Skincare Products with Built-In SPF

Post by Shecky's blogger, Brittany Thomas of ClumpsofMascara.com

Skin Cancer Awareness Month means it’s time for us gals (and guys…they’ve got skin too!) to be a little more cognizant about protecting our skin from those UV rays. One of the best ways to do this is to use products with SPF built right in. Check out some of my favorites.


I know it’s a bit on the pricey side but Clinique’s Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Moisturizer SPF 20 ($42.50) is absolutely fantastic. It works great for ladies with sensitive skin. Did I mention that it also helps even out your skintone a bit? Prolonged use of this baby means your lovely face will glow like the goddess that you are.


Okay, so I know it’s for guys, but I am absolutely in love with Jack Black’s Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 ($7.50 on Dermstore.com). Aside from containing SPF 25, this lip balm feels super moisturizing on your smacker. We don’t think your guy will notice if his Jack Black balm is missing. Or will he?


Are you a foundation-wearin’ kind of gal? You may want to give Cover FX Natural FX Water Based Foundation SPF 15 ($40 at Sephora) a whirl. This medium-coverage and oil-free foundation has SPF 15 and gives your skin a satiny touch. How awesome are foundations that don’t feel heavy? Cover FX feels lightweight and natural. Love it!



Don’t forget to show your hands some lovin’. Boscia Daily Hand Revival Therapy SPF 15 ($16 on Dermstore.com) feels absolutely divine on the fingers and palms. I also love that this vegan hand lotion has SPF 15. It makes a perfect addition to your purse’s beauty lineup.



Looking for a moisturizer that is so lightweight that it fits comfortably under your foundation? Look no further, girlfriend. Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 ($14.99) is inexpensive and super hydrating for those of us with dry skin.

Do you use any skincare products with SPF in them? What are your favorites? Have you used any of the above products?

About the Author:
Brittany Thomas founded the website ClumpsOfMascara.com to spread her love for beauty. A staunch advocate of the power of social media, Brittany has done extensive work as a social media consultant, planning and executing campaigns for a number of organizations. She is just as engaging on camera. Her effortless delivery and flair for the dramatic has earned her more than a million views on YouTube. Brittany hopes that her love for beauty can inspire young women to truly love themselves.

Disclaimer: Glamour Gone Good, Inc. does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes, or services. The views and opinions of authors expressed on this blog do not necessarily represent those of Glamour Gone Good, Inc. and they may not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Skin Care Brands Gone Good: The Results

A couple weeks ago, Glamour Gone Good issued a survey called Skin Care Brands Gone Good. The survey focused on three socially responsible campaigns launched by three different skin care brands: Dove, Clean & Clear, and philosophy. Below are our findings and some additional thoughts.

Background information on survey takers:

• 100% of respondents were female
• 75% of respondents are between ages 25 to 34
• 25% of respondents are between ages 35 to 49
• 100% of respondents use skin care products on a daily basis

THE RESULTS:

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty was the overwhelmingly popular choice amongst all survey respondents with 100% of respondents saying they would support the campaign, if they are not already doing so.

Conversely, Clean & Clear's Join the Surge program seemed to have the least impact on survey takers. While 100% of survey takers felt either somewhat or highly motivated to support Dove's and philosophy’s campaigns, none of them felt the same way about Join the Surge.

There are a few possible reasons for this. First of all, the Join the Surge campaign is targeted at teens. Given that 100% of respondents were ages 25 or above, they were clearly not the target audience for the campaign. So, it’s not a huge surprise that they did not respond as excitedly to this program as they did to Dove's and philosophy’s socially responsible campaigns.

In addition, as the survey results would indicate, our respondents were most interested in campaigns that had the strongest relationship with the charities involved in their campaigns. Along those lines, the overwhelming majority of respondents felt that philosophy’s shop for a cause campaign is most successfully supporting its charities (it clearly communicates to its consumers which charity each "shop for a cause" product benefits and it donates 100% of net proceeds to that charity.) Meanwhile, neither Dove nor Clean & Clear clearly communicates to the consumer its strategy for supporting its charity partner(s). An important question left lingering in our minds is what kind of financial contribution either brand is making to its charity partner(s), if any.

Most importantly, 100% of survey takers responded that they prefer brands that invest in multi-year, multimedia campaigns. So, it’s no surprise that Join the Surge did not excite respondents since the campaign lasted only three months while both Dove's and philosophy's campaigns have been going on for at least a few years.

Why does any of this matter?

This survey and its results were an interesting experiment that reinforced some important lessons for brands engaging in socially responsible and charitable activities. They are as follows:

1. Consumers want specifics. They want to know exactly how brands are supporting the charities around which they develop their campaigns. Slapping a logo on promotional materials with a vague ‘We Are A Proud Supporter Of’ message is no longer relevant for today’s sophisticated, savvy consumer.

