Naturalis allows customers to mix their own ingredients and create their own beauty products.

Performance-Related Beauty

The latest trend in beauty mirrors the Olympics with goals set on peak performance and optimization of key qualities.


The Olympics undoubtedly motivated a (global) nation; a nation already fast becoming hard-wired to strive for optimal performance when it comes to sport and health. And this is having a knock-on effect for the brands within these sectors as they redress their offers. And they are not alone. Through their sponsorship of the top Olympic athletes, personal care and cosmetic brands were making an indirect—yet bold—statement about the credentials and performance of their products. And while the Olympics and sponsorship deals may be over, optimal performance remains a brand driver in this sector.
Many would say that beauty by definition is about optimization and has always been about the discovery of the new and improved. Many more would say that we have probably never had it so good in terms of both natural and technological advances. Just a few months ago, it seemed that the BB wave had the power to wrap up all our skin protecting and perfecting issues in one small tube. But already we are seeing new variants hit the shelves: oil free, sensitive…it is relentless. So, just how will beauty reach the peak of optimization?

The health and wellness movement does, of course, already straddle the beauty sector with innovative brands such as David Kirsch Wellness Co and FunctionLab leading the way for the nutraceuticals sector. And while this has been hugely significant, we do already take nutraceutical product development as something of a given.

Tools and Gadgets

Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator Creams contain a “wonder” ingredient.

Probably showing a more exponential growth rate when it comes to real—and performance-related—innovation is the tools and gadget end of the market. The technology on offer has never been questioned, but with a certain product prototype it has been hard for this sector to move away from a generic look and feel—and still is to some extent. While the website blurb for Belle Bodybuffer boasts research and design by physios, athletes and Harvard and MIT engineers, on shelf it looks very much like any massaging and exfoliating buffer. But kicking up a storm in the industry and media alike was the April launch of Naturalis.

Naturalis uses helical emulsion technology to allow customers to mix their own ingredients and create their own beauty products. It’s a new and truly interesting evolution for the market and, while it will not leach a huge share away from branded products, it is tapping into this age of individual empowerment and begs the question of how this can build into the future.

Unique Offers

The futuristic VBeaute It Kit is ideal fortravel to hot or cold climes.

But we expect global technological advances to also have a bearing on the gadgetry used within this industry. Again, it is something of a given. The most interesting difference will come when these brands find a way to refine a unique offer through specific product and packaging development.

Skincare innovation seems to peak and trough, but we are currently hearing about several significant advances when it comes to research into new ingredients and compounds. Glycans are being hailed as the next big thing and are the wonder ingredient of the new Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator Creams. The scientific and high-tech look that L’Oréal promulgated a decade ago has—in the case of this launch—been replaced by an ultra-feminine and stylish design which will pull in beauty aficionados looking for a new, improved, premium, gorgeous, designer label… But nothing on the packaging boasts “its promise” or explains its miracle ingredient.

There are a few select brands and products emerging that are not only showcasing a new future for our products, but which are using graphics and structure to show new ways to optimize efficacy and delivery. And these will be beneficial to watch and learn from.

The VBeaute It Kit is futuristic, but not in a gimmicky way: it’s a beautifully sleek and stylish compact—everything you would expect of a well-thought-out customizable travel kit. The products utilize ARBT (Alpine Rose Botanical Technology). The Alpine Rose has adapted to cold, dryness and UV, so that it can resist these harsh environmental conditions and, as the prime ingredient of VBeaute products, it makes them ideal for travel to hot or cold climes.

As always, it’s about hitting the right balance between need and want, between function and desire, between simplicity and style, and this is intrinsic to optimization on all levels when we are looking at product development and its presentation.

With fragrance always a category leader, I had to mention the ingenious M system, but will leave the description to its designer, Markos Haan, “The future of fragrance, the future of our world is synthetic. The scarcity of resources and collapse of the traditional artisan is inevitable. Rather than skirt the subject, we embrace it, taking it upon ourselves to stretch the imagination and create new methods of production in the post-industrial age. In packaging this idea, I eliminated all text, branding the ‘M’ in M-System as a simple graphic element and rendering packaging material in matte acrylic for a synthetic feel which also becomes an iconic POP display.” (Source: The Dieline)

Prrty Peashun Skin Tight Body Lotion claims multiple benefits with both its ingredients and its packaging.

Not a recent launch, but having a renaissance (or maybe that should be starting a revolution), is this past summer’s shelf-clearer: Prrty Peashun Skin Tight Body Lotion. Developed by LA-based makeup artist, Bethany Karlyn, Prtty Peashun is an all-over skin makeup, using all natural ingredients to provide a radiant glow. It also claims to tighten muscles and reduce the look of cellulite, bruises, scrapes and cuts.

The packaging is basically a lightweight bag the company calls “anti-packaging.” It’s designed to both take up miniscule space in landfills and keep the product safe from sunlight. And as it is a collapsible bag, you can squeeze out every last drop. While it borrows from the concept of a blood bag or a bag used for freeze-dried meals, it is a first for beauty and both a perfectly functional and stylish choice. It feels new but timeless and ticks the trend for precision and industrial design while using premium and pared down colors and graphics to successfully hit all audiences.

Perhaps not getting quite the same media attention, but just as attractive in aspect and delivery, is StrangeBeautiful Nail Color.

Its Library of Color is much more than just a collection of highly pigmented nail polishes. The brand’s creator, Jane Schub, has a background in design and illustration and was inspired by both Josef Albers’ theories on color relationships (how they can be constantly changing, interacting with each other and their surroundings) and Professor Albert H. Munsell’s creation of “a rational way to describe color.”

Munsell used decimal notation instead of color names (which he felt were “foolish” and “misleading”) to specify color, based on three color dimensions: chroma (color purity), hue (value), and brightness. This approach corresponds to saturation of the perceived color and is reflected in the names of the volumes, such as Red 1 Super Chroma Nail Polish.

Super Chroma X from Strange Beautiful is much more than a collection of highly pigmented nail polishes.

StrangeBeautiful utilizes a unique bottle shape and structure quite unlike any other in this sector, and each bottle of color contains two to four steel mixing balls to ensure the polish will always be evenly dispersed throughout. The efficacy of each color and how it performs are paramount to the StrangeBeautiful brand.

If nail polish is no longer just about bottling a pretty color and if something as apparently low-tech as a bottle of nail polish can optimize every element of its offer so perfectly, it just shows that anything’s possible.


About the Author
Jonathan Ford is creative partner at Pearlfisher – [email protected]www.pearlfisher.com