Smart Skincare Service Targets Cost-of-Living Crisis

Smarter Skincare is a new online service that can be accessed via the brand’s e-commerce chat function AskInkey, or by directly messaging its Instagram account. People share their current skincare routine and related costs, and then receive recommendations on which products to keep or swap out for more economical Inkey List versions. The service also identifies which non-Inkey List items are worth keeping.

“The Smart Skincare service is like a financial adviser [for beauty],” said Colette Laxton, co-founder and chief executive of The Inkey List. “A customer can come every six months and [share with us] what they’re using and their goals, like opening a toiletry bag and going through it with an AskInkey adviser.”

The move follows the brand’s skincare tool MyInkey, which debuted in 2021. Open to all, the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week hotline provides personalised answers from skincare professionals on questions about the skin, hair or scalp. The service was launched in response to discovering that budgeting and saving money on products were frequent topics of conversation among consumers.

As we explore in ‘Beautility’: Foregrounding Value Beauty, there are several ways brands can help consumers navigate financial uncertainty, such as pivoting their focus from selling products to educating and assisting.

For more on how brands can respond to new consumer priorities surrounding value and money, Stylus members can see Sustainability & the Cost-of-Living Crisis.