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How many beauty products are sitting in your bathroom cabinet right now? And — be honest — how many do you really use?
Skincare users tend to fall into two categories:
- those who find something they like and stick with it forever,
- and those who amass huge collections of the latest must-have lotions and serums
Both groups are ultimately looking for the same thing (skincare products that actually work), but more often than not, we’re all still getting it wrong. Finding reliable skincare solutions is trickier than ads promising to “reduce the signs of aging overnight!” want us to believe.
We’ve all been fooled by a product that promised the earth and delivered far less.
All too often, experimenting with new skincare products leads to pimple breakouts, irritated skin, and plain old disappointment. And even when you do find a product you love (and that really works!), formulas change, your skin adjusts to your environment and lifestyle, and suddenly the cream that always produced reliable results isn’t so reliable anymore.
Related: How to Get Rid of Acne Scars and Pimple Marks
The fact is, our skin is far more complex than traditional skincare companies want us to believe. The five basic skin types — normal, oily, dry, combination, and sensitive — are just industry creations designed to make it easier to sell more products. They fail to take into account genetics, lifestyle, or environment, and there is no standard measure for determining which products you need.
Just like your jeans are a size 10 in one brand and 12 in another, your skin might respond best to dry products from one brand and combination from another.
So what’s the solution? For years, we’ve been busy customizing our skincare — trying a bit of this and a pinch of that, testing new products and combinations of products in order to create a skincare routine that works for us. The popularity of the skincare #Shelfie on social media shows just how much time and money, and energy we devote to finding skincare solutions that actually help our skin.
Aren’t you tired of it? I know I am.
That’s why I founded Qyral, a personalized skincare brand that actively works with your skin, taking your unique circumstances into account. Dry skin in Arizona needs different support than in Louisiana. Older skin needs extra nourishment, and city skin needs the right skincare ingredients to combat all the pollutants it’s exposed to in the air.
When you personalize your skincare routine, you know you’re giving your skin exactly what it needs to look its best. And because personalized products are designed and created just for you, they can also adapt to changes in your life, such as a move to a new environment or the natural maturation of your skin as you age.
Personalized skincare is cheaper
A study by OnePoll for Groupon produced some staggering results — the average woman spends $313 per month on beauty products and services, including over $40 per month on moisturizers and anti-aging skincare products. Men aren’t far behind, and facial moisturizers topped the list of what they’re spending their money on.
While it’s easy to go broke buying must-have skincare products, even at the lower end of the market, the prices add up. Multi-step skincare routines soon add up, and then there’s trial and error to consider.
How many times have you splurged on a product, only to find that it doesn’t produce the results it promised?
Personalized skincare eliminates the need for numerous products, and with ingredients tailored specifically for you, there’s no trial and error involved, just a simple routine that you know will work with your skin.
Personalized skincare is better for your skin
Nobody likes a breakout, but have you considered the long-term effects of using the wrong products on your skin?
Contact dermatitis, eczema or rosacea flare-ups, rashes, blisters, burning, dryness and flaking, pigmentation changes, redness, irritation, itching, and more, can all result from using the wrong skincare products. These are all common signs that your skincare products are actually irritating your skin, and long term, they can actually worsen the signs of aging they’re supposed to reduce.
With personalized skincare, allergies and irritations aren’t a problem. All the ingredients are tailored toward your skin’s unique needs, and if something isn’t working, it can easily be replaced.
With off-the-shelf products, you’d first have to identify the irritant yourself through trial and error, then search for alternatives that work just as well without harming your skin — all while risking additional skin irritation and spending more money on products that might not work.
Personalized skincare is better for the environment
All that waste has an effect on more than just your wallet. Green America points out that some skincare products can contain carcinogens and hormone disruptors that don’t just go into your body, but into the water table too.
Knowing exactly what is in the products you use — such as by using a personalized formulation — is an important step in protecting yourself and your community.
Personalized products also reduce waste, both by being designed to produce the right skincare results every time (meaning no products wasted to trial and error), and in production, because each product is made to order.
That makes for a smaller carbon footprint because personalized products aren’t being shipped to stores, only to sit on shelves for a couple of months before being sent to landfills if they don’t sell out.
Related: What Is Environmental Sustainability and Why Is It Important?
Personalized skincare is the ethical choice
A 2017 study found that just seven conglomerates controlled 182 beauty companies. Most of the brands you see for sale by major retailers trace back to just a handful of megacorporations.
However, the tide is turning on large manufacturers. According to data from Nielsen, while just 20 brands dominate the retail space, online the picture is very different, with 86 percent of sales going to smaller, independent companies.
That’s great news because small beauty companies are typically women/minority-owned and committed to ethical, accountable business practices. If you want your beauty products to be vegan, use biodegradable packaging, rely on sustainable ingredients, and pay workers a fair wage, there’s an independent company (or 10!) already doing it.
Related: 20+ Benefits of Going Green (for a Business and at Home)
At Qyral, our mission is to empower our partners and customers through education and entrepreneurship, and we’ve also joined Pledge 1%, a commitment to give back to the community through charitable causes we admire.
When you support small beauty businesses, you’re voting with your wallet for the causes you believe in — and getting better, more effective beauty products as a result. That’s what we call a win!