Is Coffee the Next Big Skin Cosmetic Ingredient?

Here was a recent report on research published in the jorunal Cancer Research demonstrating that coffee consumption could lower your chances of developing the most common form of skin cancer. The researchers from Harvard Medical School said that their data indicates that the more coffee you consume, the less likely you are to get skin cancer.

Interesting.

Even more interesting is that the scientists isolated the effect to be from the caffeine in coffee. That should mean that beverages like soda or tea would also have a similar effect (if you adjust for caffiene levels).

The researchers caution that the data does not necessarily mean you should increase your coffee intake. They also point out that there was no protective effect from the most deadly forms of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

So, people better keep using their sunscreen!

Novel cosmetic ingredients

But as a cosmetic marketer, you always need a good story to help sell your product. The truth is most cosmetic products work perfectly fine so it takes a good story to convince consumers to buy your product over someone else’s. Stories like this one would make support for a good marketing story.

Here’s a system for coming up with new cosmetic feature ingredients.

1. Read a story about an ingredient that has shown some potential for doing something positive for skin or hair.

2. Get an extract of that ingredient and put it in your formula.

3. Publicize the ingredient that is in your formula and use scientific studies to support its use.

Of course, the ingredient probably won’t improve your product significantly but it might improve your sales. And ultimately, if you are producing excellent products you want people to buy them. Story ingredients like these (or claims ingredients as they are called) are just the push that consumers need to try your stuff.