Although longevity beauty is nothing new – with companies big and small investing heavily into the science over the past couple of years – finished longevity products have been hitting the beauty shelves at an increasingly steady rate over the past 12 months.
Although there is incredible industry momentum for this new-age science, some consumers' understanding of this beauty paradigm shift is not quite there yet – with more education needed to explain exactly what it is (and how it differs from what is already out there).
Making longevity science understandable to the masses will be one of the biggest challenges for beauty brands this year and beyond, which has led to an honest discussion about whether ‘longevity washing’ could become an issue further down the line.
Much in the same vein of ‘green washing’ – a marketing tactic where companies misleadingly portray products, services or operations as more environmentally-friendly than they actually are without making substantial eco-efforts – could longevity fall foul to this kind of marketing ‘washing’?
Because preventative benefits can take longer to see, longevity can be misunderstood – or, in the market, simply rebranded onto existing claims
“The risk is real,” says Carolina Reis Oliveira, PhD, CEO of OneSkin – a biotech company which specialises in longevity science to extend skinspan – the period skin remains healthy and functional – using its patented peptide OS-01.
“If longevity becomes a marketing label rather than a scientifically-grounded category, trust will erode quickly.
“The industry needs clearer standards around biological targets, clinical validation and claims transparency.
“Brands should be able to explain what mechanism they are addressing, not only based on the ingredient supplier information but on their final formula testing.
“They should also show how they are measuring impact, and what level of evidence supports their claims.
“Without that discipline, longevity risks becoming another diluted buzzword.”
Breaking down this new age science
Some of the confusion relates to what longevity beauty does – a shift in focus from symptom correction to root cause intervention – as well as the language, with it sometimes sounding too technical, too absolute or too abstract for consumers.
Simplified language that clarifies exactly what the science can influence
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