Finding value cosmetics which actually work

There's been quite a flurry of activity here today which is nice given the doom and gloom about the economy. Whether the cosmetics' market proves to be recession-proof remains to be seen, however, and we cannot be smug or complacent. Traditionally, people (or women!) have continued to buy their favourite skincare and make-up products in an economic downturn but the industry is in uncharted territory at the moment.

SPC, our industry mag, explains it well in this month's editorial:

"The idea is that if people can't afford a car or a designer dress, they can at least treat themselves to the designer's fragrance or a nice lipstick."

Editor Clare Henderson goes on to say: "But when things get as serious as they seem to be doing at the moment perhaps that traditional thinking now sounds a little too optimistic.

"For the moment, premiumisation continues to be a strong trend, with consumers determined to get their hands on products that work, while niche is still a great draw for those looking for something different."

She adds: "But in the current economic climate can this be sustained indefinitely? And, what of the superluxe sector? Is this customer pool likely to take a temporary dip?" And concludes: "We can at least be confident that people will always buy personal care products. For the time being though, it's a question of which ones."

Despite being 87 years old, Queen hasn't really been here before. Our marketplace was well-heeled, fashionable young women in the 1930s, 40s and 50s and this was our heyday. These customers seemed to have sensible heads on their shoulders. In an interview with Lady Dartmouth (better known as Countess Raine Spencer) in the Observer in the 1960s, she said she had always used Queen products as they were "terribly cheap and terribly pure"!

This says to me that there wasn't a need to spend or be seen to spend a fortune on products (or there weren't the highly expensive luxury brands around then that there are now) but that efficacy was the most important factor.

Hopefully, this will stand us in good stead as will the fact that we have a niche, namely sensitive skin. Our products are, we believe, excellent value and, most importantly, they do work. Maybe we will even benefit from people 'downgrading' and looking for quality cosmetics at reasonable prices. We will see.

Anyway, I thought I might just spend a few moments blowing our own trumpet.

Someone writes after trialling our organic formula moisturiser:

"I was wondering when you were planning on launching this as I love it. I have quite sensitive skin and this is just perfect, no irritation or redness, and it's lovely and rich, without being too heavy.

"I suffer terribly in winter from dry and reddened skin, and my normal day cream isn't sufficient. I've tried others and usually end up going back to Origins Never Say Dry, but it's really a bit too heavy."

Hurrah. We know it's good but it's always good to hear it!

Off to catch the post. Have a good weekend.

The Queen Team

Technorati Tags: Queen,sensitive skin,organic formula moisturiser,cosmetics

Lanolin is lovely. Really.

We've just had the following email:

"I have just had some patch tests completed with my dermatologist and have been told I have reactions to perfume/essential oils, lanolin and sodium metabisulphite."

This is typical of the sort of inquiry we get and reinforces what we always say about perfume and essential oils being the main culprits in causing irritation to sensitive skin. Yet, I read the following on one internet beauty tip site recently:

"One good thing for sensitive skin is the skin care essential oils. Essential oils in most cases will not have a reaction to your skin, if it does then stop using the product right away. You can try essential oils such as Lavender, Rose, Sandalwood, Neroli, and Chamomile. So, if you have sensitive skin, than try out these essential oils to see if these will help your skin."

Ugh! It's no wonder people with sensitive skin end up not even trying to find anything which works for them if they've followed dangerous and stupid advice like this.

Anyway, what interested me about our email was the fact that I didn't know much about sodium metabisulphite - we don't use this ingredient - and so I thought I'd do a bit of research into it. And also, I was interested that this woman was sensitive to lanolin. Lanolin has long been accused of being a sensitive skin culprit and, while this woman clearly does have a problem with it, mostly it is an excellent ingredient with a very good track record. Like preservatives though, it is something that is seized upon by people as being a 'baddie'. We get lots of women calling in claiming they are sensitive to 'preservatives and lanolin'. Yet, when you ask if they have had patch tests, they say 'no' and further probing reveals they just think these are causing their problems because they've heard vague mention of them somewhere.

