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- Skincare Unboxed | Vaseline Goes Gaming: Skincare Meets the Metaverse
Skincare Unboxed | Vaseline Goes Gaming: Skincare Meets the Metaverse
Plus: The aesthetics boom is creating new whitespace for messaging and retention.
Sophie Bruxner-Randall
April 30, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
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Welcome to Skincare Unboxed — your weekly drop of skincare eCommerce trends, campaigns, and category standouts.
Editor’s Pick ✨
Marketing thought leadership has a tendency towards binaries. The funnel is either completely dead or very much alive. Brand marketing is either pointless or the solution to all your problems, and ChatGPT is ending 30 years of search overnight.
At Fospha, we love the measurement challenge of any new channel that offers our clients ways to reach more customers. However, Google is still very much the biggest advertising platform. Performance Max (PMAX) and Search products alone represent around 30% of our clients’ digital share of wallet.
In uncertain times, it’s more important than ever for brands to nail these core channels, so we produced the definitive best practice guide on PMAX and Paid Search. Here were our top findings:
⚖️ Best performing brands allocate 55% of Google budget to PMAX and 12% to Paid Search.
🏆 Brands that pair Search and PMAX with ~50% of their budgets in YouTube, Demand Gen and Paid Social see optimal results.
🎨 Especially for PMAX, high-volume creative is key for AI-powered optimization.
Sector Spotlight 🎥
BEAUTY MARKETING INNOVATION
Vaseline’s Screen Block campaign addresses gamer-specific skincare needs by highlighting the under-discussed risks of blue light exposure, using immersive in-game activations and Twitch influencer partnerships to effectively reach a digital-first audience. Marketers should note the power of integrating health products contextually within gaming ecosystems to drive engagement and awareness.
BEAUTY MARKET TRENDS
Connecticut is investigating how Sephora’s marketing targets children and tweens as the number of 9- to 12-year-old customers has doubled in five years, raising health concerns about young consumers’ exposure to potentially harmful skincare ingredients. For marketers, this highlights rising regulatory scrutiny and the need to balance youth-oriented eCommerce tactics with responsible product messaging and compliance.
CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHT
Dermalogica’s collaboration with Erin and Sara Foster for the Daily Microfoliant campaign leverages their genuine personal connection to the brand, reinforcing authenticity in its messaging. By choosing relatable TV personalities, Dermalogica aims to make professional-grade skincare more accessible and engaging. Marketers can note the value of authentic storytelling and influencer relatability in connecting with audiences.
BEAUTY PRODUCT INNOVATION
Gente Beauty’s Ultimate Hydration Set exemplifies the convergence of clean beauty and sensory-driven skincare, featuring Amazonian ingredients like açaí and cupuaçu butter. With rich textures and natural actives, the set caters to consumers craving indulgent yet efficacious routines—particularly during summer, when hydration and radiance take center stage. For marketers, this launch offers a blueprint for bundling seasonal relevance with storytelling, using nature-forward positioning and product experience to boost conversion, AOV, and long-term loyalty.
BEAUTY MARKET TRENDS
Facial injectables are seeing surging demand, especially among men and consumers seeking minimal downtime, with the global market projected to nearly double from $8.93 billion in 2023 to $17.24 billion by 2032. Leading suppliers, including Allergan Aesthetics (AbbVie), Galderma, Merz Pharma, Ipsen Pharma, and Revance Therapeutics, drive growth through targeted R&D and regulatory approvals. For marketers, these shifts signal rising opportunities for segmentation, tailored messaging, and education within a rapidly evolving aesthetics market.
MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Neutrogena’s new digital campaign, featuring Bollywood star Shraddha Kapoor, highlights the Hydro Boost Water Gel’s clinically proven hydration benefits and its role in driving the global adoption of hyaluronic acid in skincare. Marketers can note the brand’s science-driven messaging and focus on simplicity, authenticity, and digital amplification.
Optimization Hub ⚙️
GENERATIVE ENGINE SEO
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) extends beyond traditional SEO by aligning content for discovery, citation, and authoritative referencing by AI-powered search platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Marketers must answer specific questions, structure content for AI extraction, and continually update material to secure lasting visibility as AI search becomes mainstream. Monitoring AI citations, not just organic rankings, has become critical for measuring content impact in the shifting future of digital marketing.
INNOVATIVE PERSONALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES
Cookieless personalization uses first-party and zero-party data, real-time behavior, and contextual signals to create compliant, tailored digital experiences without third-party cookies. This is essential for eCommerce brands responding to privacy regulations and browser restrictions. Marketers must implement server-side tracking, interactive content, and consent management to maintain relevance.
AI VISUAL INNOVATION
Photoroom’s launch of AI-driven tools—Product Beautifier, Product Staging, and Virtual Model—integrates OpenAI’s gpt-image-1, letting brands of any size generate professional product visuals without costly shoots. These features equip marketers to rapidly produce high-impact eCommerce content, closing the gap with larger competitors.
How radiant was this week’s edition? |