It’s clear that the natural skincare industry favours white over all other colours. It pretty much dominates most of the labels, containers and packaging used in the industry.
White generally signifies simplicity, cleanliness and purity. We view white as a brilliant colour so it immediately catches your eye when used in branding. It’s often used in health-related products and products for infants.
Not surprising really, is it? Natural and organic skincare manufacturers want you to feel that you are using a holistic, simple and pure product on your skin.
But as we can see from my geeky pie charts, white is closely followed by green, which stands for health, freshness and serenity. This message ties in perfectly with the overall marketing message for natural and organic skincare – your products contain botanical extracts, have shorter shelf lives so are ‘fresher’ and create a sense of health and calm.
Next up is blue – perceived to signify trust and dependability. The skincare world is filled with people who make fantastic claims about their products, not least the fact that they are completely natural when they actually contain lots of synthetic chemicals. Giving your consumers the subtle message that they can trust you is very powerful. Blue is also associated with the sky and the sea and is universally well-liked.
So far, so good – white, green and blue make your brand look pure, fresh and trustworthy. What more does a natural skincare brand want?
Well, it turns out they also want some pink, black, brown and orange in their life! This is where we start to move into different subtle marketing messages.
· Pink conveys different messages depending upon the shade used. Hot pink can mean energy, youthfulness and excitement! Dusty pink conveys sentimentality. Light pink is seen to be more romantic.
· Black means luxury, sophistication, professionalism and seriousness. Using black in your branding can help elevate your business to look high end.
· Brown is an earthy colour that conveys durability, stability and simplicity. However, some consumers can view brown as being ‘dirty’ which might be off-putting.
· Orange evokes fun, vitality and exuberance. This is a playful colour to add into your branding and is often seen as gregarious and possibly even childlike.
These colours are clearly not chosen to tell the world that these skincare products are natural but to convey a further meaning to the brand which is good because if you want your skincare business to be successful, you generally want to target a niche.
Misty Cassady