I have always liked the www.cosmeticscop.ca website which is run by a woman called Paula Begoun, an ex-make-up artist and now a writer and the owner of her own cosmetics line (and someone who seems eminently well informed and sensible), so I thought I'd see what her ingredients directory said about lanolin. It makes interesting reading:

Lanolin: Emollient, very thick substance derived from the sebaceous glands of sheep. Lanolin has long been burdened with a reputation for being an allergen or sensitizing agent, which has always been a disappointment to formulators because lanolin is such an effective moisturizing agent for skin. A study in the British Journal of Dermatology (July 2001, pages 28–31) may change all that. The study concluded “that lanolin sensitization has remained at a relatively low and constant rate even in a high-risk population (i.e., patients with recent or active eczema).” Based on a review of 24,449 patients who were tested with varying forms of lanolin, it turned out that “The mean annual rate of sensitivity to this allergen was 1.7%”—and it was lower than that for a 50% concentration of lanolin. It looks like it’s time to restore lanolin’s good reputation. That’s a very good thing for someone with dry skin, though it can be a problem for someone with oily skin, because lanolin closely resembles the oil from human oil glands (see here for more http://www.cosmeticscop.ca/dictionaryL).

As for sodium metabisulfite, this is something which is used in hair products.

Says Paula Begoun's ingredients dictionary: "Reducing agent that alters the structure of hair. It can also be used as a preservative in formulations, and can be a skin irritant. However, it can also be an antioxidant (Source: Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, September–October 1999, pages 252–259)."

I also found mention of its use in some skincare products, one of which is a range or brand called Obagi. At the end of some product information, this site says: "This product also contains sodium metabisulfite, a sulfite that may cause serious allergic type reactions (e.g., hives, itching, wheezing, anaphylaxis severe asthma attacks) in certain susceptible persons." Hmm.

I am pleased to say that, while we do use lanolin in a few products (excellent products too and used by clients with a wide range of sensitive skin conditions), we do have plenty of products which don't contain it so we can hopefully help the sender of our email. I'll keep you posted.

That's it for now.

Us at Queen

Technorati Tags: sodium metabisulfite,lanolin,allergy to lanolin,Paula Begoun,sensitive skin,Queen

Queen hand cream and Oldham Chronicle fame

Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream, THE most amazing hand cream (I think I have said this before!), is the order of the day. It is currently on special offer at just £6.00 which is ridiculously good value and which explains why our customers are snapping it up. Buy some now!

Queen Sensiderma Rich Hand Cream is great for all skin types but is particularly beneficial for sensitive skin or skin suffering from eczema or other dry-skin conditions. Even the hardest working hands are restored. We know this because the local farmers all come to our door to buy it. I have just seen one struggling across the field with a lamb under her arm (the lamb was struggling too, I am pleased to report, and was deposited in another field) and a couple of others are digging a ditch. You'd never know they'd been engaged in such hard labour by the look of their hands.

Other news is that Queen anti-wrinkle cream for sensitive skin, Sensiderma Renew & Refine, is launched. To take the shine off, we have had a few delays in despatch due to some label problems. These are now resolved and we are working hard to catch up on the orders.

So, what's so good about this product? Well, it adheres to our philosophy of keeping our products as simple as possible so that they can be used by sensitive skin. We have stuck as closely as possible to our existing formulations but have added some new ingredients, including a new peptide, BoNT-L, which builds on the success of other peptides in the market but has a superior lasting effect when applied to the skin. We hope that Sensiderma Renew & Refine will be a longstanding and popular addition to the Queen range.

Otherwise, it's been business as usual here at our rural HQ. Queen Soap has been particularly popular this week with one customer buying 25 in one go. Maybe they're for Christmas presents. We are getting very low on stocks of most products, in fact, so next week is going to be a big manufacturing drive to get the shelves re-stocked.

