"Clean" this and "Sustainable" that—these words have become the modern marketing fuel for selling practically anything. Add a celebrity name and suddenly you can sell your company to a public entity for $1B just three years after launch.
These terms, "clean and sustainable," define our current era, but their widespread use has diluted their meaning and original value. What does being "clean" actually mean? How is "sustainability" truly achieved? Or have these simply become empty buzzwords that clever marketers use to appeal to consumers?
At Firsthand, making "clean cosmetics" wasn't our initial goal—it emerged naturally as we solved problems we personally experienced. Similarly, being "sustainable" wasn't our primary aim, but rather the result of addressing how to introduce thousands of new containers without using additional raw materials.
Outcomes vs. Purpose
If clean and sustainable were positive outcomes rather than our starting point, what drove us? What was our purpose? In Part 1 of this series, we discussed our ingredient obsession. This wasn't about "clean ingredients" for their own sake, but about creating products that WORKED exceptionally well using ingredients that wouldn't irritate our skin and scalps.
In a word, we were after efficacy.
Efficacy means "the ability to produce the intended result." It's a core element of our brand pillar of Formulaic Integrity: high-performance formulas made with ingredients that benefit your body.
Efficacy is the crucial factor that separates products that deliver on their promises from those hiding behind marketing buzzwords like "clean" and "sustainable" to mask their mediocrity.
Too often, these buzzwords act as smoke screens, concealing that a product is virtually identical to countless others. This largely stems from white-labeling practices in our industry. For the uninitiated, white-labeling occurs when brands purchase a manufacturer's base formula, make minor tweaks (perhaps adding a signature scent or trendy ingredient), and market it as their own "proprietary blend." In reality, this same core formula may appear in dozens of other products, each claiming uniqueness.
But I digress.
Efficacy drove Firsthand's creation and continues to guide us—it matters so much that we still formulate everything in-house, despite the easier path of outsourcing to contract manufacturers.
This doesn't mean self-manufacturing always creates highly effective products. The first "natural/organic" products we tried didn't cause irritation but failed to style our hair adequately. These were formulated and manufactured by a small independent brand like Firsthand. This highlights how tricky defining effectiveness can be.
The Grey Zone of Efficacy
Unlike drugs, which have clearly measurable efficacy, cosmetics present a more subjective case. Their effectiveness varies based on the user's skin and hair type, as well as their desired look. This can make claims on cosmetics a bit trickier to push against.
In short, cosmetics are products "intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body...for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance." Drugs, according to the FDA, are "intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease." Drugs have specific, measurable outcomes, while cosmetics can only be directionally effective depending on the user. Some products straddle both worlds—like anti-dandruff shampoo, which is "a cosmetic because its intended use is to cleanse the hair, and a drug because its intended use is to treat dandruff."
This grey zone makes it challenging to decide which products to choose and which brand claims to trust. Firsthand's answer to this challenge was developing a smaller, simpler lineup of products that achieve a broad range of outcomes with some intentional overlap. This approach makes it easier to find a product that works effectively for your specific needs.
Delivering on our Promises
We firmly believe in the concept of "garbage in, garbage out."
If you use products made with garbage ingredients, don't expect great results. Just like an exceptional meal begins with quality ingredients, our obsession with sourcing the best ingredients yields formulas that truly become the sum of their parts: high-quality, highly effective products that deliver on their promises.
