Several troubling stats from a recent skin care study ignited Neutrogena into creating several programs that would help provide access to skin care resources for the masses.

The Neutrogena survey, Skin Health in America, found that 62 percent of Americans aged 18 and over were unable to get to a dermatologist for a skin care issue, and that people earning under $25,000 annually are 1.7 times less likely to have ever been to a dermatologist.

In a bid to address these imbalances, Neutrogena on Wednesday, April 14, launched its For People With Skin mission, designed to ensure that every person in America who needs skin care services has access to it, irrespective of any socioeconomic factors.

“Literally everyone has skin,” said Kerry Sullivan, General Manager of Neutrogena. “And everyone deserves to get the very best expertise and the very best outcome. Skin care has gotten complicated, and you shouldn’t have to try it all or be in the know to get your healthiest skin ever. There are a lot of barriers that stand in the way, and we want to be here to knock down those barriers.”

The brand is doing this in multiple ways, including advocacy for the development of equitable skin products that are accessible to all consumers.

“Advocacy can make a difference, making sure the right products are being developed and tested for all people,” said Kerry. Part of that is expanding on the brand’s existing partnership with the Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s Black Innovators in Skin Health QuickFire Challenge, whereby the winner receives up to $50,000 to pursue advances in products dedicated to skin of color; the challenge is in response to the fact that only 3 percent of dermatologists in the U.S. are Black, and that research within the skin health industry is largely predicated on light skin categories.

Education is also key to the mission, said Kerry. In early April, the brand announced the launch of its brand content studio, Neutrogena Studios, which will debut with a documentary short executive produced by Kerry Washington. “In the Sun”, to be released on April 27, showcases the lives of several families as they learn to safely enjoy the sun, presented in an uplifting and inspiring way; the film won the award for Best Environmental Short Documentary at the Seattle Film Festival.

Today, as part of its education platform, the brand is launching Self Exam Beautifully, an interactive microsite where users are guided through a simple series of steps to help them understand their skin better and allow for early detection of skin cancers.

Lastly, with the focus these days being so much on sustainability, Kerry said Neutrogena will continue to push for transparency – uncomplicated skin care, healthy ingredients and using post-consumer recycled materials in packaging and doing away with cartons and plastic windows. Kerry said that all plastic packaging for the brand’s products will be 100 percentage recyclable by 2025. Even at that point, said Kerry, “We are not done, not by any means. There is so much more to do to make each jar, each product experience, ever more sustainable along the way. We will use that transparency and our expertise to break down as many barriers in skincare as we can.”

The overarching goal of For People With Skin, said Kerry, is to radically democratize skin health.

“Increasingly, what I’m excited about what Neutrogena can do, and what the industry can do, is to bring forward and share expertise. We don’t want to hold it at arm’s length as a magical thing that we know about and others don’t. We want to meet every American where they are in their skin care journey.”