Understanding Product Marketing in an Expanding Nail Market By Lauren Burton

I find it so interesting how so many nail brands seem to be popping up out of the woodwork in the last few years, which is great for our industry to have so much choice and option with products, however my concern particularly lies in the marketing tactics and claims some of these new brands use to obtain customers and users.

I think it’s very easy to get confused and sucked in by these claims without fully understanding them. Especially when it comes to the differing standards in cosmetic product terminology to say food for example. Organic meaning in cosmetics is very different to organic meaning food, it is not the same.

The term “organic” in reference to food refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. While the regulations vary from country to country, in Australia, organic crops must be grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilisers, or bioengineered genes (GMO’s) and livestock, organic meat refers to the principles used to produce, process and retail meat products. Organic meat is raised without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics. How the animals are cared for throughout their life (how they live, what they eat), and leading up to their death matters too. Organic animals must have access to pastures/paddocks with plenty of space to move around and exhibit their natural behaviours including scratching around in the dirt and playing in their social groups. This is often referred to as free-range, pasture raised, or paddock raised (although these terms mean slightly different things, they’re often used interchangeably). Now on the flip side of this the meaning of “organic” in cosmetics, it is on a completely different spectrum, to what most people think of when it comes to organic, particularly nail products. For cosmetics the classification for “organic” is within the chemistry component of the product, they have to have a carbon content to be classed as organic, now everything in the world with the exception of light and electricity has a carbon content. All nail polish is a compound of five main ingredients, Organic nail polish does not exist because there are no known organic alternatives of these ingredients. Gel polish is no exception to this! So do not be sucked in by this claim, as technically all nail products are “organic”.

I am always very wary of nail brands that push this whole “organic” “vegan” “3 free” “5 Free” above anything else from a marketing perspective to promote and advertise their products as it is a deceiving way to promote and sell products in my opinion, considering all nail products are all the above, we explain this in more details below. I’ve even witnessed brands claiming to be “gluten free” unless you are eating your nail products gluten isn’t an issue with nail products, as gluten is something you digest, and cannot be absorbed through the skin/nail, however if you gluten intolerant or celiac and a nail biter and you have tendencies to eat nail products (which you shouldn’t) then avoid anything with hydrolyzed wheat protein (AMP Isostearoyl it’s chemical name). However, this ingredient is commonly used more so in skincare and hair used to optimise moisture balancing.

I feel it’s important for anyone in our industry to know the differences with marketing claims, so we can make informed decisions about our choice in products. Knowledge is key and that is a fact, I try to keep myself as updated as possible by reading articles and following key people within our industry. I read a wonderful article last month by someone I admire very much in the industry, Marian Newman, I reached out to Marian to ask if she minded me sharing her article with the readers of Beauty Biz, and she so graciously said yes, I expected no less as she is an advocate for spreading the knowledge for our industry, and quite frankly her article couldn’t have been written or explained any better in my opinion.

Marians article, “Marketing Claims: hypoallergenic, ‘free from’, vegan, cruelty free”, comes from her website www.nailknowledge. org/, so a huge thank you for allowing me to share.

EXCERPT FROM MARKETING CLAIMS BY MARIAN NEWMAN

This is a brief description on what all these mean (or should mean!). You may see that many claims are just marketing stories and have no basis in legal requirements nor accuracy!Claims should follow certain criteria as best practice: 1. Legal Compliance. All cosmetics fall under the Cosmetic Regulations for each country.

These are very detailed, and claims should not be made if they fall under the legal requirements anyway. 2. Truthfulness. Claims should not be based on false or irrelevant information 3.Evidence support. Each allowable claim must be supported by evidence to prove it 4.Honesty. Claims must not go beyond the evidence 5. Fairness. Claims should be objective and not criticise ingredients that are legal to be used in cosmetics nor cause confusion with products of a competitor 6.Informed decision making. They should allow a professional or consumer to make informed decisions. They should be relevant and understandable to the average end user.

Hypoallergenic. This is an allowable claim if it has supporting evidence. But do not be misled by the claim. It does not mean that allergic reactions are impossible. It means that the potential is ‘below average’ so is less likely to trigger a response than those products that cannot make this claim. Nail coating products, by their nature, contain known allergens, some higher than others. But also, skin contact of uncured product should be avoided at all times (and this includes improperly cured coatings that appear cured) However, many feel more confident using this type of product and, for nails, they are unlikely to contain the more well-known allergens.

Free from. This started as referring to traditional nail polish, but it is such a misleading claim! Some on the list that is often published are banned anyway. Some are ingredients that haven’t been used for years. Some that have been claimed to be harmful have had the claims proven to be wrong or are in such minute quantities so are negligible. One on most lists: formaldehyde, which is a gas, is not added as an ingredient but there are many cosmetic ingredients that, when chemically reacting together, release a tiny, negligible amount that is around 0.0003%

A new claim that keeps popping up is that some UV gel polishes claim to be ‘x free’. Well, the understanding of ‘free from’ relates to the list for nail polishes. Traditional nail polishes and UV gel polishes are totally different product types so the accepted ‘free from’ doesn’t apply. Now if they said ‘free from HEMA or isobornyl acrylate’ for example, it would be relevant!

Vegan. This relates to any animal derived product and any animal cruelty. Virtually ALL nail coatings have no animal products included so they are all vegan. The only very rare exception is if the pigment carmine is used but this has been long replaced by alternatives. For strict vegans there are a few ingredients that may be objected to. Examples of these could be lanolin (derived from sheep wool) and bees wax (harvested from hives). The animals are not harmed in the collection of these but there is obviously a strong connection

Cruelty free. There is no animal testing on finished cosmetic products anywhere in the world (even China now). The brand can use the ‘cruelty free’ logo but only under certain circumstances which are, briefly, that the manufacturer and their suppliers have not commissioned any animal testing on any product or any of its ingredients. All cosmetic products are inherently cruelty free so, in many ways, it is not needed as a claim nor the logo.

Interestingly, in the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013 (that also apply to the UK from 1st Jan 2021) Article 21 states that certain information must be made easily available to the public!

You will see how some claims do not fall in line with ‘best practices’! Notice #5!!!

In conclusion, understanding is essential! Don’t get taken in by claims that stretch a point! Some (and by no means all) can be misleading, inaccurate or even wrong! It’s an over saturated market and brands need to make their mark. Buy from trusted and authorised sources and you should be fine.

Lauren Burton is a Nail Expert and the Head of Educator at Nail & Hand Harmony Australia. Distributors of Gelish. Visit www.gelish.com.