The first time Natalie Zee Drieu read the directions for Shaping Facial Lift serum from French beauty brand Clarins, she paused.
第一次阅读法国美妆品牌娇韵诗(Clarins)出品的纤颜紧致精华乳(Shaping Facial Lift serum)的使用说明时，娜塔莉·德里耶(Natalie Zee Drieu)愣住了。
The booklet explained a multi-step application technique: Squirt out a dime-size amount of serum, warm it between the hands, sit with elbows on knees and, using hands and the weight of the head, gently apply pressure to the forehead, cheeks, chin and other points on the face, holding each position for about 10 seconds.
这份说明书讲解了一个包含多个步骤的使用技巧：首先按压出硬币般大小的精华乳，置于掌心中回温，然后坐下来把手肘撑在膝盖上，借助双手和头部的重量轻轻地按压额头、脸颊、下巴和脸部其他部位，每个部位要按压10秒左右的时间。
'Wow, this is a lot of stuff to do, ' she thought. 'This is like homework.'
德里耶心想，“哇，这要做的事情太多了，就像做家庭作业一样。”她是旧金山一位39岁的母亲，也是一位时尚博主。
For a week, Ms. Zee Drieu, a 39-year-old mother and style blogger in San Francisco, ignored the instructions and just rubbed a little serum on her face before bed. But one night out of curiosity she went through the whole process, and the results surprised her. 'I could see more of a difference, ' she says. 'People tell me my face looks skinnier.'
于是，在接下来的一周时间里，她忽略了这些说明，每天只是往脸上随意抹一些精华乳便上床睡觉。一天晚上，她出于好奇完成了整个流程，显示的效果让她感到惊讶。她说，“我能够看到更多变化，大家都说我的脸看起来变瘦了。”
As skin-care products make ever-bigger promises, their makers find themselves in a curious position: They need to drill their consumers in how to use them properly. If women don't, they won't see the benefits and will stop buying the pricey products, the logic goes. Consumers, meanwhile, seem to have higher expectations of product performance than ever.
在护肤品带来比以往更好的预期效果的同时，护肤品生产商却发现他们陷入了一个奇怪的处境：他们需要指导消费者如何恰当地使用这些产品。其中的逻辑是，如果使用不当的话，这些女性消费者就看不到它们的效果，也就再也不会购买这些价格不菲的东西了。与此同时，消费者对护肤品功效的期望似乎也比以往更高了。
As a result, the beauty and skin-care industry is paying more attention to what's known as 'compliance' -- the correct use of a product over time. Brands are producing Web videos, giving out samples and designing new dispensers, all to encourage consumers to use products properly and stick with the regimen to get the desired results. 'We're coaching her all along the way, ' says Lynne Greene, global brand president of Clinique and other divisions at Estee Lauder Cos.
因此，美容和护肤品行业开始更加关注“合规”问题，即长时间正确使用一种产品。一些品牌开始制作网络视频、发放样品和设计新式喷口，这些举措都是为了促进消费者正确使用产品并坚持护肤方案来获得理想的效果。雅诗兰黛公司(Estee Lauder Cos.)旗下倩碧(Clinique)及其他部门的全球品牌总裁琳恩·格林(Lynne Greene)说，“我们自始至终都会为消费者提供指导。”
Skin care is a strong segment of the beauty industry. U.S. sales reached $10.3 billion in 2011, a 3.6% increase over 2010 and a nearly 11% rise over 2006, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. Sales of anti-aging products rose 6.9% in 2011, reaching nearly $2.9 billion.
护肤品是美容行业一个重要的分支。市场研究公司欧睿信息咨询有限公司(Euromonitor International)的数据显示，2011年美国护肤品的销售额达103亿美元，较2010年增长3.6%，比2006年高出近11%。其中，抗衰老产品的销售额在2011年上升了6.9%，达到近29亿美元。
One sizable hurdle: U.S. consumers are known for brevity when it comes to skin-care routines. 'Women in the U.S. throw on that cream and go, ' says Terry Darland, president of LVMH Beauty, which includes the Dior brand. Women in Asia are known to use 11 different products in a typical regimen, and women in Europe seven or eight. But in the U.S. the number is three or four, Ms. Darland says, typically an eye cream, a serum and creams for day and/or night.
