Skincare users look for ingredients like vitamin C, Google data suggests, not fancy packaging or miracle cures for acne

‘Single ingredient’ products are those that use one pure ingredient or mix a few active ingredients for a more targeted approach to your skincare needs

Such products allow for ‘customisation and curating’ to meet specific skincare needs, says beauty company Deciem, whose brands include The Ordinary

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Brands like The Ordinary, which sells single-ingredient skincare, are coming to the forefront of the beauty industry as people turn away from products that offer to fix everything at once.

Carolina Malis

Published: 4:15am, 24 Aug 2021Updated: 4:39am, 24 Aug 2021

Beauty-related Google searches have certainly changed in the past decade.

The world went from “how to fix acne” and “how to diminish stretch marks” in 2014, to “what does vitamin C do for your skin”, “how does hyaluronic acid work” and “how to use retinol” in 2021. In other words, the focus switched from treating skincare issues to the power of ingredients.

Today’s beauty devotees have become well-versed in ingredient lists, which is why fancy packaging and promises of overnight wonders are not enough any more. They are savvy, knowledgeable and less brand loyal, and they believe in product transparency.

Single-ingredient skincare, given its simplicity, is now at the forefront and helping empower people to choose what they layer on their skin. Brands can no longer entice customers with celebrity ambassadors and miraculous formulas at the expense of ingredient quality – what customers really want is efficacy.

“Research has shown that women put an average of 515 synthetic ingredients on their body daily due to their beauty routines,” says Tina Hedges, the founder of Loli Beauty, the world’s first zero-waste, organic, food-grade beauty brand formulating 100 per cent waterless products.