Skincare is a category known for having a strong visual presence on a number of digital channels. Modern consumers are demanding a more engaging shopping experience and photo and video demonstrating product use, rich texture swatches and key ingredients are helping brands grow their customer base.
We’ve seen a lot of skincare brands winning their customers over with eye-catching product imagery. Many of them have carefully curated unique visual styles and cues to distinguish themselves from the competition.
Here's our rundown of skincare brands with striking product images and the photography styles that they’re best at. Find out which brands made it to the list!
Sand & Sky have mastered the art of texture play in their images. This technique adds artistic detail to their images while highlighting their product texture and formulations. By focusing on just the packaging and product texture, with occasional water and bubbles, they are able to produce images that have depth and interest and require minimal additional props and styling.
Check out Sand & Sky on Instagram at @sandandskyaus
Shadows can sometimes be distracting, but not for Japanese skincare brand Tatcha. This is a brand that knows how to play with shadows in an artistic manner to captivate their customers with their product images. Their use of shadows subtly adds creativity and detail to their shots, enabling the product to remain the primary focus. By using light that appears natural they create a peaceful aesthetic with gentle shadows that add a realistic touch to their photos.
Check out Tatcha on Instagram at @tatcha
Glow Recipe is a popular brand known for its fruit-powered skincare products. The brand creates interesting and visually appealing product images by highlighting the main ingredients of their products—fruits! Not only does it show that their products are fresh and natural but this style adds a pop of colour to their imagery and makes their shots instantly recognisable.
Check out Glow Recipe on Instagram at @glowrecipe
Herbivore Botanicals have mastered the art of photographing liquids and transparent formula. Teamed with glass panels and pastel coloured backdrops the brand has achieved an aesthetic reminiscent of a precious stone or crystal. There is a refined and airy quality to their images which experiment with colour, texture and composition.
Check out Herbivore Botanicals on Instagram at @herbivorebotanicals
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This cruelty-free, vegan skincare brand has proven that sometimes less can be more powerful. Summer Fridays creates eye-catching photos using their neutral brand palette, some bold shadows, and minimalist styling to stand out from the crowd. Their images appear to be taken in natural, sun drenched situations and perfectly captures the summery aesthetic of the brand.
Check out Summer Fridays on Instagram at @summerfridays
Unlike the previous brand on our list, Neutrogena is a brand that thinks more is more! This brand wins at grouping lots of products together and making ranges and collections look fun. We love how they create shelfies, group flatlays and arrange multiple products together in interesting ways.
Check out Neutrogena on Instagram at @neutrogena
There’s one thing that stands out from all the product images from Laneige—they do amazing flatlays! The brand creates flatlay images using context rich props that help set the scene and colours that complement each product. Laneige does a stellar job of experimenting with different ideas and concepts while keeping it all on-brand.
Check out Laneige on Instagram at @laneige_us
The award for most artistic product images goes to The Ordinary! In contrast to their brand name, their imagery consists of their products being displayed in various conceptual settings and in extraordinary ways. With creativity and imagination, they’re able to capture the attention of their customers online.
Check out The Ordinary on Instagram at @deciem
As you can see from these examples, it is vital for skincare marketers to have on-brand visual content to forge unique identities in a saturated market. Brands that are able to define their personality and value proposition through product and lifestyle visuals are better able to stand out to their fans amongst a sea of online posts.
In addition to building identifiable brands, product images have a practical effect by enabling customers to get a feel for the quality of the product. This helps them to understand how a particular product fits into their regime and ultimately feel confident enough to purchase online.
Content production platforms like Creatively Squared help brands easily produce content that is on-brand and visually communicates key product benefits and uses. Find out how you can simplify your brand's photo and video production with this innovative and cost-effective solution.
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