Consumer Perceptions of Glycation-Induced Facial Skin Aging and the Role of Skincare Products

BACKGROUNDGlycation is a biological process known to exacerbate undesirable skin aging parameters such as yellowing, dullness, wrinkles and reduced elasticity. This study aimed to better understand consumer perceptions of glycation on facial skin and consumer expectations of anti-glycation skincare.

METHODSFocus group discussions (FGDs) with 24 female participants and an online survey with 800 female participants were conducted in China. Participants were 20–50 years old. The FGDs and survey aimed to determine facial skin qualities consumers associated with glycation and to link these qualities to commonly perceived skincare efficacies. Total unduplicated reach and frequency (TURF) and principal component analyses (PCA) were performed on data collected from the online surveys.

RESULTSThe main expected efficacies of anti-glycation skincare were reduced dullness and yellowness, and increased radiance and brightness. These efficacies were associated with the skincare descriptive categories “nourishing”, “repairing” and “skin and spot lightening”. TURF analysis showed that the descriptive category “nourishing” had an estimated 50% consumer reach, highlighting that this skincare feature was highly valued in the management of glycation. The descriptive category with the second highest consumer reach was “skin and spot lightening”, however, among women who identified glycation as a skin concern, “repairing” had a greater estimated reach than “skin and spot lightening”.

CONCLUSIONFemale Chinese skincare users mainly associate the descriptive categories “nourishing”, “repairing”, and “skin and spot lightening” with anti-glycation effects. To combat glycation, women expect to see reduced skin dullness and yellowness and improved skin radiance and brightness.

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