The Naked Truth

By Jonathan Ford

Ethical, social and environmental issues are becoming the defining messages of our time.  Consumers want an understanding of what “the right thing to do” is, and want brands to help them with that choice. Strange, then, that in the world of luxury and premium cosmetics there has been, until recently, almost a blind ignorance to the harmful effects of some of the things we put onto our bodies.

These days, with greater awareness of the skin pollutants that have existed for some time in the ingredients lists, we understand what is right for our bodies and seek products that are pure, clean and nutritious to our skin. This is being driven by the need to protect and nurture our environment and our bodies, and achieve a sense of well-being, of beauty on the inside and the outside. The new luxury.

We all know we are what we eat. It’s a simple correlation that has obvious visual effects. But we know less about the effects that skin products can have on both ourselves and the environment. The skin is our largest organ and a huge percentage of what we put on our skin goes directly into the bloodstream. Having rejected and gone beyond issues such as animal testing, it’s no wonder consumers are becoming more and more conscious of the ingredients lists of cosmetics and aware of the nasties that are all too frequently found within.

Skincare can be divided into two camps. First, the niche and natural products that aren’t always available in bigger stores and tend to favor packaging and branding that doesn’t reassure the consumer on quality or performance. Without wishing to sound negative, Jason is a prime example of this: a great product oddly packaged. Burt’s Bees is another example.

Nature Face by Nature Girl

And then we have the big, mainstream brands that thrive on the scientific and glossy allure of hope disguised as glamour. Very few of these are 100% natural, and most are overpromising, overpriced and overpackaged, prompting short term desirability until something supposedly new and better comes along.

Simply speaking, there are precious few well-branded and designed, effective natural cosmetic brands. When it comes to natural, it is either momma’s recipe in a hokey looking pack, or the well-meaning but over-democratized Body Shop that lacks a premium identity.

There have only been a few that have tried to bridge the gap, such as the often mentioned Dr. Haushka and Ren, but a raft of other seemingly niche players like Neal’s Yard, Modern Organic Products and John Masters mostly play to the visual codes of established skin care: considered typography on a pack.

No one as yet seems to have carried off natural in a new, luxurious way. We want natural and pure, but we also want efficacy. We want good products that are good, not just for our skin, but in a holistic, ethical and environmental sense. Consumers are saying across the board “make me want to do the right thing.” In other words, make me buy something I really want and get an ethical pat on the back for doing it.

The opportunity is there for beauty brands to take natural to the mainstream, and the challenge is how to make worthy meet glamour, how to make New Yorkers embrace it and San Franciscans approve it. How do we do this? By producing must-have, as-perfectly-natural-as-possible products and by packaging them with simplicity, style and glamour. We need a total product package presentation that completely breaks with the conventions of the past.

Enter the dynamic Nude Skin Care, set up by Bryan Meehan, one of the founders of Fresh & Wild, the organic food chain now owned by WholeFoods. Beautifully and stylishly packaged, it’s as eco-friendly and effective as it can be with the current state of affairs on both issues. The products are 99% naturally derived and free from parabens, sulphates, PEGs, propylene glycol, TEA, DEA, phthalates, mineral oil, silicones, GM and potential carcinogens. Nude has sourced certified organic, fair trade or community traded ingredients wherever possible.

Rich Hippie

So how and why does it work? Importantly Nude Skincare sources ingredients that work probiotically with the natural micro flora of the skin, stimulating the skin’s own natural defenses against pollution while promoting good skin health and moisture.

Ok, enough of the talk because as we well know every brand has a story, and the proof is in the pudding. But the visual presentation of Nude is stunning, using beautifully smooth, organic and pebble-like bottle shapes. This visual identity of form and style has been applied consistently across the range of approximately 16 complementary products, each having its own mineralesque color scheme related to product type.

To minimize environmental impact, the packaging is entirely recyclable and 40% of the bottles are made using post-industrial recycled plastic. Because of the desire to reduce packaging, Nude is not sold in boxes, but has designed sleeves which wrap the bottles and which hold all product information. These are made of biodegradable starch and are stripped away to leave the pack clean with only the very essential information needed on the back. Collateral material including carrier bags, gift boxes, stationery and product menus are made from sustainable, recycled or reclaimed materials and printed with non-toxic inks, and the paper stocks used for stationery and product menu are greencoat and natralis. Nude is carbon neutral and is taking steps to reduce and offset its emissions with gold standard certified projects.

How do I know all this? Well because perhaps unsurprisingly, Pearlfisher was involved with Bryan and Anna from the Nude team from the very beginning and I have to say it’s a piece of design work that I am incredibly proud to be associated with, both creatively and ethically, and one I hope has a very bright future. To me, the Nude brand represents, like Innocent Smoothies and a clutch of other natural, ethical and stylish brands, the wave of the future for products, brands and consumers.

But Nude is not alone in the naked style department, and I’m glad to say not part of a category “look” either. Stella McCartney’s Care range of 100% organic skin care makes style look natural with vertical typography set against modern pale greens. Additionally, the recycled packaging blends with with the style to create a premium and distinctive look.

Together with Waitrose’s new organic skincare line, these brands are part of a developing segment that make claims based on the broader good. Yes, the products are great in themselves, but over and above this they deliver something else: whether they are ethically sourced, environmentally friendly, all natural or connected to a charitable purpose.

For a packaging identity bursting with youth and personality, check out Rich Hippie perfume and the related Nature Girl cosmetics, a brand that shows how a Galliano-esque, anti-typographic and fashionably irreverent look can work wonders in stirring up a category that was, until now, lazily designed for a stereotypical homespun look.

And if that doesn’t disrupt the category enough, there are new brands that claim to improve your skin from the inside out. Like Borba’s beauty beverage, Sip water is a beverage brand with a well-being and cosmetic message. Sip is water infused with natural ingredients that promote skin rejuvenation. The look is simple, bold and botanical, and takes the natural focus almost to a textile print theme. It’s a clever way of bridging natural, flavorful imagery with style.

Consumers buy into natural and organic brands with varying degrees of commitment. The more hard core supporters buy them because of the greater good they support, and therefore put less emphasis on their more percieved superficial elements such as packaging and image. The less committed consumers focus on the luxurious clean and pure aspect of the product, with a matching stylish image in fast support. The greater ethical or environmental good of these brands operate more as an ethical pat on the back than a reason to buy in itself.

But this is not a bad thing. By creating and presenting beautiful, effective, premium, all-natural products in sustainable packaging for everyone, there is a greater good in mind, and a huge market will open up for brands and companies such as Nude, all which have a bright future.

Jonathan Ford is an award-winning designer and creative partner for Pearlfisher —  a London and New York design consultancy. Pearlfisher’s award winning work in the luxury, food and drink markets includes clients such as LVMH, ABSOLUT Vodka and Unilever.
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