandemic certainly turned hygiene into a priority for brands across all industries, some D2C beauty brands were ahead of their time, carving out their own niches. But if brand loyalty is any indication, the trendy twofer of safer, premium beauty packaging will still be here long after the pandemic ends. 
 
About the Author
 
Susan Dunn is the chief revenue officer at NielsenIQ. She has over 30 years of CPG industry experience and is particularly passionate about data and analytics for emerging brands. As part of her role, she oversees Byzzer, a self-serve e-commerce platform for SMBs that is powered by NielsenIQ retail and consumer data.
 
Read Dunn’s previous article for Beauty Packaging here.