The beauty industry has been actively addressing its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) systems in the last decade, picking up speed post-2020 as more brands, corporate programs, and digital products manifest. With this sea change comes industry-wide recognition of these efforts, in the form of accolades and publicity.

Neutrogena’s Heroes of Skin Health Equity initiative follows this movement: the program, launched earlier this year, is a focused effort to close the skin health gap by making skincare accessible and affordable for consumers.^[1] The company cites that Americans in lower income brackets are less likely to ever see a dermatologist, seek preventative healthcare, and have lower health literacy—all elements that contribute to overall skin health disparities in America.^[2] The program and it’s award ceremony received positive coverage from Yahoo!,^[1] ELLE,^[3] InStyle,^[4] and Practical Dermatology,^[5] among other beauty-focused publications.

Held on January 31, the ceremony was hosted by Kerry Washington and Jennifer Garner, longtime ambassadors for the company. Washington emphasized that each person honored has had an intentional, long-standing relationship with Neutrogena, stating, “...it’s not something the brand woke up last week and decided to get into the equity game…the collaboration is uniquely tailored to what each of these innovators is doing in the world.”^[4]

ClearForMe proudly received the Heroes of Skin Health Equity for Transparency honor, for being a digital resource that provides ingredient transparency, helping those with Black and brown skin find the best products for their needs.^[1] Neutrogena plans to roll out our technology across its brand platforms, bringing greater ingredient transparency to its consumers by offering user-friendly, clickable ingredient lists within their e-commerce pages.

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