1. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
Project
Choosing (Truly) Natural
Personal Care Products

2. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
Choosing (Truly) Natural Personal Care Products:
Why is this Social Impact?
Personal care products impact
human health and the environment
»» On the body = in the body
»» Unregulated (89% of ingredients not FDA tested1
)
»» Bad chemicals lead to bad health
»» Bad chemicals lead to environmental harm
»» Terms like “natural” not regulated at all, confusing

3. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
What’s out there
1. Information 2. Campaigns 3. Products

4. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
What’s out there
1. Information: Books
»» Comprehensive, but time-consuming to read
»» Difficult to remember everything

5. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
What’s out there
1. Information: Databases and Guides
Skin Deep (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com)
»» Comprehensive, but overwhelming
»» What’s the data gap?
Good Guide (www.goodguide.com)
»» Nicely designed, but not many beauty products
»» iPhone app with scanner
?

6. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
What’s out there
2. Campaigns
»» Burt’s Bees2
»» Provocative, attention-getting, untraditional

7. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
What’s out there
2. Campaigns
“The Story of Cosmetics” (www.storyofstuff.org/cosmetics)
»» Shareable, engaging (but lengthy)

8. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
What’s out there
3. Products
✓ Results
✓ souRce
✓ enviRonment
✓ safety
The besT There is
Enjoy with Confidence
& Good Conscience
raising The bar
in the Industry
& the Aisles
BEGOODTOYOUR
»» Seals and standards: Sephora’s natural standards, Whole Foods Premium Body Care3,4
»» Some products, like The Body Shop, have no set standards
?

9. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
My hypothesis
Barriers to choosing more natural
personal care products:
1. Unawareness
2. Cost and/or time

10. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
Possible solutions
1. Raise awareness
Ideas:
»» Attention-grabbing physical object
»» Online game/scavenger hunt
»» Video (short, targeted at teens?)
»» Campaign with sample giveaways
and stickers
»» Facebook game
(programming issues?)

11. Carnegie Mellon University // Social Impact by Design // Jenny Shirey // October 13, 2010
Possible solutions
2. Simplify information
Create list of “top ingredients to avoid”
»» Needs to be easy-to-carry
and attractive
»» Could garner attention,
show commitment to natural
personal care products
»» Ideas: wallet-size card, key chain,
cell phone sticker, bracelet

12. Next steps:
Sources:
1
Statistic from No More Dirty Looks by Siobhan O’Connor & Alexandra Spunt, page 3
2
Burt’s Bees campaign images from http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/burt_s_bees_canada_lotion and
http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20100125/burtsbees.html
3
Sephora’s natural standards: http://www.sephora.com/browse/article.jhtml;jsessionid=3F5OC02WT4RMGCV0KQLRHOQ?id=720901
4
Whole Foods Premium Body Care: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/premium-body-care.php
1. Choose a target audience
2. Research—possible ideas:
»» Freshman photo exercise
»» Interviews with girls from Ellis School
»» Collages of “your ideal product”
»» Survey