Despite the hype, women don’t prefer the ‘natural’ look

Despite the continuing growth in the natural and organic market, new research shows that the majority of women don’t really care if their foundation is ‘natural’ or órganic’.

The Natural and Premium Foundation Agile Attitudes & Usage Study found that just 14 percent of American women bought foundation because it was from a ‘natural brand’ and only 13 percent bought it because it contained ‘organic ingredients’.

According to Gutcheck, the market research company behind the study, women primarily purchase foundation for how it looks and feels on their skin.

Fifty-two percent of the women in the study cited ‘feels lightweight’ and ‘is easy to apply’ as reasons for purchasing foundation while 50 percent cited ‘right colour for my skin’, 43 percent cited ‘makes my skin look flawless’ and 40 percent cited ‘full coverage’ for their purchases

Marketing content manager Cassandra McNeill says the study of women 18 to 55 who wear foundation at least four times a week, was conducted to find what, if any, “benefits or key differentiators” could drive the purchase of natural foundations.

“Most women would not try a new foundation just because it comes from a natural brand name,” she says.

“Even those who prefer foundation from natural brands don’t buy it because it from a natural brand.”

“In fact many who buy natural foundation focus on the importance of it looking and feeling natural as more important than the foundation having natural ingredients or being from a natural brand.”

Furthermore “those who prefer premium foundation think that natural foundation looks natural but doesn’t use high quality ingredients”.

The study concluded that the differences between how women define premium and natural foundation are slight.

“The top characteristics associated with natural and premium are similar – although some characteristics are more strongly associated with premium than natural foundation.

“The few slight differences show that natural foundation is more characterised by its ingredients, while premium foundation is associated with how well it makes the skin look.”