In the era of Skinmalism, transparency around performative skincare is paramount. Learn why we’re putting Efficacy Panels front & center on every box—and driving the need for enhanced product transparency.
Consumers are allowing their skin to take center stage in 2021. With streamlined routines and 'hero' ingredients remaining the focus, the need for hard-working, performative, and sustainable skincare has never been more critical according to Pinterest Predicts.
At Codex Beauty Labs, we’ve always made a case for transparency in beauty. Recognizing that enhanced efficacy claims are fundamental to skin health, we’re displaying quantifiable beauty data in easy-to-understand Efficacy Labels on our packaging—starting with the debut of The Antü Collection, and updating our Bia Collection.
As noted in Glossy, our Efficacy Labels mirror the modern nutrition label, and each label is displayed prominently on every Antü and Bia exterior package. Our focus is to drive consumer confidence by allowing everyone direct access to results attained through granular usage data from clinical trial studies.
'While this may not be radically new, this is the first time I’ve really seen clinical data put out there to the consumer in such an obvious way on the label,' said Kelly Dobos, president of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. 'Consumer-based studies [are popular] because that resonates with people … and those questionnaire-type measurements are important, because you want consumers to recognize the benefit.'
— Glossy
We use state-of-art measurement techniques to quantitatively measure specific performance parameters of our products on the skin on human subjects. This methodology (also called in vivo testing) is crucial to scientifically substantiate our product claims. In fact, we have created a matrix to map the language in our claims to specific skin parameters measurements and equipment used, then translate this for the consumer into skin benefits they can relate to. In this way, we can also correlate the feedback from subjects in the clinical trial to actual measurements.
The table below presents a summary of each skin parameter in the efficacy panel and its corresponding measurement method. In some cases, the measurement method is indirect, but is widely accepted by the dermatological community as representative of the skin parameter.
Parameter |
Customer Descriptive |
Customer Definition |
Measurement Instrument |
Measurement Made |
Hydration |
Hydrated |
skin contains a healthy amount of water |
Corneometer |
measure capacitance of skin (proportional to water content) |
Skin Barrier |
Soft |
skin is able to retain a healthy amount of water |
Tewameter |
measure water loss via evaporation from the skin surface |
Desquamation |
Smooth |
skin is not flaky |
SquameScan |
measure skin desquamation/flakiness |
Appearance - texture |
Radiant |
even skin tone |
VISIA CR or |
image skin surface and capture information relating to skin tone homogeneity |
Appearance - pores |
Luminous |
minimized pores |
VISIA CR or |
scan the skin surface and capture visual information relating to pore size |
Appearance - dark circles |
Eyes |
minimal dark circles under eyes |
VISIA CR imaging |
capture an image indicating skin discoloration under the eyes |
Appearance - puffiness |
Eyes |
no puffy pockets under eyes |
VISIA CR or |
capture an image indicating water retention in eye socket |
Structure - firmness |
Firmer |
skin is elastic to the touch |
Cutometer |
measure viscoelastic properties of skin using controlled vacuum suction |
Structure - collagen |
Collagen |
minimized wrinkles |
SIAScope |
measures amount of visible & infrared light absorbed & remitted by collagen |
Structure - thickness |
Supple |
skin is flexible/pliable to the touch |
Dermascan or DUBmeter |
echogram of skin capturing epidermis-dermis junction to measure thickness |
Structure - density |
Plump |
skin feels dense and not saggy |
Dermascan or DUBmeter |
echogram of skin capturing epidermis-dermis junction to measure density |
Sebum |
Balance |
oiliness |
Sebumeter |
measures sebum production rate of skin |
"I wanted to go into the beauty industry to create more transparency and give quantitative answers to customers. Since I spent most of my career developing measurement tools, it blew my mind that the beauty industry had quantified the efficacy of their products but never published it with transparency. That was what really inspired me to start Codex.”
— Barbara Paldus CEO & Founder Codex Beauty Labs
We conduct efficacy on every single product to prove its performance. This testing is carried out at a third-party clinical facility under the supervision of a dermatologist and toxicologist. The technicians use instrumentation that is accepted by the dermatological community for evaluating specific skin parameters to produce quantitative measurements.
A baseline data set is collected on day zero of the efficacy trial, usually after a week-long washout period. The product is then applied by the subjects according to a protocol, and the measurement is repeated after at least one full skin turnover cycle, namely 28 days (products that are considered 'touch up' or 'instantaneous' are still measured over 14 days). A statistically meaningful subject population (at least 30 subjects) is used to generate data for each skin parameter. This dataset is then analyzed by a statistician for clinical relevance, i.e., does the product produce a statistically meaningful effect on the skin parameter being evaluated to support the product claim hypothesis.
Our goal is to clearly communicate these quantitative results to the consumer in an easy-to-read format. An efficacy panel for two Antu products and one Bia product are shown below. The year of the study and the population used is summarized. Each skin parameter (and potential sub-parameter) and its measurement method is listed. The results as measured (e.g., changes on Day 28 and Day 56 as referenced to Day 0) are presented. If no statistical change was observed, this is recorded. If a parameter is not relevant to product claims, this is noted as 'not applicable'. With this approach, not only positive results are shown, but also test results where no statistically meaningful result was achieved, or where a result was only temporary. Essentially, the panel provides a transparent snapshot of product performance.
Efficacy panels for Antu Moisturizer (left) and Bia Skin Superfood (right)
We believe that by publishing our data, we can establish a new reference point for both consumers and the beauty industry. Customers should expect every brand to justify its product claims with quantitative data in order to be able to objectively compare product performance and price. Such an efficacy panel can effectively level the playing field for both global corporations and small indie brands, as well as eliminate confusion about ingredient potency versus actual ingredient benefits in a final formulation. It would allow customers to make educated decisions based on proven product performance for their skincare routines, and well-informed value purchasing decisions based on facts rather than marketing jargon.
Finally, while our studies do collect customer feedback, we do not solely rely on such customer experience surveys, because we believe that quantitative measurements are more objective than opinions. For full transparency we report the user experience survey results on our website.