With a growing perception that chemically formulated products were doing more harm than good, the health, wellness, and beauty industries have undergone a sea change in recent years. A shift back to more natural ingredients and less complicated regimens took hold and continues to gain momentum. As evidenced by the evolution of skin care over the past ten years, part of the trend can be traced directly to paying heed to consumer pain points.

"After literally [having] thousands and thousands of conversations with people and understanding what they were looking for and what was on the market, there was this really clear gap of what people needed," explains Amber Olson Rourke, chief sales and marketing officer and co-founder of the beauty and wellness brand Neora.

When It Comes to Skin Care, Less Is More

One recurring theme from the feedback Olson Rourke received was consumers' desire to simplify their wellness and beauty routines. "Most people aren't going to do 10 steps," she reports. "They don't have the time, money, or attention span for that ... They wanted simplicity in whatever they were doing and wanted multifunctional products that did multiple things. And so that's always been kind of an ethos for us."

According to Olson Rourke, about a decade ago, she also noticed a heightened consumer interest in the safety and efficacy of their products. "They truly wanted to understand the impact of what they were using on their skin, on their hair, and the real impact various ingredients had on the human body," she recalls. "People were becoming aware and wanting cleaner products, but at the same time, most clean products on the market didn't actually perform. They didn't have enough active ingredients in them to give you results."

At this point, Olson Rourke says you had two options: "You could get clean products that you felt good about the ingredients—but you weren't really getting any results—or you could get results-driven products that were chock-full of questionable ingredients."

Neora Balances the Need for Clean Ingredients with Superior Performance

Neora's director of product development, Juliana Rochelle—a self-admitted former "beauty junkie" whose misguided one-time motto was "the more the better," agrees with Olson Rourke.

"After years of working with formulations, you start to understand the true effect an ingredient—even when used topically—can have on your skin," Rochelle notes.

Rochelle learned the hard way. Instead of getting better results by loading up on chemical-laden skin care products, she suffered adverse reactions. "At first, I couldn't understand why, since I was using all the things the industry was telling me were good for my skin," she admits. "After years of study—and trial and error—I finally understood there's a lot more to a product than just the ingredients companies are calling out."

The solution Neora came up with was to create a perfect blend for each of the brand's products that relied on clean, active ingredients inspired by nature but still packed a punch. "[Our] plant-based actives are at a high concentration, so you actually get results," adds Olson Rourke.

Maximizing Results While Prioritizing Safety and Simplifying Products

Ensuring every ingredient in a product formula is safe must always take precedence over other concerns. "This is absolutely reflected in Neora's approach to skincare," Rochelle asserts, adding that Neora's consumer-centric, holistic approach drew her to the company in the first place.

"They stood out because they're not afraid to go against the grain. They started talking about the synergies of skin care topical products and wellness supplements before anyone else," and when the industry was telling everyone they needed an eight- to 10-step routine, Neora stood apart with its "skinimalism" approach and focus on multi-performing formulas.

Citing competitive brands that are less stringent in their guidelines, Olson Rourke maintains that Neora adheres to only the most rigorous standards for clean ingredients. In fact, she reports there are more than 70 commonly included additives found in mass-market products Neora will never use. "But at the same time, we hold ourselves to a really high standard of efficacy and actual performance, so our products are very transformative," she says. "When we talk about our products, how I describe them is 'clean meets performance.' They're very multifunctional. Each product does the work of many to streamline your routine."

As the skin care, hair care, and wellness markets continue to evolve, Olson Rourke pledges Neora's clean meets performance-driven product mantra will remain the driving force in the brand's ongoing mission of helping consumers navigate their health and beauty journeys by supplying them with the cleanest and best-performing products available. "People see visible results, and that's really been our focus—allowing people to have clean formulas that actually produce powerful results, whether that's in their skin care, hair care, health, wellness, or fitness."