“We need to take sun care protection out of the realm of ‘speciality’ or occasional use products and encourage daily, year round use,” Deborah Hernan, president of Ottilie & Lulu Naturals for Tweens tells this publication.
Segmenting multifunctionality
Multifunction sun care makes sense in several segments. The teen and tween personal care space is a smart place to introduce consumers to care routines that will serve them well for years to come. The beauty company Ottilie & Lulu is positioned well in that market, providing “age and formula-appropriate products to help girls develop a good skincare regimen,” said Hernan.
Maintaining skin health is easier than restoring it and the industry at large is developing and marketing novel products and devices—like the Oku tool—that could help slow the signs of aging.
Trends and demographics notwithstanding, consumers use moisturizer regularly. Numerous brands have formulated sun creams that function as daily moisturizers too. The Ottilie & Lulu skin care product line includes an Everyday Moisturizer & Suncreen SPF 20, formulated expressly for tween and teen skin.
The spa-quality natural skin care brand Pevonia created a moisturizing sun care product too. That company’s Hydrating Sunscreen SPF 30 is more than a simple two-in-one: it’s formulated to not only “protect the skin from the sun’s harmful rays, [but to also] hydrate, soothe and calm as well as neutralize free radicals for anti-aging benefits,” Christian Jurist, MD, medical director of global education with Pevonia International, tells Cosmetics Design.
Aditionally, Pevonia’s new Youth Renew Tinted Cream SPF 30 functions as a concealer, incorporating “a mineral tint…for flawless skin coverage concealing redness and some skin imperfections.”
Consumer benefits
Consumers opt for sun care products that accommodate their lifestyle. “Unlike adults, tweens / teens do not have a plethora of products to choose from in their price range. But that does not mean they do not have discerning tastes,” notes Hernan.
“In fact they look for (immediately) effective products. Like adults, the youth market wants products that fit their lifestyle. Because they generally have less experience with products, they are looking for products that provide multiple benefits, are easy to use, and are mobile-just as they are,” she explains.
Similar sun care has a ready place in color cosmetics too. “Not only do [these products] represent a step forward in guaranteeing skin protection from sun exposure that consumers tend to neglect, but they are appealing because they also simplify and expedite the daily skin routine (a real plus for today’s fast-paced lifestyle) by bringing the benefits of moisturizing, anti-aging and makeup coverage all at once,” observes Jurist.
Formulating for function
Natural ingredients appeal to today’s consumer, be it in fragrance, nail care, or hair care. Multifunction sun care is no exception.
In an effort to develop products that spread well, feel right and effectively deliver benefits, formulators at Pevonia use “advanced ‘green’ technologies and the best performing natural ingredients. They are selected for their scientifically proven beneficial attributes and are absolutely compatible thanks to a superior triphase microemulsion silky base that maintains ingredient harmony, stability, and guarantees deep delivery into the skin with a long shelf life,” says Jurist.
Serving the skin care needs of the youth market requires a slightly different formulation focus. Natural ingredients still resonate. And, safe, effective products make sense for young shoppers.
Ottilie & Lulu’s natural products “do not contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” Hernan tells this Cosmetics Design.
“Because our audience is tweens and teens, zinc oxide is the key [sun care] ingredient….to the youth market perhaps the most important characteristic and benefit of zinc oxide is its ability to act as an astringent reducing the level of sebum and helping with the treatment of acne,” she explains.
Spread and feel matter to teens too: “The formula provides girls the same tactile properties that are found in expensive adult sunscreens- not greasy or sticky-without being expensive. Our formula goes on easily, dries instantly, and makes skin feel soft and smooth. Its pleasant, fresh scent is atypical of sunscreens,” according to Hernan.
Messaging that works
Information about the impending dangers of sun exposure don’t work well in the youth market: “While the realities of not wearing a sunscreen cannot be ignored, this demographic responds better to product benefits than threats,” Hernan points out.
“At this age, one feels invincible. Ottilie & Lulu wants girls to grow up knowing the immediate and long-term health and beauty benefits of wearing a sunscreen every day,” she says.
Adult consumers of color cosmetics like to hear about “The inclusion of the ultimate technologies, selected purified natural ingredient extracts with advanced delivery systems, having no animal testing, and using no synthetic preservatives,” according to Jurist.