The ingredients of good sense

While we do have a very high success rate in terms of the number of people with even very sensitive skin who can use Queen (http://www.queen-cosmetics.com/), we do occasionally come across customers who really do suffer and cannot tolerate some of our products. For this reason, we offer a bespoke service where we work with the client to formulate something that their sensitive or problem skin can tolerate. We are able to do this because we are a small company which can make small quantities of a product without too much disruption to our day to day schedule.

Where customers know they are allergic to a particular ingredient because they have had skin patch tests, this makes the job relatively easy. Sometimes, however, a client will have been able to use a particular brand for years when suddenly the product is either withdrawn, leaving them in the lurch, or the formulation has been changed and their skin reacts. In this case, they will ask if we can make something similar to the original. Assuming they have kept the ingredients' listing or the box, we are usually able to help.

We are in the process of working with one new client who has had great success with most of our products but can't use our cleansers. It has been very interesting to chat to her and to share her experiences. She has done a lot of research into cosmetic ingredients and talked about the great confusion caused by natural/organic ranges which claim that they are suitable for sensitive skin but which use all sorts of extracts, essential oils and perfumes which can create havoc for many allergy-prone skin types.

This week's trip to John Bell & Croyden, our central London stockist, underlined that the so-called experts who go into stores to promote and sell these, and other, ranges are not qualified to help consumers through the confusion. As part of the Queen philosophy of educating people about the cosmetics industry, I try to assist the cosmetics' department staff at JBC to understand cosmetic labelling and the function of the various ingredients contained in products. It enables them to answer customer questions with hard facts rather than a load of senseless waffle. When I arrived at the store, there was a 'training session' being held by the sales consultants of a range of £50+ a pot skin creams for a number of the girls from the JBC cosmetics' counter. I was delighted to hear on of the JBC girls ask some questions about the ingredients used in the products, including what preservative did they use. Unfortunately, the product 'consultant' was completely unable to answer! For the public it is certainly a case of caveat emptor.

To more interesting matters....Having spotted Hermione Norris last week, this Thursday it was the turn of the star of Kingdom himself, Stephen Fry. He spent about an hour strolling around, largely unrecognised by both staff and public.

Time for some lunch here at Queen!

Have a good weekend.