Nivea Is Now Innovating Body care for Darker Skin Tones
Written by: Precious Umeasalugo
Anete Lusina/Pexels
No more mixing over here.
Your face gets all the attention. Whether you’re trying out fancy serums and futuristic LED masks or using a basic routine with moisturizer and sunscreen, there is no lack of products to use on your face. But when it comes to the skin on the rest of you, you might find that things start to slow down. There are fewer products and devices, and half of the body care items available might not even be effective in your routine. For people of colour, this problem gets even deeper as the products available do not cater to our skin and the intricacies that come with it.
Here at The Beautiful Societies, we are always on the lookout for melanin-focused skincare that works. So when Nivea announced the launch of the Radiant & Beauty range which includes the Nivea Radiant and Beauty Even Glow we could tell it signalled growth in how much access people of colour will have to melanin-friendly body care in coming years. We had to speak to Nivea to help you understand this new category.
Here's everything you need to know about the Radiant & Beauty range and how Nivea is fostering this shift.
Basil Menachem is the head of shopper and customer marketing at Beiersdorf, the parent company of several personal care brands including Nivea, Eucerin and Aquaphor.
Before Beiersdorf, he worked in other companies like PZ Cussons, L’Oreal, and Unilever, where he gained extensive experience in beauty development and procurement. Basil was part of the team at Nivea charged with launching melanin-rich bodycare products.
So, why melanin-rich body care?
For Nivea, venturing into melanin-rich body care was the answer to years of growing pains among customers.
“Over the years, we’ve received feedback from our consumers that they are not fully satisfied with current skincare offers in the market as they have different skin needs”, Nivea’s Head of Shopper & Customer Marketing Basil Menachem says, describing an industry bias that is not new or easy to deal with for people with skin of colour.
From paltry foundation ranges to lip products that do not work on darker skin, it's not rare to see darker phototypes placed on the back burner when beauty brands announce products. And like makeup and skincare, the body care options are notoriously slim for skin of colour. So what do people do when the available products do not cater to them? Menachem explains that they mostly resort to the DIY practice of ‘mixing’.
“In the market, there wasn’t that all-in-one product with a focus on melanin-rich skin, which fueled people's need to mix their creams and lotions with glycerin, tissue oil, or petroleum jelly for extra moisturization & long-lasting benefits”, he adds.
But it begs an even bigger question: why do none of the products available even work for skin of colour? The answer lies in its uniqueness.
The uniqueness of skin of colour
Skin of colour is not like caucasian skin. Our melanin edit goes into more detail about the differences, but Menachem does offer a concise explanation.
Read: Does Darker Skin need different skincare?
“The unique skin attributes of melanin-rich skin ranges from having superior antimicrobial defence, lesser photo-ageing and with relatively high protection from UV rays,” he explains.
But skin of colour also has its challenges, one of them being how its compact outer layer makes it difficult for moisture to get in but much easier for said moisture to leave. Add concerns like hyperpigmentation, acne, and stretch marks to the mix, and you have several skin concerns that most body lotions do not have the range to tackle.
For these lotions and creams to work, they must be formulated to provide a long-lasting, intense level of extra hydration and nutrition to the skin.
“In the market, there wasn’t that all-in-one product with a focus on melanin-rich skin, which fueled people’s need to mix their creams and lotions with glycerin, tissue oil or petroleum jelly for extra moisturization & long-lasting benefits.”
Nivea’s Radiant & Beauty Range
Some have described the idea of a melanin-friendly category in the beauty industry as yet another cosmetic cash grab. However, Menachem’s comments dispel these misconceptions.
“Thanks to the various Skin Care Centers of Excellence set up by Nivea’s parent company, Beiersdorf, R&D Teams have spent years studying and understanding the needs of melanin-rich skin and how to address them better,” he affirms.
But it wasn't just crucial that these products in the Radiant beauty range were effective; they also had to be affordable. “The current rate of inflation and reduction in disposable income not only makes mixing products a time-consuming process but also a very expensive affair,” Menachem states, which is especially the case for people of colour in developing countries.
In terms of effectiveness and affordability, Nivea is bridging both gaps. Let’s take a quick look at the two products in the range they have launched.
“The current rate of inflation and reduction in disposable income not only makes mixing products a time-consuming process but also a very expensive affair.”
Advanced Care
Nivea’s Radiant & Beauty Advanced Care body lotion has been created to be the answer to all your hydration woes. Formulated with a rich blend of vitamins, glycerin, and oils like Almond, Soybean, Avocado, Macadamia, and Olive Oil, the advanced care body lotion provides long-lasting nourishment to the driest of skin.
© Nivea
“Almond Oil, known for its emollient properties, smoothens and rejuvenates the skin. Avocado oil has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that keep the skin smooth. And both Vitamins A and C help restore and even out skin tone by clearing the free radicals from the skin,” Menachem says.
A cocktail of these ingredients creates the Advanced Care body lotion, which, true to its name, deeply moisturizes and protects your skin from the inside out. And if you struggle with stretch marks, hyperpigmentation, or childhood scarring, Advanced Care claims to produce visible results in just two weeks of use.
Even Glow Lotion
Formulated with 95% pure vitamin C, SPF 15, and turmeric and pearl extracts, the Radiant & Beauty Even Glow body lotion has been formulated to reduce the appearance of dark spots and stretch marks.
© Nivea
An ingredient profile like that is what Menachem says ensures that the product helps repair and reduce dark spots, offers protection from sun damage, and delivers up to 48 hours of moisturization for dry skin. But that's not all this melanin-focused product contains.
Like the Advanced Care body lotion, Even Glow – which is also available as a thicker body cream – is enriched with 5 Natural Oils (Almond, Soybean, Avocado, Macadamia, and Olive Oil) and 5 Skin Vitamins (Vit A + Vit E + Vit C + Vit B3 + Pro Vit B5) for lingering nourishment.
These ingredients make Nivea's Radiant & Beauty Even Glow hydrating lotion and body cream great for concerns like stretch marks, dark patches, and rough, uneven texture.
How to choose a melanin-rich body lotion
From the inherent sun protection deeper skin tones have to the slower rate of photoaging, melanin does have its perks. However, these skin phototypes are also prone to inflammation, dryness, and sun damage. Like the Nivea Radiant & Beauty Even Glow range, it's important to pick a lotion that provides hydration, sun protection through SPF, and is in a consistency that suits your skin type.
We also recommend going for lotions that contain antioxidants in addition to SPF to add an additional layer of protection against sun damage.
Keep Reading: What causes dark spots and how do you get rid of them, according to dermatologists