2. Consumers want a long-term commitment. Heavily promoting a campaign that will only last a week or a month will not have as great an impact on a brand’s consumer base as a campaign that lasts all year or is repeated annually. People are forgetful, so it's critical to develop a campaign that is sure to leave a lasting impression. If a brand really wants to woo its consumers, it must think of its charitable campaigns as long-term relationships, not quick flings that are here today and gone tomorrow.

3. Consumers want brands to care about what they care about. All too often, brands align themselves with causes or issues of special significance to their CEOs and founders. Unfortunately, those issues or causes may not always resonate with their consumers. Meanwhile, brands that listen to their consumers and develop campaigns that truly speak to them are in a better position to increase consumer brand loyalty and boost sales of products and services tied to those campaigns. While not all brands have the resources to conduct formal market research and talk to focus groups, they can all reach out to their most loyal consumers, survey them and, most importantly, engage them in meaningful dialogue to find out exactly what moves them.

What other important lessons can we learn from our consumers when it comes to developing meaningful and successful socially responsible campaigns?

Skin Care Brands Gone Good

If you’ve read any of my previous blog entries, you’ll know that both I and my company, Glamour Gone Good, are huge advocates of socially conscious companies that leverage their brands to do good.

Lots of companies are doing good these days, which is great! But, what’s the method to their madness? And does it work for you? Since we usually only find out about these campaigns once they’ve launched, we really have no good way of finding out how and why these socially responsible campaigns targeted at us come about. However, we can certainly form our own opinions as to how successful these socially responsible campaigns end up being in motivating us to take appropriate action. So, I thought it would be fun to do some research of my own…and to include you in it!

Below you will find brief descriptions of three well-known skin care brands and their corresponding socially responsible campaigns. Read through them and let the information sink in. There’s a brief survey for you at the end.



Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty launched in 2004 as a global effort to serve as a starting point for societal change and act as a catalyst for widening the definition and discussion of beauty. According to Dove, the campaign supports the brand’s mission “to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening stereotypical views of beauty.”

Dove created the Dove Self-Esteem Fund in 2006 as the charitable component of this global campaign to help build self-confidence in girls ages 8 to 17 with after-school programs, self-esteem building events, and educational resources. Dove’s goal is to have reached 5 million girls through the Dove Self-Esteem Fund by the close of 2010. The three charities supported by the Fund are Girls Scouts USA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Girls, Inc.

According to Dove’s marketing campaign, any Dove purchase supports self-esteem programs for girls. (It’s unclear, however, what percent of proceeds benefit the Dove Self-Esteem Fund and whether any funds are distributed by Dove to its three charity partners.) All marketing of the Dove Self-Esteem Fund is directly tied to the larger “Campaign for Real Beauty” advertising and marketing campaign.

Clean & Clear: Join the Surge!
On June 15, 2010, CLEAN & CLEAR® Skincare, teen celebrity Demi Lovato, and national non-profit organization DoSomething.org joined forces to energize, celebrate, and empower teens to get involved in causes that are important to them. The "Join The Surge" program gives teens the tools that they need to start a movement and affect change and the opportunity to be a part of a community where they will receive support, tips and share experiences. With the support of DoSomething.org, program participants can be matched up with volunteer opportunities based on individual interests and location. In addition, teens who commit to "Join the Surge" receive exclusive discounts off their favorite skincare products.

"Join the Surge" is largely a viral marketing campaign targeted at teens that aims to grow the DoSomething.org volunteer community from 800,000 teens to 1.2 million by the program's completion in September.

philosophy: shop for a cause
The philosophy brand promises “to bring its customers products that inspire them to live a better life by being better to themselves.”

philosophy has a dedicated ‘shop for a cause’ category of products on its website. These products are also available at retail locations where philosophy products are sold. 100% of net proceeds from these products benefit the charities listed directly on the product packaging and in the online product descriptions. The charities supported by these products vary considerably. Some of the causes supported include the Women’s Cancer Research Fund, the Joyful Heart Foundation, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and PBS. These products are available year-round and are not typically marketed any differently than any of philosophy’s other products that do not support charity.

Now that you’ve had a chance to read through the brief descriptions of three different socially responsible campaigns launched by three different skin care brands, you’re ready to take our brief survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HF8L3PP

We’ll evaluate the responses to the survey in our next blog post. Hopefully, we'll gain some insights on the impact and effectiveness of three different socially conscious campaigns going on within the skin care industry. Thanks for helping out!