La Roche Posay and Mario Badescu both pop up frequently when reading consumer focused blogs on gentle skincare. Consumers describe the products using subjective phrasing that is often difficult to interpret. Some consumers call these products “light” while others find them “heavy and thick”, but perhaps most confusing of all, some consumers use integrated terms like “clean”, “soft” or “heavy” to describe products. How exactly does one formulate against that feedback?
Descriptive Analysis (DA) helps decipher and unpack these terms, but sometimes DA provides more detailed information than is needed. If your business doesn’t maintain sensory panels, outsourcing these evaluations can also be expensive. For scenarios where you need fast, actionable results for your product developers or to provide direction when budgetary constraints are a factor, we recommend using a quick descriptive screening called a SnapShot.
A SnapShot can turn somewhat vague comments like these :
Into actionable advice, like this:
These products are notably different. During wash neither product generates high foam. Perhaps not in application but certainly in rinse and residue. La Roche-Posay leaves skin tightened with a waxy residue that feels draggy on the skin while the Mario Badescu product feels like untreated skin, with a nearly powdery residue.
In comparison the products receives a degree of difference score of 5.0. Which indicates that physical properties of the products are very different and that difference is driven mostly by the after-feel. Consumers would absolutely see differences in these products.
Lisa Codespot, Sensory Scientist
So based on the SnapShot we know that when consumers are describing the “heavy” La Roche-Posay they are actually referring to the waxy-greasy residue and when they speak to how Mario Badescu makes their skin feel “clean” they likely are referring to the thin skin coating or the powdery feel after drying.