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Skinfo scientifically explains 30.000 skincare ingredients in one click
CEO Lena Skiba’s goal is to change a small part of a giant global industry by increasing transparency.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
15 Feb 2021

The Stockholm-based 32-year-old started her career as a construction engineer but changed profession after 10 years to create Skinfo.

— We provide scientific information on ingredients in products for the skin sold at e-commerce sites. The normal way of presenting ingredients is far too advanced for a normal person, so we simply ”translate” each substance and add their function, origin, vitamins, and other concerns like, for example, allergens. In a way we save consumers’ time to do the research while brands can become more transparent towards them, she states.

Skinfo’s feed

The information service just partnered with a well-established pharmacy chain in Sweden, LloydsApotek, where they’re integrated on all personal care products online. 

— It’s an important step for the industry and consumers as they can pave the way for other companies. Eventually, this means that people’s skin health can improve at scale. 

According to you, how transparent is the skincare industry?

— I think there are lots of exciting and positive changes already, for example, packaging choices, transportation types, and CO2 emissions from production. But in the end, we value our health the most and since ingredients land on our skin and body, there is nothing more intimate than that. 70% of consumers are already searching for information elsewhere so there is a good reason to make them stay on the site by telling them about the content directly instead. My guess is that ingredients are a hassle for most companies because there are more than 30.000 of them and you need to collect lots of information to get a holistic view. It’s complex and needs hundreds of thousands of rows of code to puzzle all information together, but now that we can offer this we can solve it for them instead. 

Are Scandinavian brands more transparent than others?

— I don’t think so. We’ve received a very positive response from Scandinavian brands, but we are also getting interest all the way from New Zealand which might mean that this is rooted in people’s general interest in health, more than ever. Also, there just hasn’t been a solution like Skinfo available to brands before and they have simply focused on other — just as important — parts to increase their transparency in.