The Clean Beauty Tax + What Brands Think About Black Friday/Cyber Monday
Authors: AJ Addae
Abstract - A letter from the founder, AJ Addae
What a year it’s been. Let’s reflect, shall we?
Inflation. E.L.F, Michael CeraVe, the lovely ladies of Gloss Angeles Podcast, and Usher winning the Super Bowl. An influx of homemade sunscreens that you can supposedly eat. That one Youthforia foundation shade. So many cosmetic brand closures. The #PresidentialElection. More inflation. A Sephora tween infestation (although, I still don’t understand the problem). MoCRA. And did I mention inflation?
I think we can all say that we sincerely deserve the rest that’s hopefully to come for the remainder of this year — the founders, the manufacturer line workers, the marketers, and of course, us scientists. In an industry that’s so fast paced, supersaturated, and increasingly becoming more costly, we’re all exhausted.
…but I’d like to think that there might be a glimmer of hope on the other side of all of this. A lot of things are changing for many of us, and all we can really do is just be good to each other, really hold onto our communities, and mean it when we say that we’re here to support our communities.
With that said, this month, we’ve got a little bit of everything: a perspective on the Clean Beauty Tax, a BFCM/anti-BFCM roundup, and then a call for some research we’re doing right now.
So let’s hop on in.
The Clean Beauty Tax
Many years back, I was a Clean Beauty Expert at Credo Beauty — in other words, a well-studied, Glossier Boy Brow-ed retail associate at the height of the DTC boom, pitching 3-figure skincare solutions and buzzy then-groundbreaking ingredients (like bakuchiol) to customers through brands like Tata Harper, Osea, and Goop. Reading grand totals of $300+, $500+, and even $1000+ at the cash register never got any less surprising to me, and honestly felt kind of strange considering I couldn’t afford that kind of beauty myself (and I had two and a half jobs — one at Credo Beauty, one at a beauty startup, and one as a research assistant!). At the time, I never understood how cosmetic products like a simple mascara could, on average, cost so much money.
Fast forward to 2024. I do cosmetic chemistry and cosmetic product development for a living. These days, I often find myself repeating to clients looking to develop clean beauty products the following phrase — “Yes, we can change [insert product feature here], but your cost of goods is going to go up to [insert $ here]. Ok to proceed?” Some desired features that would usually take a touch of a certain material can require costly workarounds like, let’s say, a silicone alternative that’s about $200/kg, rather than the usual dimethicone that’s $20/kg. Or my favorite: using the super expensive “clean” preservative instead (because Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate isn’t gonna cut it), and searching high and low for unpreserved extracts with lengthened supply chains because phenoxyethanol is getting a little too demonized for my liking these days.
Last year, we published a SULA LABS Report called The Cost of Making Skincare, which - not to toot our own horn - did numbers because it explained the complexity of product pricing and cost of goods (aka what your manufacturers and chemists navigate). We can all agree that the cost of developing cosmetics in general is going up. But I think clean beauty in particular can sometimes face a pretty gnarly tax in my opinion, because the cost of goods that go into making stable clean beauty products are honestly just, well, expensive.
We see it literally in our every day life. Take a look with the example below: oat milks cost more than whole milks due to increased production costs and increased wholesale costs in comparison to whole milk.
Still not convinced?
Take a look any cult-favorite cosmetic product like, let’s say, the Peter Thomas Roth Sulfur Mask (technically over-the-counter, but this product is to die for). The INCI list, although simple, would miserably fail the clean beauty vibe check — there’s talc, sodium hydroxide for pH adjustment, parabens as preservatives, and it uses polysorbate 20 as an emulsifier/stabilizer. The product already costs $52, albeit it’s pretty large and will last a lifetime. But believe me when I say, identically duping (and stabilizing) a “cleaner”, stable version of this product at this exact size and production volume is highly likely going to make it cost more than $52.
Then, there’s the part about how it’s already almost impossible to identically dupe two products in general. Imagine you had to bake a cake that looks, tastes, and smells the same as another cake, but you couldn’t use the same eggs, sugar, and milk (trust me I know, I’ve been vegan for 10 years). So, imagine the journey of a product brief that says let’s dupe the Peter Thomas Roth Mask, but don’t use polysorbate 20, sodium hydroxide, parabens, or kaolin clay. And have it ready in 4 months.
Can it be done? Sure, if a lot of things go right. But will there need to be maybe an aesthetic compromise here and there, a little bit higher COG than you’d hoped, and perhaps some steep stability challenges along the way as we work to get the most stable formula possible? It’s likely.
