Are you familiar with Skinactives? They’re a US based company that helps you create your own DIY cosmetics. You can peruse their Forum for recipes, then purchase active ingredients directly from them. Or, you can use their product selector to choose pre-made products that are customized for your needs. It’s a really interesting approach and I urge you to take a look at their website if you’ve ever had any desire to create your own beauty products.
Skinactives samples
Recently, the fine folks at Skinactives were nice enough to supply us with a series of products to try. I gave them out to a few of my Beauty Brain friends to try and overall I was surprised by their feedback. Before I tell you what they said let me set this up a little bit.
Since one of the products was an anti-zit blemish remover I gave it to someone in their mid teens to try. She’s typically a user of mass market product like Clearasil. The other products were designed for anti-aging so I gave them to someone more in the target audience range of early to mid 40s. This person typically uses very conservative anti-aging products that are of drugstore quality like the Olay line.
Expectations determines experience
As most of you are aware, mass market products like Olay and Clearasil are formulated to be appealing to the broadest market possible. When you do this kind of research you find that a standard white cream, not too thin, not too thick, with the right fragrance scores best among the largest number of people. When you get used to using that type of product with those aesthetics that’s how you expect your products to look, feel, and smell. That becomes your frame of reference for that specific product experience.
Now consider the Skinactives products: they use customized bases with different types of active ingredients. The samples we received didn’t look like typical mass market products. They had a certain…earthiness to them because of the different ingredients they used. This doesn’t make them better or worse, but they certainly look and feel different.
So how do you think women with mass market tastes reacted to these DIY esthetics? These products were so different to them that they almost couldn’t wrap their brains around why they should even use them. They said things like the “anti-aging cream felt nice but the smell was so bad I couldn’t use it.” And “the Collagen serum had a brown, natural look that was very unappealing.” My guess is if I gave those same products to someone who is a fan of natural or DIY products, rather than mass market products, they would have probably loved them. Isn’t it interesting how your frame of reference and your expectations can change your product experience?
What DO you think? Do you tend to like the homogenized “best for the masses” types of products? Or do you prefer the quirky individual products that may seen a little weird to someone else but feels just right for you? Leave a comment and share your quirky tastes with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
Even though the Beauty Brains don’t do traditional reviews, from time to time we like to share new products that we’re trying. We want you to know that we received free samples in exchange for a mention on our blog and that we’re not necessarily recommending you buy anything. We’re just sharing new product news; please do your own research before you buy.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m most definitely in the quirky individual products category.
I got sick of the mass market products not doing what they claimed. So the silkier and better smelling it is, the more my logical mind screams; “This is crap! It feels nice and smells good, but that’s where the benefits cease!”
Any appreciable amount of active ingredients is going to cause a cream to have a certain aroma. And usually a unique color, too. (Have you ever used something with over 1% Co Q 10? It looks like thick carrot juice!)
I’m suggestible in the opposite direction: an unusual texture makes me think that there’s probably a good reason it’s like that. Unless they hype up the unusual texture too much (Lush springs to mind) in which case I think bah, meaningless USP.
I agree with their approach active ingredients that work mean more to me than packaging. Hope they are properly preserved which is a problem with natural cosmetics a lot especially lush with last for an irritatingly short amount of time. I would buy from this company!
Sweet they have parabens so no buggies.
Also the price is right!
I’ve just seen their incredibly helpful and comprehensive shipping info. I warm to this company
They have a lot in common with Etat Pur approachwise, but the presentation is very different. I can imagine Etat Pur dressing its sales assistants in lab coats like Clinique, and SkinActives having a less intimidating hippier version of that apothecary vibe that Neal’s Yard go for. And EP are more We Are Sleek And Efficient And Hassle-Free while SA go Let’s Mix Some Gloopy Stuff Up In A Pot! Wheee!
(I have a weird fascination with marketing. It may show.)
LittleBird is definitely correct. When you use ingredients like CoQ10, lycopene, and ALA at effective concentrations they do not come out white.
Our UV cream contains sandalwood oil, not only is it very expensive it also has a very strong smell. Our position is that the products have to be effective otherwise there is no point in using them.
We are not a natural products company, we use natural and very high tech synthetic ingredients. We are also very careful with our preservatives.
Contact me through our site, I will be happy to answer any questions, even marketing ones.
I’m buying SkinActives already long time, mostly because I was looking for DMAE, which comes in very expensive versions in other places, so the answer was SA. So far no complaints, good service and reasonable prices.
I’m no longer buying anything cream-serum-wise outside of SA.
(P.S. I’m not related with the company)
SkinActives products are FANTASTIC! In fact, they’re beyond fantastic. I have been using their products for years. They’re extremely effective, cheap and easy to use.
I don’t care about the scent of a product, nor the feel or look. I want results! And SkinActives gives me that. Their star products (in my opinion, from what I’ve used) are:
Collagen Serum, Coffee antioxidant cream and serum, Bright-I cream, M&A cream and the mitochondria cream (sorry, forgot the names!)… vitamin A cream, vitamin C serum (only gripes with this is that it overflows when you add all the powder in… but it’s an amazing product)… that’s all I can think of for the moment… There are definitely more, but it’s early in the morning and my head hasn’t switched on as yet lol…
Great products, great prices, even better results. I will be using their products FOR LIFE… and I have also recommended their products to friends, family members and even strangers who have ALL made purchases from the website.
Some people like to look at the packaging while I’m more interested in the ingredients, and the science behind them (which is why I read this blog).
I’ve been using Skin Active products for a few years and really happy with them.
To follow on from what Jonatan says, CoQ10 is bright yellow and lycopene is dark red, any cream containing these ingredients that is white can’t contain very much of them.
The “unappealing” collagen serum saved my skin from stretch marks after twin pregnancy. Less than two months after their birth – and my belly is not even loose. I couldn’t care less about the look as long as the product delivers.
Well, I believe that simple things work. So I simply turn to proven in time / if natural, then better / ingredients. I like to use something that smells and feels good but it feels… stupid to me to hear “It’s not good because it’s not white/ smells like herbs/ is not watery like lotion” Well, I’ve seen a lot better results from facial creams containing only oils and aloe, I’ve used straight coconut oil as a moisturizer for some time and I find that it’s just prejudice. I don’t like to be tricked to look for package, consistency or something like that. Everyone needs results and it’s pity we hook up on perfect look or smell.