New Skin E-Tail & Education Start-Ups

Founded by British skincare expert Caroline Hirons, the Skin Rocks app is a free curated encyclopaedia of skincare, designed to help consumers find the right skincare regimen. From a database of over 10,000 products, it recommends users the best products for their skin type and specific concerns.

Providing easy-to-digest information, the Skincare 101 tab features Hirons’s cheat sheets and guides on how to navigate various ingredients, while Spotlight On highlights trending topics, such as clean beauty and collagen supplements. The Products tab allows consumers to discover personalised products, filtering out ingredients that could compromise their skin, based on the information they’ve provided. Users can add products to their baskets and are then directed to a brand’s website or online retailer, with Skin Rocks taking an affiliate commission on sales.

Elsewhere, the Beauty Buddy app not only lets consumers access honest peer-to-peer reviews and product information, but also enables brands and retailers to connect through actionable data insights and product sampling. The app helps guide the 94% of shoppers who read online reviews before making a purchase through endless options and confusing information while allowing brands to understand consumer needs and behaviour, and optimise opportunities for new product development.

“Beauty Buddy provides brands with powerful understandings via our highly engaged beauty-focused community, helping to keep their business ever-relevant in an aggressive marketspace,” said Wendy Slattery, CEO and co-founder.

Also responding to the overwhelming choice of products, new curated online marketplace Skindays combines dermatological knowledge with technology to deliver a personalised shopping experience. Consumers can shop by skin concern and take a test to find the most suitable products.

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