From The Summer 2004 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

Boomers Drive Sales for Anti-Aging Cream

Christine Spehar
Photo ©Ian O’Leary/Stone

Shopping trends are hard to predict and constantly changing—just compare today’s low-carb craze with the traditional, carbohydrate-based food pyramid. One thing that is not changing, however, is the fact that your customers aren’t getting any younger. Demographically, there are increasing numbers of “aged” Americans, and they are living longer than ever before.

According to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans’ life expectancy has reached an all-time high of 77.2 years. Keeping that in mind, along with America’s obsession with staying and looking young, it’s easy to see why topical anti-aging skin care products are fast becoming top-selling staples among American consumers.

Just how big is the naturals anti-aging skin care market? Consider these facts:

• According to the New England Consulting Group, the 50-plus age group controls two-thirds of the country’s wealth and is the fastest-growing population in the United States. By 2010, 43 percent of adult shoppers will be 50-plus.
A 2003 study published by The Fredonia Group predicts that the demand for anti-aging products will grow by 11.1 percent every year through 2007.According to Nutrition Business Journal, natural personal care sales reached $4.1 billion in 2002, a 10 percent increase over 2001. In a 2004 survey performed by Green Bay, Wis.-based Europharm, 87 percent of Americans were willing to give up some part of their daily lives, such as sex or smoking, “in exchange for a drink from the fountain of youth.”

As awareness of natural anti-aging skin care products grows, key ingredients are becoming increasingly popular with shoppers. Lynea Schultz, owner of A Natural Resource, a consulting firm serving the natural products industry, believes that the following four ingredients are the ones customers will be looking for in anti-aging face products.

Alpha-lipoic acid
This intense antioxidant enhances the potency and activity of other antioxidants, thereby harnessing a tremendous amount of power to fight free radicals. “Free radicals are some of the main enemies of wrinkle-free skin,” says Schultz.

Emily Goetz, organic brands manager for Kiss My Face, says the company’s Obsessively Organic line, which has been Kiss My Face’s top-selling line, helping its sales increase by 37 percent in 2004, includes an eye cream that contains alpha-lipoic acid and is “designed to help reduce signs of aging around the eyes.”

Vitamin C ester
Vitamin C ester is one of the most efficient and stable forms of vitamin C. “C ester is a fat-soluble form of vitamin C, which allows it to penetrate the skin to the cellular level. Consumers are looking for better penetrating products like C ester, which has raised the bar in skin care effectiveness,” says Schultz.

Jason Natural Cosmetics offers several products that contain C ester. According to Angella Green, Jason’s media manager, “Studies suggest that daily use of a topical vitamin C can help to prevent sun-related fine lines and wrinkles. Vitamin C works from the inside out by helping to improve and maintain healthy tissue.”

Avalon Organics also offers a vitamin C skin care line, which includes everything from a facial cleanser to an eye cream.

DMAE
DMAE is used to tighten facial and neck skin and works by stabilizing the plasma membrane of skin cells, which helps define the structure of the skin. “For this reason, DMAE has been called a face lift in a jar,” says Schultz.

Avalon Organics’ Alba Advanced Skin Care line includes products that combine the age-defying properties of alpha-lipoic acid and DMAE, with the soothing properties of marine complex ingredients, like seawater and sea plants, according to the company.

Exfoliating products
Schultz recommends exfoliating products to remove skin cells that have come to the surface and to lessen the depth of wrinkles. “A product with beta-carotene will be even more effective because it will increase blood flow to the skin’s surface, and offer antioxidant protection to the newly revealed skin,” she says.

The Jason line, recently aquired by The Hain Celestial Group, includes products with alpha hydroxy acid, which is an exfoliant that “helps the skin-renewal process by loosening the substances that hold the dead surface skin to healthy surface skin,” says Green.

Kiss My Face also markets products containing alpha hydroxy acid, as well as malic acid, which is derived from apples and has antioxidant properties.

Burt’s Bees has several products that contain beta-carotene, which could be used in combination with these exfoliants to maximize age-delaying benefits to skin.

“Once consumers experience good results with skin care products, they are going to be very alert and constantly searching for even more effective ingredients on the horizon,” says Schultz.