October 24, 2014 Industry news
A new cosmetic industry app has been developed to allow consumers to easily check the ingredients of the products they want to buy.
While what goes into some products can be a bit of a mystery to the general public, the app is designed to easily show them what the product they are using on their body contains. After the bar code has been scanned using the camera of a mobile device, the app will bring up an independent list of all the ingredients in the product.
Once the product data has been displayed by the CosmEthics app, the shopper can review the individual components. Each one will have a brief description of what it is and an explanation for why it has been used in the cosmetic product, and will alert the user to any potential risks involved with the ingredient, such whether or not it is toxic.
The smartphone software can also be customised by the user, so that it can flag any components that they have a particular concern about, including for personal reasons, such as animal by-products and allergens.
The founder of CosmEthics, Katariina Rantanen, argued at the app’s launch that people have very diverse needs when it comes to the products they are putting on their skin, which are often not met by some in the industry. As such, the mobile tool could help to make the whole process more transparent for consumers, which would also help with their retail and brand experience.