Posts Tagged ‘survey results’

Cosmetic Ingredients Spa Boutique Clients are Most Concerned About

Continuing in the vein of our natural/organic survey results, we compiled a  list of ingredients people would like to avoid.

I tend to focus more on the few ingredients I know work, and have never been much of an avoider. Everytime a new concern becomes public, I review my trusted information sources and decide whether I’ll feel good about using it. Sometimes it’s yes, sometimes no. But I LOVE products and am prone to the fatal flaw of intense curiosity. Those two philosophies don’t mesh well.

That being said, I completely understand where people are coming from when it comes to ingredients of concern. If you are choosing to make more sustainable decisions in every aspect of your life, it  makes senses to asses what it is you are putting on your body as well as in it.

I was impressed by the list of Ingredients of Concern the survey generated. We have some superbly aware clients. I had never even heard of some of the ingredients and I spend a lot of time researching stuff. You guys make me smarter.

I thought I’d list the ones most frequently mentioned, as we’re going to try and use the list to determine what people are looking for when they want “natural” products. Since there’s no official despcription of what that means, we thought we’d let you define it. We’ll do our best to find products that fit within it but still give results.

Here are the ones that came up the most:

• Parabens
• Sulphates (including sodium lauryls and laureths)
• Pthalates
• Mineral Oil
• Propylene Glycol
• Tetrasodium DTA
• Talc
• Urea
• Fragrance/Parfum
• PEG

While many of the classic skincare lines we carry still contain some of theses ingredients, and we do stand behind them, we understand the demand for alternatives.

At Spa Boutique we carry many different natural and organic lines like Eminence Organics, Dr.Hauschka, Glo Minerals, GM Collin Bio Organique, Antipodes Natural & Organic Skincare,  Baborganic, Beauty Through Balance by Ancient Secrets, Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup, John Masters Organics, Jurlique Natural Beauty Care, Luzern Laboratories, Moor Spa Beauty Care, Onesta Hair Care, Phyto Hair Care, Seaflora Skincare, Simply Organic Hair & Body Care, Spa Binge Organics, Youngblood Mineral Makeup…

We want to thank everyone again for giving us such great information.

We would love to hear your thoughts on the topic of this blog! Feel free to leave your comments or questions below.  As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!

Taking a Look at How and Why People use Natural and Organic Cosmetics

We sent out two surveys, trying to get a handle on what people are looking for when it comes to their cosmetics.

While natural and organic are huge buzz words in the industry, it can be tricky to find authenticity. The government doesn’t really regulate it that well, so products can claim whatever they want. They mask the same ingredients that are in other products by simply putting the words “natural” and “organic” on the label, and add some leaves to the pictures.

We wanted to find out what people were looking for, how they use natural/organic products, and whether we should be bringing on more lines.

Here are some of the results:

• 21% believe natural and organic cosmetics are safer but not as effective as classic
• 35% believe natural and organic cosmetics are safer & more effective
• 30% believe natural and organic cosmetics are comaprable to classic skin care

I thought the first stat was quite interesting. Kind of a grudgingly acknowledging more natural ingredients may result in less effective results. While this isn’t always the case, I’ve yet to see a natural/organic line that is truly effective on more difficult conditions (acne, rosacea, hyper pigmentation). They do usually make wonderful exfoliants, anti-oxidants and moisturizers though.

• 72% have or currently use natural/organic skincare, and 92% of those would purchase it again.
• 55% choose natural/organic because they believe it’s healthier. Whereas only 5.9% use it because they think it will work better.

So far the primary driving factor for natural/organic use is health.  No deep new insights there.

• 60% are more likely to buy a product just because it says natural or organic on the label
• however 63.7% are unaware of how to verify organic claims

I thought this was interesting. So while the good intentions are there, the majority of people have never found out how to make sure a product is actually organic. Even though Health Canada doesn’t regulate organic claims in cosmetics, there are recognized third party organizations that will gladly give their seal to those that are legitimately organic.

• 17% are currently using only organic products
• 37% are currently using only classic skincare
• 49% are currently using a mix of the two

So even though 35% of the respondents think that natural/organic skincare is both safer and more effective, only 17% are actually using it and committing. This is confusing and I’m still trying to understand.

• The most used natural/organic product is by far moisturizer, with 29% of the respondents. The next closest was cleanser at 19%.

This makes sense. As straight hydration and moisturizing is again, one of the best results you can get from a natural/organic line.

These results are based on surveys sent to our customer base, which is predominantly women aged 25-50.

There seems to be a large gap between what people think and what they’re actually purchasing and using.

What do you see in these results. Are there any other questions you’d like to see asked?

As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!

Survey Says! Most People Are Not Using Sunscreens Correctly

We’ve previously touched on How To Properly Use Sunscreens. But we wanted to see how many people actually follow through with the directions on the bottles.

So we did a survey* and here are the results:

• 23% think that a “good tan” is more important than UV protection
• 75% are concerned about sun damage and use an SPF product daily
• However 80% of the concerned group does not re-apply their SPF

What does this mean? Only 15% of people are protecting themselves properly from the sun.

Sunscreens break down and absorb over two hours, and sweat/wipe off during the day. So while it’s wonderful that 3/4 of people are remembering to use a daily SPF, it’s slightly concerning that that they aren’t as protected as they think they are.

This doesn’t mean just re-applying when you’re outside. What about those of you that sit next to windows? How about when you go for that walk at lunch or after work?

Sweating excessively also washes the sunscreen away, as does rubbing. So if you’re an obsessive face toucher, you may want to take that into consideration.

It’s important to keep all this in consideration. As UV indexes rise we need to make sure we’re not just quickly slapping on a thin, uneven application of sunscreen once a day. You need to be using a broad spectrum sunscreen of at least SPF 15. Ideally it would be applied 30 minutes before sun exposure and then reapplied once you’re outdoors.

Make sure to read the manufactuers instructions carefully, and then follow them.

Sun damage very rarely shows up immediately. But give yourself 10 years and I assure you, you will be able to tell. Doing facials at spas the biggest thing you see is women in their 40′s and 50′s wishing they could take back 30 years of tanning and sun damage. Save yourself the grief, wrinkles and leathery skin.

*Based on Spa Boutique’s Customer base. Primarily Canadian women aged 30-50

We would love to hear your thoughts on the topic of this blog!  Feel free to post your comments or questions below.  As always, just for being a follower of our blog, enter coupon code BLOG10 for 10% off your next purchase! Also, remember to follow us @spaboutique on Twitter, like our Facebook  page, and check out our boards on Pinterest! You could be the lucky winner of one of our many contests!