Our Approach
Every difference should have a reason.
At fifofeight, we don’t believe being different is enough.
When we reconsider something familiar, there should be a clear reason behind the decisions we make—and appropriate evidence behind the claims we make.
What that evidence looks like may differ from one product to another.
Sometimes it’s testing of a finished formulation.
Sometimes it’s an independent standard.
Sometimes it’s a commitment we can measure.
What matters is that the evidence fits the decision or claim it is there to support.
Start with what matters.
Different products have different purposes.
So rather than applying the same formula, ingredients or testing approach to everything we create, we begin by understanding what matters for the product and how it will be used.
Then we reconsider what is necessary, what could be simpler, and where doing something differently could create a meaningful experience.
Not different for the sake of being different.
Different when there’s a reason.
Designed as a whole.
A finished product is more than its ingredient list.
How ingredients work together, how the formula performs, how it feels in use and how it remains suitable for its intended purpose all matter.
That’s why we consider the formulation as a whole—not simply one ingredient at a time.
Where appropriate, we use finished-formulation testing and external standards to help us understand and support the choices we’ve made.
Evidence should fit the reason.
We don’t believe more testing automatically means a better product.
We believe the right evidence should help answer the right question.
The testing, standards and other evidence we use may therefore differ between products, depending on the formulation, intended use and the claims being supported.
And when we share that evidence, we’ll make clear what it relates to.
Our approach, applied to Hand Wash Gel.
Elevating Gel Earth Serenity was our first opportunity to put this thinking into practice.
Designed for frequent hand washing, its formulation and intended use shaped the decisions we made—and the evidence we chose to support them.
Testing the formulation as a whole.
Our Hand Wash Gel formulation underwent independent testing to help evaluate areas relevant to the finished product.
This included dermatological testing, microbiological testing and accelerated stability testing.
Under the respective test conditions, the tested formulation met the applicable criteria behind the claims we make.
We use those results only for the claims they appropriately support.
Looking beyond what was intentionally formulated.
An ingredient list tells you what was intentionally used in a formula.
But some substances can occur unintentionally—for example, as trace by-products associated with the manufacture of certain ingredients.
1,4-dioxane is one example. It isn’t typically used as a cosmetic ingredient, but can occur as a manufacturing by-product of certain ingredients, including some detergents, foaming agents and other ethoxylated materials.
That’s why we chose to independently screen the tested Hand Wash Gel for selected substances, including 1,4-dioxane, selected heavy metals, free formaldehyde and selected alcohols.
The substances covered by these claims were not detected under the respective test methods.
The Hand Wash Gel was also tested for animal DNA and gluten. Neither was detected under the respective test methods.
For us, this is about looking beyond what we know from the ingredient list when there’s a relevant reason to do so.
An independent standard.
EWG VERIFIED™
Our Hand Wash Gel is EWG VERIFIED™.
The verification means the approved product meets EWG’s requirements around ingredients of concern and ingredient transparency.
It’s also formulated without parabens, harsh sulfates and synthetic fragrances.
For us, EWG VERIFIED™ provides another independent layer behind the choices we’ve made—helping make them easier to understand without asking you to navigate all of the complexity yourself.
Made in Singapore.
Elevating Gel Earth Serenity is produced in Singapore in a GMP facility.
How a product is made matters alongside how it is formulated.
It’s another part of considering the finished product as a whole.
Responsibility, with something measurable behind it.
One bottle. One kilogram.
For every bottle sold, we fund the removal of one kilogram of plastic from nature through our partnership with Plastic Collective.
The collection programs support plastic recovery and livelihoods in the communities involved.
It’s one considered action attached to every bottle.
Because responsibility isn’t about claiming to solve everything.
It’s about doing something meaningful where we can.
Evidence, made understandable.
Science can be complex.
Understanding why we’ve made a choice shouldn’t have to be.
We won’t use more information simply to appear more scientific. And we won’t make a claim broader than the evidence behind it.
As the products we create change, the questions we need to answer—and the evidence appropriate to answering them—may change too.
What won’t change is our approach:
Understand what matters.
Make a purposeful decision.
Support what we say with appropriate evidence.
Because every difference should have a reason.