Now, I’m not saying that these things are impossible, and that clean beauty is always expensive, or even wrong at all. I actually love a Kosas, a Briogeo, a Tower28, and an Ilia moment. But I am saying that it might benefit the beauty industry and consumers to move towards an understanding and an embracing of a category’s limitations. For example, I know that my Osea body lotion isn’t going to eternally stand the test of time stability-wise, or my favorite shea butter-based body product is going to melt in high temperatures, in comparison to my Eucerin body lotion (which btw, it’s not just clean beauty — her cost has gone up as well). Just like how my slightly more expensive organic apples oxidize/rot quicker than canned apples. It’s literally just the way these chemicals work, and I make the conscious choice to buy the organic apples. And I embrace that.
In any case, I offer this perspective because I think there are two big lessons here.
As we’ve seen from literally everything this year, there are a lot of economic things we need to adjust to, and educate ourselves on, because times are changing, and things are moving. Last year, I asked readers to understand the complexities around the cost of making cosmetics. In other words, if you’re going to develop or purchase cosmetic products, understand that the cost is going up, and educate yourselves on how so that you can make better informed choices on how to develop or buy them.
In a world of no-no ingredient lists, I think it’s important to ask yourselves, “why?” As in, genuinely why no phenoxyethanol? Why no silicone?! Why no water (yes, it’s a thing)!?! No really — can you answer specifically why? Sure, some of these questions have answers, but what are yours? In such an increasingly strange world, values are obviously important. But what good is a value without understanding the nuances around it? Is everything truly black and white? In my opinion, it’s powerful to assemble a well-informed no-no list specific to a brand’s values and research on their target customer. Also, if you have chemists in the mix, it’s never a bad idea to consult us when it comes to chemicals, because chemicals are literally our thing. And more often than not, we’ll tell you that the dose determines the poison. Understand that there often appears to be what I call a “clean beauty tax”, and sometimes, unknowingly upholding another entity’s clean beauty opinion might be contributing to that tax for both brands and customers.
A (Biased) SULA LABS Shopping Roundup + An Anti-BFCM Vibe
This month — some anti-BFCM recs + some biased BFCM recs.
Obviously, we think that the brands we’ve worked with are the coolest and best and brightest brands in the world. We put together a short and sweet shopping guide of eight select beauty brands we’ve worked with for product dev or clinical testing. I can confirm that you will never regret supporting the brands below. Check it out below:
Rose Ingleton MD, a Sephora fave, is offering 25% off site wide. Perhaps you can pick up a freshly-launched Futurebright Vitamin C Serum!
Hanahana Beauty is doing a build-your-own bundle where you can literally customize a bundle and get it for $35-50.
Saint Jane Beauty is offering 25% off site wide.
Karite Shea Butter is offering up to 40% off site wide.
Dr. Naana Beauty is offering 15% off a bundle of all of their products.
Of Other Worlds’ Light Beams is at a cheaper price forever, and offering 20% off your next order if you leave a review for the product on Urban Outfitters.
Anuli’s Daily Supplement Serum is 30% off.
Loved01 is offering 30% off sitewide.
On the flip side, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably not spending that much, or choosing to navigate a little bit more consciously, or shopping small biz during BFCM season. And boy do I love when founders and brands come right out and offer a counter, or a specialized call, to their perspective on BFCM season. As always, we’ve got something for everyone. If it’s more your speed, below are some things that are a little less BFCM:
DECIEM’s Slowvember — a yearly fave for me where The Ordinary offers 23% off all month long. If you’re not familiar with why The Ordinary is closed on Black Friday every year, take a scroll through their Slowvember statement.
Mala The Brand — yes, it’s basically a BFCM deal, but last year this brand went viral for posting a very transparent post about the harsh and unique realities of small business, and how important this time of year can be for founders. This year, the founder has posted an update about how these realities haven’t changed. So, I got my quarterly Mala candle (and they always smell delicious) — will you?
SKNMUSE — ezinne, the stunning founder of SKNMUSE, posted a reel this November about the boundaries of BFCM deals being below their margins, and the importance of mental health breaks in business. She suggests instead, the audience naming what would be most impactful for them during this time instead - i.e. perhaps a new deal a week, or even paying a bill of someone who shops SKNMUSE, to help them out. If you haven’t yet picked up their products, please do. They’re absolutely gorgeous.
Research Reports: Our Report with Spate/CEW Insider + Join Our Clinical & Research Studies!
As always, we’re in our research era. What else would you expect from a business owned by a chemistry PhD candidate?
We’re doing research on two communities — our Los Angeles community, and of course the broader cosmetics community.
For our Los Angeles friends, sign up here to participate in our clinical studies and literally get free cosmetics, and get paid for each study visit.
For all readers — we’re doing a research study, and collecting data. If you’re someone that consumes cosmetic products at all, then fill out this quick sign up list to participate in our nation-wide research study on consumer buying behaviors across age and racial demographics.
In the meantime, check out this report we published with Spate and CEW Insider earlier this year on Black Beauty Trends illuminated by TikTok data.
If all goes right (and if I have a quick break from lab), we’ll see you next month right here on Substack for another issue of The SULA LABS Report.
Till next time,
AJ Addae + SULA LABS