What Is Clean Beauty?
Image by Tatiana Goskova on Freepik
The clean beauty trend has gained steam in an era where people are becoming more conscious of the ingredients they put on their bodies. With a growing desire for natural, ecological, and non-toxic products, clean beauty marks a paradigm change in the beauty business. People are looking for companies that promote transparency, safety, and ethical practices as they become more aware of the possible concerns linked with certain ingredients frequently found in cosmetics.
The boom of the clean beauty movement can be attributed to the 2019 global pandemic, Covid-19. People not only became more conscious of health with masks and hand sanitizers but also the ingredients they put on their bodies. With this refound hyperawareness of possibly harmful chemicals, consumers have shifted their preferences to companies that both use non-toxic ingredients and are eco-friendly. This includes products free of elements associated with hormone disruption, cancer-causing, and skin irritative. According to data from Nielseniq, consumers are more likely to purchase, “products that use natural ingredients (40.2%), respect the environment (17.6%), and use reusable and recyclable packaging, at 7.9% and 15.8%, respectively.”
Clean beauty doesn’t merely focus on the removal of harmful ingredients but also, with a similarity to green beauty, the environmental impact of production. Ethically sourced, cruelty-free, and using ingredients of nonanimal origin are all integral to the clean beauty movement. Coupled with sustainable or renewable packaging to reduce plastic pollution and waste. Clean beauty also prioritizes biodegradability to keep from residue lingering in the environment or causing harm to animals.
Clean beauty goes beyond makeup and brings a strong focus to skincare. Consumers have become more informed about the skin barrier, which is the outermost layer of the skin and protects it from the environments, and the skin microbiome, which helps the skin maintain its stability. Considering these two is important to consumers when it comes to deciding what to use on their skin. Everyone’s skin behaves differently to certain ingredients and knowing what works best for their skin and knowing what to avoid helps consumers pick what products to buy. In turn, labels are being read more carefully and are taking a more deliberate approach to comprehending skincare chemicals.
With this new shift in perspective, more and more brands are emerging with fresh products catering to the recent trend. Just to name a few brands that align with clean beauty, Codex uses biotechnology to reduce their carbon footprint by sourcing ingredients that are as biotech-manufactured as possible as well as using plant-based polyethylene to minimize plastic waste. Loli uses organic, locally grown, minimally processed, non-GMO, raw or up-cycled food-grade ingredients, that are certified organic and ethically cultivated. They use repurposable glass yogurt jar packaging and certified compostable labels, bags, and boxes.
Article by Huniyah Saeed, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Designer, PhotoBook Magazine
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