护肤品公司遇到的一个重大障碍是，美国消费者在护肤步骤上是出了名的图省事。旗下品牌包括迪奥(Dior)的LVMH Beauty公司的总裁泰莉·达兰德(Terry Darland)说，“美国女性就是把乳液往脸上一抹就完事了。”据了解，亚洲女性在日常的护肤中通常要用到11种各式各样的护肤品，欧洲女性要使用七八种。而据达兰德称，美国女性使用的护肤品只有三四种，一般是眼霜、精华乳以及日霜或晚霜。
Another difficulty is knowing how much to use. Some are in the more-is-more camp, meaning they use more product because they think it will lead to faster results. Others use products sparingly.
另一个难题则是如何把握护肤品的用量。有些消费者属于认为用得越多效果越好的那一派──她们认为这能使效果更快显现，因此会加大护肤品用量；另一些消费者使用的护肤品量则很少。
The biggest challenge, though, is keeping fickle consumers hooked on a product long enough to experience what are sometimes gradual results. The recommended time window for some products is months long -- an eternity for people who like to try to new products.
然而，最大的挑战还是如何让多变的消费者坚持使用一款产品足够长的时间来体验有时候逐渐显现的效果。某些护肤品的建议使用时长有几个月，这对乐于尝试新产品的消费者来说实在是太漫长了。
Some brands have formulas specifically meant to deliver near-term results, in addition to the longer-term benefits.
除了注重长期功效的产品之外，有些品牌还推出了专门用以在短期带来效果的配方。
'Consumers are looking for immediate gratification. They're looking for a signal of what's going to happen over time, ' says Art Pellegrino, vice president, research and development at Elizabeth Arden, whose Ceramide 'Plump Perfect' line is designed to offer immediate benefits like moisturizing, as well as longer-term wrinkle repair.
护肤品牌伊丽莎白雅顿(Elizabeth Arden)的研发总裁亚特·佩雷格里诺(Art Pellegrino)说，“消费者希望即时获得满足，她们在寻找一个能表明最终效果的信号。”伊丽莎白雅顿的“时空口活”(Ceramide Plump Perfect)系列产品就是为保湿以及修复皱纹等即时功效而设计的。
Turning a new regimen into a habit takes time. Industry lore says people need 21 days to fully adopt a new product or task into their routine. But in reality it can take much longer than that. A 2009 study in the European Journal of Social Psychology found that it took an average of 66 days for a person to perform a task automatically.
将一个新护肤方案转变为日常习惯需要时间。护肤品行业资深人士称，消费者充分接纳一种新产品或将其转变为日常护肤品需要21天时间。但是，实际上它可能需要更长的时间。2009年发表于《欧洲社会心理学杂志》(European Journal of Social Psychology)的一项研究论文称，人们将某项任务培养为自动行为平均需要66天时间。
Beauty brands sold in department stores' glass counters have relied on their own sales associates to explain how to use products. But as more shoppers go elsewhere for products -- whether online or in a self-serve store like Sephora -- brands must find other ways to instruct women.
在百货商场设立专柜的美容品牌依赖于它们的销售人员来讲解如何使用产品。然而，随着更多消费者从其他渠道（比如网店或是像丝芙兰(Sephora)这样的自助式护肤品商店）购买产品，护肤品牌必须寻找其他方法来指导其女性消费者。
Clarins has about a dozen how-to videos for its facial-care products on its website and YouTube. The minute-long video for the Shaping Facial Lift serum features a model demonstrating the application technique's steps while short on-screen text describes the motion.
例如，娇韵诗在其网站和YouTube上发布了十余段教授如何使用其脸部护理产品的视频。在针对纤颜紧致精华乳使用方法的那段时长一分钟的视频中，一名模特会示范使用方法的各个步骤，同时还配有简短的文字描述这些动作。
The brand wants to teach customers not only how to do it, but also why, says Allyson King, vice president of education. It tells consumers the facial serum technique is intended to increase 'microcirculation' and 'lymphatic drainage' while increasing the serum's penetration.
娇韵诗培训事务副总裁艾莉森·金(Allyson King)称，该品牌希望不仅指导消费者如何使用它，也希望告知她们为什么要这么做。娇韵诗告诉消费者，这款面部精华乳的使用技巧旨在加强“微循环”和“淋巴引流”，同时也强化乳液的吸收。
Convincing consumers to stick with a product or regimen over several weeks is made difficult by the industry's love of samples. Especially with so-called prestige brands, shoppers expect free trial-size products, which typically contain at most a two-week supply.
