Sustainable, green, natural, organic, eco-conscious… the use of these environmentally friendly sounding terms abound in the cosmetics industry. But how true are these statements, and are they overused?
This blog will look at the myths and realities of cosmetics and their ingredients to answer the question, just how environmentally friendly are cosmetics? And how can you make sure your cosmetic brand is providing the reality, rather than adding to the myths?
Myth:
If you don’t hold the proof, don’t make the claim.
One of the first things that could help a consumer discern if a cosmetic brand is really being truthful is for that company to provide valid % based claims, and certification where possible.
Unfortunately, when talking to brands, we find that often they are ‘told’ a claim or use a claim to mimic a competitor, without actually holding the evidence about the cosmetic formula or its ingredients from the suppliers and Cosmetic Chemists directly.
Cosmetic regulations require cosmetic brands to hold evidence for all claims they make about a product – including eco-conscious and environmentally based claims.
Yet it is surprising how often we have brands seeking urgent help when they are required to provide this evidence because they didn’t hold it in the first place. Read this blog for more information on how to avoid ‘accidental’ greenwashing.
Make it a reality: To be truthful, make sure your cosmetic brand holds the proof for any sustainability, natural, green or similar claims it wants to make about the cosmetic formula, its ingredients and even its packaging.
Even better – use official sources to certify the content of ‘natural’ or organic input; but at the very least make sure your % claims are backed up by suitable evidence that will satisfy a regulator.
Myth: using water to boost the ‘natural’ content of the formula.
Did you know that claims such as ‘contains 95% naturally sourced ingredients’ typically count somewhere between 70 – 90% of water as part of that claim?
Sure, water is used in a vast majority of cosmetic formulas as one of the major components, and while it is natural, it does make a consumer think their cosmetic product contains a much greater input of natural plant oils and extracts rather than pointing out the actual water content.
Make it a reality: wouldn’t it be more truthful to state the % natural excluding the water input? For example, a claim such as ‘contains 95% naturally sourced plant ingredients.’
Another more truthful approach would be to use the higher % input, but make it clear that it contains the water input? For example, ‘contains 95% naturally sourced ingredients including water.’
Myth: what is the true carbon footprint of your product?
Even if your cosmetic formula does contain a high percentage of natural and sustainable ingredients, have you considered the carbon footprint of that product?
Here are some things to consider:
• What processing is needed to obtain the cosmetic ingredient? For example, many esterified materials (which includes a vast majority of emollients and emulsifiers) and surfactants need very high temperature processing to go from the raw form to the ingredient that actually gets used in a cosmetic formula. This can add significant carbon burden. Learn more about how this impacts many common cosmetic materials with this video: Sustainable and carbon neutral beauty.
• How far has that ingredient travelled, and then your finished product? If you are using cosmetic ingredients from far off locations and then shipping your finished products a long way to consumers, that travel component and the fuel needed to cover the delivery is adding to the carbon footprint.
• Was high temperature processing or high shear needed to manufacture your product? If so, there is an increased carbon loading.
• Don’t forget your packaging! Is it truly as sustainable as you claim – or is it more recyclable than sustainable? See sustainable packaging tips and products here.
Reality: tips to help you create truly environmentally friendly cosmetics
Now that we’ve looked at the items you need to be wary of, let’s look at tips on how to improve the environmental score on your cosmetic ingredient choices, and cosmetic formulas.
• Review your cosmetic formulas and calculate the water content, natural ingredient content, or upcycled ingredient content and promote this on your label. Learn how to calculate the sustainability content of a cosmetic formula here.
• Switch to more locally sourced cosmetic ingredients or make functional ingredient choices that provide performance benefits as well to minimise the number of ingredients needed.
• If you are shipping a lot of products, consider if you could make them ‘concentrated’ so the consumer adds water before use, rather than shipping a high content of water. You could also consider which products you could make waterless: powder to foam, waterless bars and other waterless forms can be an innovative way to send product without water. This would also help with the % natural claims (excluding water) too!
• Use upcycled ingredients where possible – upcycled ingredients, those that would otherwise be considered waste, are a fantastic way to boost the environmental benefits of your cosmetic formulas.
• Use cosmetic ingredients source using biotechnology – commonly fermentation – as this has a very low carbon footprint.
• Use cosmetic ingredients that enable you to cold-process the formula – manufacture large quantities of product without needing a heating or cool down phase. This saves dramatically on manufacture times and energy requirements to be much more environmentally friendly.
• Check the true sustainability of your packaging and avoid heavy packaging such as glass. While glass sounds ‘natural’, it takes very high temperatures to create, needs extra packaging to prevent breakages and is very heavy for shipping, which adds significantly to fuel and the carbon footprint.
Use the above tips to boost the environmentally friendly message of your cosmetic product to your marketing benefits but also to resonate with the conscious consumer of today.
There are so many ingredient and packaging choices now available, make sure you speak with your suppliers and look for environmentally conscious innovations at your next in-cosmetics exhibition to take big steps toward truly sustainable and earth friendly cosmetic products with your next developments.
Happy formulating!
Feeling inspired?
Then why not visit one of the in-cosmetics events around the world?