Podcast 276: Efficacy at all costs – The beauty standard we need to rethink

Everywhere you turn in beauty, you get the same message: results, results, results. Products promise to brighten, firm, and smooth – fast. But what happens when efficacy becomes the only measure of a product’s worth?

In this thought-provoking solo episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO, Biologist, and Chartered Environmentalist Lorraine Dallmeier invites us to rethink one of the beauty industry’s most entrenched standards.

Following last week’s interview with Stephen Smith of Nuturn, Lorraine reflects on his provocative phrase “efficacy at all costs” – a mindset that prioritises visible transformation over skin health, integrity, or sustainability.

From trade show booths filled with dramatic before-and-afters to consumer demands for wrinkle-free skin in seven days, this episode explores the deep-rooted pressures placed on skincare products to perform – and what that really costs us.

If you’re a formulator, brand founder, or conscious consumer, this episode will challenge you to define what efficacy truly means in your work or your skincare routine. Because maybe results aren’t just about fast change, but lasting care.

“When did skincare stop being about care and start being about optimisation?” — Lorraine Dallmeier

Key takeaways:

• The problem with fast results: The beauty industry has long equated efficacy with instant, visible results, but that narrow definition excludes gentle, effective skincare that supports long-term health. Lorraine challenges the idea that a product must shock the skin to prove it’s working.
• Trade shows and transformation culture: Drawing from her recent visit to the in-cosmetics Global trade show, Lorraine reflects on the relentless marketing of instant results and how this visual culture fuels feelings of inadequacy and impatience.
• A personal story: Lorraine shares a story from Formula Botanica’s early days that highlights just how deeply industry standards shape consumer expectations.
• Wellness culture confusion: Lorraine unpacks how this obsession with “efficacy at all costs” is mirrored in wellness culture, where sensation (burning, tingling) is often mistaken for action, and how it leads to a cycle of dissatisfaction and overcorrection.
• Redefining efficacy for the future: The episode concludes with a powerful call to redefine efficacy: to value ingredients that support skin barrier function, that align with our values, and that contribute to long-term wellbeing, not just short-term cosmetic change.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

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Lorraine Dallmeier

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.