Anti-wrinkle Claims Substantiation

Consumer product testing and procedures for implementing claims substantiation protocols are topics of increasing interest, and as previously stated in this column, the race to enhance, or at the very least match, a product’s on-package claims to its competitors’ is of paramount importance to gain a crucial foothold in the relevant market and target demographic.

As celebrity culture has perforated every pore of society though the communications boom of the last 15 years, each corner of the globe can now access the beauty regimes, daily spot count and lash-lengthening procedures of the most talked about people on the planet. With this, fuelled by a media-driven need to look young and vibrant, paranoia and scrutiny are facilitated, and the number of both male and female consumers interested in beauty has increased inexorably, driving the market value of cosmetics and personal care. With every celebrity who looks flawless, hope is given to millions that they too can appear flawless, and the more that celebrities promote their lifestyles regularly on Twitter, the more their beauty regimes become the norm in general parlance and actions.

Personal care is now dominated by want rather than need, and one facet at the crux of this trend is the taboo word of the century: wrinkles. As with the majority of cosmetic products and claims in the 21st century, product development teams aim to differentiate their products from competitors in one way or another, to create a successful brand and generate profit. But it now seems that the once novel anti-aging range has become a prerequisite for a brand to be a big player in the market. What must be stated, simply because it’s so obvious that it’s never said, is: Wrinkles are not a problem. They never have been, and they never will be.

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