Clean beauty is a movement that was born from a desire to produce formulas without health risks, reduced by all controversial ingredients, but also more virtuous. Explanations.
Clean Beauty: formulas “cleaned” of any controversial ingredients
Initially, the idea ofclean beauty was to offer more natural care, without any ingredients known to be harmful, whether for health or the environment. This trend emerged following various scandals surrounding ingredients that have since been decried, such as parabens or aluminum salts. The same goes for silicones, which simply smooth the skin or make hair shine like a plastic film that is placed on its surface (they do not treat), but which, above all, are not biodegradable and end up in waterways and then the oceans. Clean formulas have therefore forced themselves to get rid of any harmful substance by either turning to natural products or by keeping only "safe" ingredients and communicating what is not in the formula! The famous "less is more".
Clean Beauty: a virtuous philosophy
Beyond the carefully selected ingredients, clean beauty is above all a philosophy: that of not harming either humans or the planet . This new generation of cosmetics therefore requires 360° vigilance that includes the origin and quality of the ingredients (from fair trade, organic or local crops), but also the eco-design of the packaging (recyclable, recycled, reusable materials) and even the distribution method. If clean beauty does not have an official definition, what constitutes it is indeed the fact of making conscious choices at all stages of production. Today, it can be complicated to make such choices, because producing necessarily means using resources... The objective set by cosmetic companies labeled clean beauty is to make the best choices for the planet, for the skin, with an ethical dimension. For the loop to be closed, for clean to be 100% clean, it is necessary to induce a corporate culture based on respect for people, whether employees or suppliers. The exercise often comes down to arbitrating between costs and the least harmful production choices which are often the most expensive, all this in coherence with a final product, which must be able to remain profitable.
Clean Beauty: eco-responsible products
For the sourcing of raw materials, it is possible that an ingredient from petrochemicals (and therefore oil) is ultimately less harmful to the planet than its natural counterpart, if the latter comes from the other side of the world. But these ingredients are not popular, so we will favor local or ethical sourcing, as much as possible, the crux of the matter here being traceability and the choice of materials whose production is as harmless as possible. On the packaging side, no material is perfect or perfectly neutral. Glass is recyclable, but requires water and sand to be produced, aluminum avoids plastic, but its production comes from bauxite deposits that destroy ecosystems, plant-based plastic is not always suitable and comes from edible plants that would be very useful to other populations to feed themselves, paper cannot contain cosmetic formulas... The ideal remains packaging made from recycled AND recyclable materials, and eco-designed to be as light as possible.
Clean Beauty: concrete commitments
By increasing its criteria and quality requirements, clean beauty is going further and further, also taking more and more risks on the consumer side with higher prices than for classic products. Brands are also making commitments to ecological associations to whom they donate a percentage of their profits or that they support, comply with checks to obtain labels or finance the production of their carbon footprint . Committed actions that attract a clientele that is also committed, ready to pay more to be sure of what they are buying, and who, above all, no longer want to put anything on their skin or for their consumption to harm the environment. Or as little as possible. It remains to find the right balance and above all, to thwart the pitfalls of greenwashing by certain brands or teachers who surf on the codes of Clean Beauty without seriously complying with them.
Clean Beauty is definitely what all cosmetic brands should aim for, as they represent a huge market, with equally huge consequences on the environment. Refillable, lightweight packaging, made from recycled and recyclable materials, biodegradable formulas free of polluting ingredients should be the new rules that govern the beauty market. Not tomorrow, but already today!
