• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 8, 2023

In its latest effort to reshape ideas about aging, RoC Skincare is expanding its partnership with actor Sarah Jessica Parker. The company is pushing the Look Forward Project, which the skincare brand launched with Parker last year, to include even younger customers.

The idea behind the effort is the same: helping women feel less anxious about aging, and more upbeat about the future. But this iteration incorporates more insights from psychologists and other experts, gearing the initiative toward teens.

Profits from sales of the new limited-edition skincare set will go to mental health advocacy programs aimed at teens and their parents.

This year's effort is based on research showing how people wished they had begun being more positive about the future earlier.

It says 59% of women RoC interviewed say they weren't optimistic when growing up and wish they had been. And 69% of moms fear their negativity could impact their children, with 79% saying they have tried to instill positive thinking in their kids, but didn't know where to start.

The effort includes a new optimism curriculum for young people, created with experts Deepika Chopra, also known as the "Optimism Doctor," Josie Howard, MD, psychiatrist and psychodermatology specialist focusing on skin and emotional well-being, and Shani Tran, a therapist.

RoC intends to distribute 5,000 new resource kits to middle-school students around the U.S.

There's also a social media push, urging people to share inspirational messages using the #BeARoC TikTok campaign.

RoC, known for wrinkle-zapping retinol-rich products, is owned by Gryphon Investors, a private equity group that acquired it from Johnson & Johnson in 2019.

The new campaign comes at a moment when consumers are rethinking what's in their beauty routines.

Circana's latest report, tracking first-half of the year sales, says makeup is the fastest growing segment right now, with 3% more people using color cosmetics -- especially lipstick --than last year.

In terms of skincare, face serum, body spray and facial cleansers were the top gainers, at least in the prestige segment. And clinical brands did the best.

Sales of hybrid products that solve skin concerns and provide makeup coverage are gaining.

More shoppers are trading down to drugstores and mass brands, which includes RoC. Circana says 67% of consumers say these brands are as good as prestige products, an increase from a year ago.