The skincare game has changed forever. Years ago, skincare was something many of us were involved in, but with little understanding of ingredients and what would suit our individual needs. We’d cleanse and moisturise with products claiming anti-ageing and wrinkle benefits but with little explanation of how this would work – perhaps we’d splurge on fancy moisturisers that promised to transform our skin into a pore-less doll or believe that the more money we spent on a skincare product, the more effective it is.

These things couldn’t be further from the truth, and we’ve started to notice. Sometimes, it sounded like brands were just trying to make money without delivering a product that does what it says on the tin.

Here, we look at how skincare brands are becoming more transparent.

A new beauty trend

The skincare industry has boomed over the last year, and it’s safe to say we’re becoming a world of skincare lovers if we weren’t before. Whether we’re looking for tan lotion with nourishing oils or acid peels for our face, the skincare industry has everything we need for great skin. What once was a beauty industry dominated by makeup is now an industry that is having to adapt to our growing interest in simple and effective ingredients that improve the skin. More and more of us are building on our knowledge about what is best for our skin and which brands are pulling wool over our eyes with empty promises and expensive price tags.

Where it started

Brands were either instrumental in this new norm of skincare or are having to keep up with the shift in the industry. Thanks to the likes DECIEM’s The Ordinary, this brand helped a new generation of consumers gain a genuine interest in and understand ingredients in an easy-to-access way. Not only did they change the way information about skincare ingredients was delivered to us, but they were also offered at incredibly low prices – for example, hyaluronic acid, retinol, vitamin C, niacinamide, salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid. The Ordinary transformed our opinions on expensive products with meaningless ingredients list being the most effective as more of us opted for cheaper and transparent products.

The branding doesn’t contain vague and over the top promises, no added fragrances, no fancy bottle that probably cost more to make than the product itself. The products come in scientific pipettes with descriptions that are clear and straight forward with application instructions.

In subsequent research, it was found that 97 per cent of British women want beauty brands to be more transparent about ingredients. Gone are the days of unsubstantiated claims in the product descriptions – they now seem unreliable and misleading. Now, we welcome honest and realistic scientific findings. More and more skincare brands are including stripped-back products with a simple explanation of what the ingredient does.

The impact of skinfluencers on the skincare industry

According to Nielsen, 92 per cent of people will trust word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family. These word-of-mouth recommendations can also come from social media influencers and industry gurus that we religiously follow.

Thanks to the likes of skincare gurus like Caroline Hirons, we’re able to build on our skincare knowledge in a fun and short way. TikTok has taken the skincare industry by storm, with short and informative tutorials teaching users about ingredients. Users are learning more and more about what ingredients are, what they do, which one they need for their individual concerns, and which brands and products use higher concentrations. This once unfamiliar information is becoming more and more accessible to the everyday person.

Legendary skinfluencer Caroline Hirons is a down-to-earth, straight-talking guru who cuts through the jargon to tell us the truth. Decades of experience in the industry working as a qualified advanced aesthetician means she knows the ins and outs of brands and their products. She advises which brands to avoid and which ones are worth your money, breaks down the meaning of active ingredients, and what you should be integrating into your skincare routine. Caroline has such an influential impact in the skincare industry that she has even prevented products from being discontinued. In 2013, due to Caroline’s recommendation of a Clinique product on her website, the boost in sales saved it from disappearing from shelves for good.

New understandings

Once upon a time, the thought of putting ‘acids’ on our face would’ve terrified us. “What does that mean?”, “Will that not burn our face off?”, “Surely that can’t be good for you!”. Due to both transparent skincare brands and skinfluencers, we understand what these sort of skincare products are and the benefits they yield. We can create our own skincare regimes with the right knowledge and cut out the brands that simply aren’t good enough. It is now up to brands to either follow the status quo and deliver effective products or be left in the dust and quickly forgotten about.

Years ago, if we wanted flawless skin, we’d be under the misconception we should be buying the most expensive moisturiser from designer brands or splurging hundreds on something that probably wouldn’t work. No longer are we stuck with empty promises and expensive price tags.