We've had some nice emails in, including one from a woman who had requested some samples of Light Night Cream and Sensiderma Day Cream:

"Thank you very much for sending the above samples.  At last, something I can use.  I found both products very soothing and moisturising without being too heavy."

Another called in to ask what was in our Eye Make-up Remover. "Oh, that sounds ok," she said. "I've been using Simple but it's recently started to make my eyes itchy and sore and I've been shocked to see how many ingredients there are in the products." Quite!

We've also had a name check in the Oldham Evening Chronicle this week. Oh yes! To read how Queen came to be connected with a famous golden nugget found in Australia in 1852, read the article here. The piece came about because one of the journalists at the paper requested some Queen samples. Our managing director, David, mentioned that his family came from Oldham and that a road was named after a golden nugget his great grandfather had found and, a couple of months later, an email appeared asking if they could do a story.  Fame at last!

Well, the week has flown by and there's still lots to do so better get on with it.

Have a good weekend.

The Team  at Queen

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A week of innovation: Anti-wrinkle cream and lipstick for sensitive skin

The airless pumps (bottles which are very practical and glamorous too) have arrived and we are set to begin filling Sensiderma Renew & Refine, our anti-wrinkle cream for sensitive skin, next week. Hooray!

I have long been rather scathing about anti-wrinkle creams, convinced that just using a really good moisturiser is enough. However, the last few years have seen a huge increase in enquiries from our existing customers and a survey of all visitors to our website (i.e. of new and existing customers) revealed 75% of them would use an anti-wrinkle cream if they could find one for their sensitive skin. The remaining 25% are in the 20-30 age category so I assume it's only a matter of time before they would want one too!

The thing is, it's taken us a few years to find an ingredient we are happy is hypo-allergenic and one which could be incorporated as far as possible into an existing formulation. Well, we've finally done it. Trials of this new peptide cream have proved extremely positive and we just hope our clients are going to love it too. I'm not saying too much more at this stage. Just watch this space...

Our attention has also turned this week to our lipsticks. These are extremely popular among our most longstanding clientele and have an excellent track record for being suitable for even the most sensitive skins and lips. The colours do, by our own admission, need updating though. They are bright (this is an understatement if I'm honest) which is fine if you have the complexion to carry them off. For pale skins, however, they are just too much.

We have been meaning to work on mixing some new colours for ages but, as a small company, it can be hard to find the time for normal daily operations as well as devoting time to new product development (which is why our organic range of skincare for sensitive skin is now unlikely to hit the shelves until early next year. It is in train but we have not had the time to focus on packaging, labels and literature as yet).

Anyway, an enquiry this week from a customer prompted us to roll up our sleeves and get mixing and the results look quite promising. Using a formulation similar to our Skin Cream, it has been possible to develop some more subtle-hued, lipgloss-type products. Not sure which one I like most, at the moment; a soft pinky-brown one or a light reddy-bronze (not sure I'm doing them much justice with these descriptions!). We are hoping to work on a range of five or six so do keep in touch if you are interested in lip colours.

They can also be used as rouge. Is that an old-fashioned word? We used to do rouges so not sure why we no longer do. Perhaps they were superseded by powder blushers. These days, cheek tints or cream blushers seem to be back in fashion because they offer a sheer, gentle glow so Queen rouge could be making a come back.

Otherwise, it's been business as usual here at Queen HQ. Queen Moisturiser, Medicated Cleansing Lotion and eye pencils seem to be the products of choice at the moment although there has also been unusually high demand for Queen Sensiderma Cold Cream. I'm always saying what a lovely product this is so I shouldn't be surprised its fame is spreading.

This is a short post this week as we have some trade orders to get out - Medicated Cleansing Lotion again - so it's all hands to the pump.

Hope you have a good weekend and come back soon!

The Team at Queen

Technorati Tags: Queen Cosmetics,anti-wrinkle cream for sensitive skin,organic products for sensitive skin,lipstick for sensitive skin,lipgloss for sensitive lips,Sensiderma Cold Cream,Medicated Cleansing Lotion,peptide cream,peptide cream for sensitive skin