People are becoming more conscious, and global fashion is progressively popularising sustainability in products, packaging, and company operations. Stakeholders and consumers have become increasingly xenophobic about the environment and sustainability, which has made big players and start-ups revolutionize the beauty industry, putting a strong focus on the sustainable touch points across the value chain and throughout the product’s life cycle. It is changing the dynamics of the industry and working as a benchmark for the right business conduct in the consumer goods vertical.
At the forefront of this sustainable revolution are the sustainability-first brands that have climate change at the heart of what they do. Lush Cosmetics as well as The Body Shop have embraced this concept even way back while contemporary luxury brands are now catching up big time. For example, Chanel introduced a series of new environment friendly packing concerning skincare products this year which is made of the recycle and bio materials.
It is not limited to the beauty products’ packaging, but it also includes the raw materials used in them. Currently, a new trend has been observed concerning ‘blue beauty,’ which is the concept of maintaining the sea environment. Many companies are bidding farewell to toxic chemicals, including oxybenzone and octinoxate, found in sunscreens that are harming coral reefs. Also, in order to avoid the depletion of raw materials and the destruction of ecology, companies are searching for sustainable methods of obtaining popular frankincense.
Technology is thus emerging as a key driver of change that is steering sustainable change in the cosmetics industry. Companies in the biotechnology bracket are genetically engineering beauty products that offer similar value as conventional beauty enhancers but with reduced reliance on farming and foraging. For instance, Biossance has recently managed to popularize its sustainable squalane which is derived from the sugarcane fermentation, providing the customer with a non-animal, eco-friendly squalene.
Now that the ‘Circular beauty’ idea is emerging, companies have introduced take-back systems and are considering the use of reusable packaging solutions. L’Occitane and MAC Cosmetics have currently adopted good recycling campaigns whereby customers are offered an incentive to return the used containers. At the same time, the examples of Kjaer Weis are now redesigning their products to contain components that are meant to be refilled, which greatly reduces the amount of packaging waste and makes the customer interact with the brand’s sustainable policy.
Increasingly, beauty business sustainability and, in particular, water management are becoming important discussion topics among beauty businesses. As consumers increase their understanding of water scarce situations, more brands are creating waterless or water efficient products. This is well illustrated by the solid shampoos, concentrated skincare products, and powder-foam cleansers cases. These innovations help to save water in production, as well as cut the ecological footprint of products’ transportation and usage.
Sustainable beauty also affects shops and corporate approaches. Some beauty retailers have started establishing separate departments exclusive for green products and services, whilst some are now offering a recycling service, within their stores. The interactive media platforms are helping to improve product declaration with regard to the origin and provenance of ingredients, packaging, and even ecological sustainability. Such a transition to increased transparency allows consumers more control over their choices, particularly sustainable ones.
While corporate sustainability programs go hand in hand with designing new Eco-friendly products, they embrace greater environmental responsibility. Almost all beauty companies establish aggressive goals on climate neutrality, waste elimination, and sustainable sourcing. For instance, L’Oréal launched its ”L’Oréal for the Future” strategy aimed at changing the company’s business model, making its processes compliant with the planetary boundaries, and strengthening its protection of the rights to social justice.
Sustainable beauty also encourages unity within the sector in which it is growing, creating symbiotic working relationships. Focus has been made on the collaboration of competitors in order to tackle the issues that are relevant for all, for example, the efforts towards the establishment of the global common recycling platform for beauty packaging or the setting of AWPs – the industry average sustainability targets. This is an essential undertaking since these collaborations work towards achieving the change that will address the many interrelated issues that are involved in the construction of the sustainable beauty industry.
When the aspect of sustainability is woven deeper into the beauty business, it is now apparent that this is no more a fad. Altogether, it points to a break from conceiving, making and using beauty products as was the case before. Finding solutions for those questions is not an easy task yet there is a strong trend today towards sustainable beauty that helps to change the beauty standards for the new level of awareness.
