Olay’s most supercharged skin care franchise is super indeed – and customers agree. Bolstered by a trend for less complicated skin care routines, Olay’s Super Collection was designed to streamline regimens by packing five key benefits, delivered by five key derm-favorite ingredients, into each product.

“We have learned that women want to improve their skin but are really overwhelmed with all the choices and information around which ingredients are right for them,” said Stephanie Headley, Senior Vice President of North America Skincare at Procter & Gamble. “And we thought that was a real challenge that we could solve.”

Enter the scientists at team Olay, who immediately began researching how to unite skin-transforming actives into simple but sophisticated formulas that would visibly improve tone and texture, while delivering long-term hydration. The result? The Super Collection’s debut (and hero) product, Super Serum, a power-packed treatment that combines five ingredients into one skin-loving formula.

“It is our most awarded serum, and it really embodies the promise of the collection – you don’t have to do the extra thinking of which products you use and when, because it’s all in one,” said Headley. “We see the Super franchise as serving the consumer who wants all of the ingredients to serve her to meet her skin needs without the trade-offs of complexity.”

Next came Super Serum Night Repair, an overnight version of the lineup’s debut product, designed to support cellular repair.

“We know that the same five ingredients [in the Super Serum Night Repair, made with salicylic acid] can be effective at night, particularly because skin cellular turnover happens naturally in the body at night,” said Headley. “That’s the time when your skin cells are the most receptive to a serum.”

From there came Super Eyes Daily Serum, designed to give a wide awake, refreshed look instantly with the help of caffeine and subtle shimmer, while visibly smoothing and lifting the skin around the eye, on the long-term.

“Whether you’re concerned about crow’s feet, dark circles or dryness, this product does it all,” said Headly. “I have to say this one is one of my favorites. It goes on lightweight, and it works really well with makeup.”

In January 2025, Olay introduced Super Cream, with the same powerful five-in-one story, with the addition of SPF 30, without leaving a white cast or a greasy feel. Headley said that while you can stack the products and use them as a four-step routine, you can also pick and choose the products that work best for you.

“We are seeing a counter-trend to the eight-step routine, which is a much simpler one,” said Headley. “We’ve made sure that the formulas are also beautiful and delightful to use because we know that when they are, it actually drives more habit adoption and daily use for a better skin transformation.”

Available in more than 30,000 doors in the U.S. across food, drug, mass and online digital commerce retailers, Headley has reported “very strong results” across the marketplace since the Super collection’s 2023 launch.

When it comes to formulation, Olay’s women-led R&D team has spent decades performing clinical studies and patenting ingredients to find the most efficacious blends. According to Headley, one of the benefits of having an inclusive team is the insight into what the customer is actually looking for.

“More than 50 percent of our scientists are women, and I think it enables the products to be stronger,” said Headley. “We are baking in the insights as well as the technology to really resonate with the skincare concerns that we’re aiming to solve.”

To wit, each product in the Super franchise contains activated niacinamide, an Olay powerhouse ingredient. Also known as Vitamin B3, it boosts surface cell turnover, evens skin tone and tackles visible discoloration. This is combined with ingredients like vitamin C, collagen peptide, vitamin E, and AHA to help maximize the performance of each formula to perfect skin on multiple levels.

A Super Serum Body Wash was added to the roster in January 2025 with the promise of bringing skincare benefits for the body: namely firming, smoothing, brightening and evening skin tone, and locking hydration for 24 hours.

“We want to use the best ingredients above the neck for the face, but we know consumers have a high expectation for how their skin feels and looks below the neck as well,” said Headly. “We’ve been able to take that same promise to the body wash and it’s already been a strong success.”

Headley hinted that expansion in the “Super” world may be on the horizon.

“We will continue to solve real consumer challenges, and we will look for new ways that the five- in-one promise can serve more consumers,” she said. “We’ve seen very strong results across the marketplace, very strong ratings and reviews, and we plan to continue that momentum.”

On the marketing front, it’s clear the Super Series was designed to make an impact with today’s social-first customer. In addition to its eye-catching holographic packaging, Headley reveals that each Super formula delivers an immediate benefit, as well as more results over time. “It’s what we will call the ‘first use wow,’” said Headley. “Plus, the real results are, of course, our promise with Olay.”

And so, to get the word out about the Super franchise, Headley said that the brand has looked to social platforms to display the products’ transformational effects. There, the customer is already engaging in the beauty category, as Headley revealed that “skin care” is one of the top searched topics on all social media platforms.

“We shared Super Serum with hundreds of influencers at launch, and had amazing responses from those influencers who knew Olay was a quality product, but they themselves may not have had a personal experience with it,” said Headley. “This was a fantastic way to introduce the skin transformation promise to so many more consumers. Well beyond the paid partnership, we created strong new relationships through that experience.”

For Headley, utilizing social media is just another way to leverage Olay’s heritage of word-of-mouth sharing, which has been around since the brand’s inception.

“Whether it’s the advice of a mom or sister or aunt, the advice of beauty editors with whom we’ve had longstanding relationships, those same recommendations have now been transferred to TikTok and beauty influencers,” said Headley. “We have fully embraced the TikTok generation.”