November 21, 2021
Striving for Next-Level “Clean & Green” Beauty
Not all clean beauty products are created equal. Depending on the formulation, some beauty products are much healthier than others. With top beauty and makeup brands spending millions on ad campaigns designed to tout their “clean” and “green” products, we thought now would be a good time to discuss what it actually means to be “clean” and “green,” so you can make the most well-informed decisions.
According to Brandessence Market Research, the global clean beauty market could be worth as much as $11 billion by 2027. Increasing demand for clean beauty ingredients, coupled with more cautious and environmentally-aware consumers, have led to surging sales.
It’s clear that clean beauty is more than just a marketing gimmick. However, misinformation about what ingredients are actually used in makeup and skincare products is rampant. Buzzwords like green beauty, clean beauty, natural beauty, and sustainable beauty are used so frequently, and interchangeably, that it’s hard to know what they really mean. It’s more important now than ever before for consumers to educate themselves about what clean and green beauty actually entails.
What Is Clean Beauty?
Clean beauty is not a strictly defined term. In most cases, beauty brands use it to describe products that are non-toxic, using ingredients and formulations that are proven to be safe. This should be a no-brainer. If that’s the definition of clean beauty, you would think that every beauty product would be described that way. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. There are countless examples of makeup and skincare products sold by mainstream beauty companies that turned out to contain toxic ingredients, including carcinogens, irritants, and endocrine disruptors.
In addition to being better for the body, clean beauty products are also better for the environment. Cosmetics manufacturers are formulating their clean beauty products with ingredients that protect the planet’s resources and do not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. This is also where packaging comes into play. Clean beauty products are usually packaged using recycled materials.
What Is Green Beauty?
Green beauty is a somewhat different concept, but it’s no less important. When we talk about green beauty, we are referring to beauty products that are produced in ethical and sustainable ways. An example of this would be beauty products made with renewable wind energy, or products that come from manufacturers that have committed to becoming carbon neutral.
Because the term “green beauty” isn’t regulated, this is subject to manipulation by some mainstream beauty companies. When looking for green beauty products, consumers should take a close look at the ingredient labels. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to pronounce every ingredient on the list. If you don’t understand more than a handful of the components in your beauty product, then that product probably shouldn’t be considered “green” or natural.
If you’re not sure whether a certain ingredient is healthy, search for it in the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients directory and research the composition information for the ingredients commonly found on cosmetic product labels.
Cosmetics Brands Strive to Get Clean
More than 12,000 of the 80,000+ ingredients registered for use in personal care products in the U.S. have been found to be industrial chemicals, known to contain hormone disruptors, carcinogens, and pesticides. According to the Environmental Working Group, exposure to toxic beauty products often begins in infancy, when babies are washed with unsafe shampoos and soaps.
After decades of relying on dangerous chemicals in their product formulations, beauty brands have started cleaning up their act. More companies are including clean beauty ingredients and relaunching existing products with new formulations. At Coty, one of the world’s largest cosmetics companies, Kylie Cosmetics lip color was recently relaunched with cleaner ingredients. CoverGirl, which is also owned by Coty, launched a new CleanFresh prodigy line with vegan products that are free from sulfates, formaldehyde, phthalates, parabens, and talc.
Omya Kinetik represents top cosmetics and skincare manufacturers across the globe. Contact us at (732) 335-5775 to speak with a sales representative about products with clean beauty ingredients and learn more about why the demand for healthier formulations is rising.