In the past, a beauty brand voice strategy may have felt secondary to getting your products in the right place at the right time. Organic ingredients, cruelty-free formulations or plastic-free packaging may have been enough to convince conscious skinthusiasts to add your latest product to their basket.

But now slow beauty – clean beauty, ethical beauty or sustainable beauty – has gone mainstream. Refillable, reusable and minimally packaged skincare (like waterless beauty) made from sustainably sourced ingredients are popping up everywhere, and even big brands are getting on board. While this is great news for the planet, this means it’s harder than ever to stand out.

So how can you get more eyes on your brand as you scale up? One way is to develop a strong brand voice for your beauty brand.

What is brand voice?

Brand voice is the expression of your brand's personality through words. And, whether intentional or not, your brand has one. It’s how you come across on your website, in socials and in your email newsletters.

It helps to see your brand voice as an extension of your brand archetype. Is your brand a jester who entertains everyone? A maverick defying conventions? A medicine woman? Most brands are a mixture of three archetypes at varying ratios.

Brand voice can be dialled up and down depending on the occasion or channel. This is known as ‘tone of voice’.

Why a memorable beauty brand voice matters

Think about how you want your customers to feel when they pick up your product in a boutique and read the pack. When they’re searching for the perfect natural eyeliner online and stumble on your blog. When they’re scrolling your brand messaging on social media posts on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

As a beauty brand, if you don’t have a memorable brand voice, it’s easy to blend in with the other ‘clean’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘green brands out there. The market is crowded, and your words need to work as hard as your visual design.

An inconsistent brand voice can feel jarring, which undermines trust. If your website and social media copy is joyful and fresh, and then your customers receive an email that feels formal and corporate, something’s off.

An intentional beauty brand voice can help you:

Stand out in a saturated market
Build trust through consistency – even when multiple people write for your brand
Deepen emotional connection
Increase recall
Turn casual browsers into buyers

Tips to help your beauty brand voice stand out

A brand voice can evolve organically over years. Or you can nail and develop your brand voice over a matter of weeks using some tried-and-tested techniques. Here are some tips to get you started:

1) Get crystal clear on your mission and audience

Your brand voice should reflect your brand’s mission and appeal to your target audience. Make sure you do this foundational work first to avoid mixed messages. You can develop your brand voice alongside your visual branding to ensure it all works together.

2) Study your target audience

It’s much easier to create a brand voice when you focus on one audience. Get a feel for how your audience speaks, what they value and the type of language that resonates with them. You can do this through social listening, by trawling your reviews or inviting them to your premises for a chat.

3) Audit your competitors

Who are your closest competitors? Explore how they communicate with their customers to avoid being a ‘me-too’ brand. Are there any gaps in the market? For example, if other brands speak like an expert formulator, could you adopt a playful or even cheeky voice?

4) Bring your beauty brand voice to life

Once you’ve done all the groundwork, it’s time for some fun! Start playing around with words, language and sentences to work out how to communicate your brand’s personality. Here are some ways you could do this:

For a bold, edgy brand, try using short, snappy sentences, active voice, and energetic words.

For a sensual and luxurious feel, use flowing sentences, evocative descriptions, and sensory details to evoke touch, sight, and smell.

If your vibe is playful and fun, have a go at wordplay and creative product names.

5) Make it real with brand guidelines

It’s no good if your standout brand voice exists only in your (or your lead copywriter’s) head! To futureproof your brand voice, immortalise it in as much detail as possible in a set of guidelines. This will make it easier for everyone who writes for your brand to recreate it consistently across channels.

As a minimum, your guidelines should include:

Examples of your brand voice in action across different channels (social media, website, packaging, emails, etc).
Words and topics to avoid.
A bank of signature phrases and terminology unique to your brand.

Your brand voice will evolve, so I’d recommend reviewing your guidelines every year.

Some beauty brands with very different brand voices

Take inspiration from other brands within your own sector and beyond. Some slow beauty brands that have successfully developed a distinctive verbal identity include:

Saalt. This washable period pants brand has a fun, relatable voice that doesn’t take itself too seriously. They say, ‘we are on a mission to end panicked sprints to the bathroom, sweaters tied around waists, and sleeping on towels.’ Their Co-Founder, Cherie Hoeger says many of their loyal fans reference their unique brand voice as one of the reasons they love them so much.
KraveBeauty. With its Great Barrier Relief cream, this slow skincare brand takes a fun and cheeky approach to naming its products, which it specially formulates for when your ‘skintuition’ says it needs more care for its ‘skinsides’. The brand voice feels approachable and laid back.
WinkyLux. A US vegan clean makeup brand with a fresh and juicy brand voice that complements its loud, colourful pattern design. They say: ‘We add sass to our skincare and magic to our makeup. Life's too short for boring, so we say go ahead and eat that cake… for breakfast.
Figaro Apothecary. Science meets luxury with this botanical brand. The brand uses elevated language (yes, that word!), long sentences and sophisticated words to exude a feeling of luxury. They use artistic references and soulful imagery to complete the picture of quiet, natural luxury.
Disciple. This UK brand cuts the fluff and communicates without jargon. Sharing the connection between skin and mind, it feels supportive and therapeutic. Its founder worked as a psychotherapist, and this language comes out in the verbal identity.
Lumene. This brand combines the scientific language we’ve come to expect from certain beauty brands with poetic, nature-infused imagery such as ‘ light-charged natural active ingredients’ and formulating ‘cosmetic products with wild-crafted ingredients’.

Own your beauty brand voice

Having a hard time developing your beauty brand’s voice? When you’re so close to your business it can be hard to see it with an outsider’s eyes.

I’ve helped clean beauty brands develop their brand voice and have years of experience bringing brand voice guidelines to life. I’ve even helped Italian clients adapt their tone of voice for the English-speaking market. Let’s chat and see how I can help you.

Why your beauty brand voice matters (and how to find it)