护肤品行业对试用品的热爱也给说服消费者连续几星期坚持使用某种护肤品或护肤方案带来困难，特别是一些大家所说的名牌护肤品，消费者都期待获得它们的试用装，但是通常试用装最多也就是两个星期的使用量。
The product promises to improve skin texture and reduce wrinkles after four weeks, and at 12 weeks, 'the visible wrinkle reducing power is close to a laser procedure. 63% to be exact, ' the text in a product ad says.
美国彩妆和护肤品大品牌倩碧正在开展一款抗衰老产品──焕妍活力精华露(Repairwear Laser Focus)──的试用活动，以此来“训练”消费者如何长期使用这款产品。这款产品的广告文字声称，它能在使用四周后改善肤质并淡化皱纹，使用12周后，“明显的皱纹修复功效接近于激光手术，确切说来皱纹改善率能达到激光手术的63%。”
As part of a test of the sampling program this spring, department-store shoppers in Tennessee and Florida got samples of Repairwear with instructions to return the tiny empty bottles in two weeks.
今年春季，作为本次试用活动试验的一部分，田纳西和佛罗里达这两个州的百货商场的顾客可以获得焕妍活力精华露的试用装，并被告知在两周后返还用完的小空瓶。
'If that bottle is empty you really have been using Repairwear Laser Focus serum twice a day for 14 days, ' copy on the plastic bag encasing the sample said. 'You have now seen some progress.'
装着这些试用装的塑料瓶上写着，“如果瓶子空了，你确实一直在每天两次使用焕妍活力精华露达14天时间，那么现在你就能看到皮肤有所改善。”
People who returned the first got two more bottles, this time with a new marketing message. 'Enjoy a full month's supply, ' the message read, outlining benefits the user should expect.
用完第一瓶后，返还瓶子的顾客还可再获得两瓶试用装，这次的营销信息则换成了新的。瓶上写道，“享受一整个月的使用量吧，”并且还大概说明了顾客应该期待的效果。
'It's important to us that we keep reminding her, 'Here's where you started and this is how much progress you've made, ' ' Ms. Greene says. Sales of the product in those two states rose 59%.
格林说，“我们要不停地提醒消费者，‘这是你一开始时候的样子，这是你取得的进步，’，这一点对我们很重要。”后来，焕妍活力精华露在田纳西和佛罗里达的销售额上升了59%。
For its Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector, a product said to deliver maximum results at 12 weeks, Clinique provides a laminated card with graduated shades. Users are supposed to pick the shade that matches the spot they want to eliminate, then track their progress.
针对其完美调色祛斑精华(Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector)──一款据称能在12周后达到最佳效果的产品，倩碧会提供一张附带阴影图的塑封卡。用户需挑选一张带有与她们希望消除的斑点接近的阴影的卡片，然后再密切关注她们的改进。
For consumers with acne, the problem often is reminding them to use the right amount consistently. Clearasil, owned by Reckitt Benckiser, recently introduced a hands-free dispenser called PerfectaWash, to provide a correct 'dose' of the acne cleanser. People tend to dry out their skin by using too much, the company says.
对于长有粉刺的顾客，问题常常在于如何提醒她们要始终保持正确用量。英国利洁时公司(Reckitt Benckiser)旗下的Clearasil近期推出了一款名为“PerfectaWash”的省却用手麻烦的喷头，用它可以按压出粉刺洗面奶的正确“剂量”。该公司称，顾客往往会因为用量过多而把皮肤弄得很干燥。
Proactiv, whose products are sold mainly through TV commercials from Guthy-Renker, puts a laminated card in each shipment with instructions to keep by the sink.
其产品主要通过Guthy-Renker的电视购物广告销售的高伦雅芙(Proactiv)会在每一批货件中放入一张塑封卡，上有洗脸时应当注意的事项。
With its service called Proactiv 365, consumers can call up an 'expert skincare advisor, ' who answers questions and offers reminders to stick with the regimen, even after skin has cleared up, says Lisa Bratkovich, senior vice president of marketing at Guthy-Renker.
Guthy-Renker的高级营销副总裁丽莎·布拉特科维奇(Lisa Bratkovich)称，该品牌提供一项名为“高伦雅芙365”（Proactiv 365）的服务，消费者可以打电话给“专业护肤顾问”，她们会解答顾客的疑问，并提醒客户要坚持护肤方案，即便在脸部已经治疗干净后也要坚持。
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