Solutions · Beauty & cosmetics
Say only what the evidence carries.
Beauty moves on claims, and a claim is a regulatory position as much as a marketing one. The work is knowing what the evidence supports, what each market lets you print, and what your competitors are getting away with.
Permission
The evidence decides the sentence.
Substantiate the claim before it is printed on the pack. Marketing treats these five as one category called proof. A regulator does not, and neither does the retailer who asks for the file.
- 01
Consumer perception
A panel reported how it felt. Self-assessment, not measurement.
What it carries
Testers said skin felt smoother after four weeks.
Attributed to the panel. It is never stated as an effect.
- 02
In vitro
A measured effect in a dish, on cells or a model membrane.
What it carries
Shown in laboratory testing to support the skin barrier.
Mechanism only. It is not yet a claim about skin.
- 03
Instrumental
An instrument measured a change on real skin, under a named protocol.
What it carries
Hydration measured on skin for 24 hours, protocol and panel stated.
The first tier that can carry a duration.
- 04
Clinical
Controlled, on a defined population, with the endpoint agreed in advance.
What it carries
Clinically shown to reduce the appearance of fine lines.
The first tier that can carry an efficacy claim.
- 05
Published
Peer-reviewed and citable by anyone who wants to check it.
What it carries
Published, peer-reviewed evidence, and it holds against a rival.
The only tier that survives a comparative challenge.
How often it comes round
Every launch, every reformulation, every new market.
Skip it once
The claim ships and is pulled by a regulator or a retailer with the print run already paid for.
Claims
What you want to say, and what has to carry it.
The claim decides the evidence, the category and sometimes the market. Getting that order right at brief stage is cheaper than finding it at artwork.
| The claim | What has to carry it | As written |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrates for 24 hours | Instrumental corneometry on a panel, with the protocol and the n stated | Carried |
| Reduces the appearance of fine lines | Expert grading or image analysis - cosmetic appearance, not structural change | Needs substantiation |
| Repairs the skin barrier | Reads as a physiological action, which moves the product across a category line | Restricted wording |
| Dermatologist tested | A named study under supervision - tested is not the same as approved | Needs substantiation |
| Clean / non-toxic | No agreed definition, and several markets treat the implied slur on other ingredients as denigration | Restricted wording |
| 97% natural origin | A calculation under a named standard, with the method printed beside the figure | Carried |
Claim types and the evidence class each needs. What a market allows this season is read live against the current rules, with sources - a table printed here would be stale before you used it.
Where you may say it
The same sentence is a different claim in each market.
A line that reads as cosmetic in one market reads as a physiological action in another, and that moves the product across a category line rather than just changing the wording. The evidence that carried it at home does not travel with it.
The sharpest version is the negative claim. A ‘free from’ construction is ordinary in some markets and treated in others as denigration of a legally permitted ingredient, which is why the market list belongs beside the claim at brief stage and not at artwork.
The cost
Found at artwork stage, with the print run already paid for.
The claim on the pack is written before anyone checks it.
What an active may say differs by market, and you find out at artwork stage.
What we do
Written against the evidence and the market rules, with the source under each line.
- Multi-angle research sweep
- Peer-reviewed and academic sources
- Live web search
Competitors are moving on actives you have not tracked.
A category repositions around one ingredient in a quarter, and you hear it at launch.
What we do
Assortment and price tracked across retailers, with search and social on the actives.
- Competitor price and assortment tracking
- Multi-retailer price check
- Cross-platform social listening
Every SKU needs its own imagery and nobody has that studio time.
Dozens of SKUs across shades and sizes, all wanting frames on one launch date.
What we do
Campaign imagery per SKU from one direction, so the range ships looking like a range.
- Channel-ready content pack
- Licensed photography and video
- Print-quality PDF
In, out
Ask about the claim. Get the substantiation.
Four real files, each opening at the shape it was rendered at. None of them is a mockup.
01 · Category asks
Read the category before the range is fixed.
PDF6 pagesopens
02 · Consumer asks
Find out what the buyer is actually choosing on.
PDF6 pagesopens
03 · Launch asks
Plan the launch across market, channel and calendar.
Deck12 slidesopens
04 · Campaign asks
Brief the campaign to what the claim allows.
Deck12 slidesopens
Bench to pack
What sits behind a claim.
A claim is a marketing decision and a regulatory one, and the two are not made by the same specialist.
Product Campaign /Deep Research /Website Builder /Image
Run by Beauty Expert, Brand Analyst, Fashion Counsel, Growth Strategist, reaching for Multi-angle research sweep, Peer-reviewed and academic sources, Live web search, Competitor price and assortment tracking, Multi-retailer price check, Cross-platform social listening, Channel-ready content pack, Licensed photography and video and 1 more.
Reports
3 briefings written for beauty & cosmetics.
Each one is the finished file, opened in full. Every figure in them is illustrative and each says so on its own cover; a real run researches and cites its numbers with an as-of year.
Built with
The studios behind this one.
Get started
Say it once it can be stood up.
Start with the question a beauty & cosmetic actually has, and leave with the file.