Instagram and Facebook’s influence are not to be taken lightly by industries, and we’ve known it for a while now. Millennials and younger generations are changing the cosmetics industry through social media, and with research stating that “they are buying and using almost 25 percent more cosmetics than they did just two years ago and significantly more than baby boomers,” brands are and should be scrambling.
But it isn’t just that, social media has inspired various sub-categories of industry products to come to the spotlight.
Many young adults have various skincare issues, which they try to remedy on their own through friends’ advice and magazines. However, there are many different skin types as well as what irritates individual skin differ, making it a challenge to find brands that have a wide range of products for all. Not only that, worries of side effects from the extended use of makeup such as dark circles, premature aging and even headaches are important concerns for many.
This left many full of frustrations and with more questions than answers.
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Social media not only opened the world up to these frustrations, but it also brought a new wave of health consciousness. This concentrated on how to stay healthy, and what we put in and on our bodies, naturally make up became a large topic of discussion.
Questions about health and makeup led to brands such as BioNike, an Italian cosmetics brand that just launched in Egypt, to enter the scene.
BioNike produces a wide variety of skincare and haircare products that allows them to cover various skin types. The brand also has lines of medical makeup, products that are clinically proven to have less side effects on the skin, such as aging and dark spots, making them healthier than their normal commercial counterparts.
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Is Makeup Healthy?
An article on Psychology Today stated that an experiment revealed “that women pictured wearing cosmetics were evaluated as healthier, more confident, and even having greater earning potential than the same women wearing no makeup…”
So, women wear makeup because it makes them look healthier hence more attractive, but then why are many products unhealthy?
In the 18th century, people died from lead poisoning often due to the wild craze for powder white foundation and extremely red lips. This was because most makeup was made of lead, a material used in acid batteries, paint and X-ray machines, and is toxic when inhaled or digested.
More recently, lead was again found in many lipsticks and mercury, another toxic material, was found in some skin creams.
With the growth of social media and sharing culture, news like this that was barely noticed now spread like wildfire. This accentuated the need for organic and medical makeup brands, and helped push them to consumers’ attentions.
BioNike, for example, is a medically backed makeup brand. According to the brand, it “was created thanks to the intuition of a forward-looking entrepreneur and pharmacist who, in the 1960s, realized that cosmetics could be useful not only to complement, but also to support treatments prescribed by dermatologists,” and describe themselves as a company that “pioneered the formulation and marketing of treatments for sensitive, allergic and over-reactive skin.”
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The brand sells products that are nickel tested, preservative, fragrance and gluten free. BioNike states that their makeup is designed with the direction that makeup should not harm skin, but should enhance its health.
Products such as Defence Color foundation are free from lead, aluminum, and other chemicals that are found in commercial products, and contain nutrients that reduce fine lines and etc.
They also have a special line of makeup “made specifically for people who suffer severe medical conditions that ensures incomparable high coverage without harming the skin” named Camouflage.
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They also have a line of medical hair dye, which excludes harmful materials such as PPD which are often found in most commercial hair dyes and tattoo ink.
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Medical Makeup on Social Media
Although its ingredients may lean more towards the medical field, this doesn’t mean that medical makeup and other cosmetic brands have to keep to the same rules online.
There are many examples where medical makeup brands still continue the tradition of bright and aesthetically pleasing adverts and content that the cosmetics industry is known for.
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The designs maintain the beauty and aesthetic values and standards that the cosmetics industry admires. With the industry putting a lot of emphasis on artistic and decorative products and designs, applying these values, alongside consumers’ desires for simplicity, isn’t that easy.
This makeup brand does do quite a positive job on their social designs, mixing aesthetically pleasing elements with simple and uncluttered placements.
BioNike, whose local digital agency is Eureka Digital, shows that the local market does appreciate brands that truly care about their users.
In November alone, the brand was able to engage over 1.1K users with an average engagement rate of 73.3% per post on Instagram, the preferred platform for cosmetics. This was one of their top 3 posts, with over 440 engagements.
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The brand, with the help of Eureka Digital, has only recently launched in Egypt but has a quickly growing fanbase. Famous actress Mona Zaki, known for freely endorsing brands she loves, has also been excited for the brand.
Other cosmetic brands should consider creating an organic or medical line of cosmetics as it clearly shows that it is a budding market. There aren’t a lot of these types of brands making a splash in the scene currently, but with influencers promoting health as the new beauty, the market is in for a growth spurt.
According to Eureka Digital, they are an animated bunch of creatives operating from Cairo and Dubai after being founded in England that provide support in all digital marketing aspects. You can find them here.