Between the "all-chemical" of the 1980s/90s and the current demand for naturalness, barely 30 years have passed. How did we get here? Discover the history of the rise of Green Beauty - which became Clean Beauty - born from deep-seated societal movements and amplifying crises. The 20th century saw the industrialization of cosmetics. Sciences (physics, chemistry, medicine, molecular biology, etc.) have made it possible to better investigate the skin, to create ever more effective active molecules and to prove their effects on the epidermis. Even if it sometimes surprises consumers or creates doubts, causing this long pendulum movement that brings us today to Clean Beauty.
It should be recalled as a preamble that since the 70s and 80s, Europe and France have adopted some of the most drastic regulations in the world, after the tragic Talc Morhange affair. If some remember this episode, a little reminder for others: in 1972, a handling error led to an overdose of a powerful bactericide in a baby talc (Talc Morhange) resulting in the death of 36 infants and the poisoning of 168 others.
This event gave rise to the French Law of 1975 and the European Directive of 1978, making Europe the spearhead of regulation and regulation in cosmetics. At the time, however, chemistry was queen and a symbol of progress, while naturalness was relegated to the rank of "hippie".
It would take twenty years for it to shed its "Larzac and bell-bottoms" image and for the "green beauty" of the 2000s to begin its revolution. Then to let "clean" beauty take over from the 2010s, a trend amplified by the current health crisis.
90s: Science, Technology and Performance
We must remember the atmosphere and fashion of the 90s to better understand how cosmetics reflect it: it is the era of exuberant Italian designers - Gianni Versace, Dolce & Gabbana -, the golden years of Jean-Paul Gaultier, the porno-chic of Tom Ford at Gucci. But also that of Japanese brands and their purity: Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garçons.
Science and technology culminate
- With technological assets
In cosmetics, Japanese high-tech brands based on medical research are making a remarkable breakthrough: Shiseido (which provides its hyaluronic acid), Shu Uemura and its art of make-up removal, Kanebo, etc.
Their art of sophistication and their routine proposals, where products multiply, influence French cosmetics. Just like the beginnings of aesthetic medicine. At this time, liposomes appear (at Dior), ceramides, fruit acids (AHA), active ingredients with barbaric names (who remembers Boswelox?), and we start talking about antioxidants. Retinol triumphs at Roc which promises "10 years younger in 10 minutes!". La Prairie introduces caviar as an active ingredient in treatments at prices that defy gravity.
- And the beginning of clinical evidence
Animal testing has been banned in Europe since 1979, but it is the rise of laboratory tests – in vitro, in vivo –, clinical studies using instruments to measure hydration, wrinkle depth, and reconstituted skin cultures to assess the effectiveness of active ingredients.
Naturalness points out, without being framed
In France, some brands claim that plants are as effective as chemistry and can provide cutting-edge active ingredients. This is the case for brands like Clarins, Yves Rocher, Klorane, L'Occitane, Le Petit Marseillais. They are also enjoying growing success in countries that are culturally focused on natural products, such as Germany or Scandinavia. Other brands, English or American, have also based their image on nature: The Body Shop, Origins, etc.
But plants are found in compositions that are still far from being 100% natural. And for some, more purist, this trend is akin to greenwashing.
The turning point of the 2000s in Europe and the impact of organic farming
The natural world will make a huge and unexpected breakthrough in the 2000s, with two major events.
the creation of the Cosmebio Charter in 2002
It is in reaction to what they denounce as "greenwashing" that ten laboratories, pioneers of organic in France since the 70s (including Sanoflore, Phyt's, Melvita), create the event with their organic charter, the first specifications and the associated organic label. Of course, there has been an association of producers of natural cosmetics in Germany since the 50s (BDIH), but nothing as precise. Cosmebio defines mandatory percentages of naturalness and organic in finished products and bans certain substances: preservatives, dyes and chemical perfumes, etc. These pioneers create surprise and raise awareness among consumers and distributors.
From there, organic, if it remains a niche, comes out of its ghetto . Brands multiply, and find new distribution channels: specialized ones like Mademoiselle Bio or Naturalia, or dedicated corners in mass distribution. So much so that some brands will be bought by large groups: Sanoflore by L'Oréal in 2006, Melvita by L'Occitane in 2008. And this is only the beginning.
The Envoyé Spécial program on parabens in 2005
On March 3, 2005, the magazine Envoyé spécial broadcast a report on France 2 that had the effect of a bomb. It took up without qualification the study by Philipa Darbre, from the University of Reading, published in January 2004 in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, whose conclusions linked parabens, deodorants, and breast cancer (a study subsequently disavowed and controversial). In the report, certain French products were targeted, and opposed to German organic products, and even to brands that were no more natural at the time, but without parabens. With the rise of the first social networks, there was unleashing on blogs and forums. Women threw out their entire bathroom cupboards, others brought the products back to the store and poured them on the counters with a crash. Parabens were condemned .
A month later, Greenpeace published its first Cosmetox report, in which it incriminated a number of chemical substances, particularly targeting the cosmetics industry, which was already deemed "non-essential". Other controversies followed on silicones, phthalates, phenoxyethanol, etc. Let us recall that to date all these ingredients are authorized and considered non-dangerous to human health by European regulations. Nevertheless, the worm is in the fruit.
The beginnings of Green and Clean Beauty
These controversies, fueled by organic players and consumer associations and their press organs, are more or less well understood and relayed by the media. This phenomenon will shake up conventional cosmetics. Some agile and opportunistic brands rush into the breach and reformulate in a hurry (sometimes with a few failures at the start), or surf on the "without, without, without" trend. Large groups take longer to react, because it is not easy to abandon preservatives used for more than 30 years in complete safety. Their replacement, ensured for a time by the famous MIT (Methylisothiazolinone), at the origin of allergic reactions and irritation, has proven this.
The desire to formulate differently is emerging, under pressure from consumers, but things are moving slowly. There is a lack of substitute raw materials, because it takes years to create new ingredients. Organic cosmetics still lack sensoriality. Green is emerging and seems to be winning the game for a while, with the success of brands that put plants in the spotlight (L'Occitane, Nuxe).
As for Clean, it is still quite austere and linked to minimalist formulas. We can thus cite sterile cosmetics, which allow to do completely without preservatives, but is only intended for sensitive skin. Furthermore, if some groups have since their origin integrated fair and solidarity trade into their values, the majority focuses on the "cleaning" of the compositions.
2010: the US revolt
Once again, it took American women turning away from their conventional brands and habits for the movement to become almost global.
Almost non-existent regulation
There is virtually no overall regulatory framework in the United States, a federal country hostile to regulation. The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) only bans 9 cosmetic substances, compared to 1,383 in France and Europe. Six Cosmetic Act projects have been presented without any being adopted. It is in opposition to this lack of regulation and to counter the giants of the sector that the Organics trend first emerged, then the "Clean" movement which began in the 2000s and really took off from 2010.
The wave of Healthy Living
At the same time, a global movement emerged in the 2010s. After having been exemplary working girls, American women became the queens of detox and the "healthy way of life": we eat healthy, we live healthy, we take care of ourselves healthy, we want healthy skincare. The popes of this ultra-healthy lifestyle created brands of yoga clothing, detox juices, food supplements and "cosmetics that they can't find on the shelves". Thus, after the success in the early 2000s of Doctor Brands, hyper-effective brands founded by doctors (Dr Brandt, Dr Murad, Dr Perricone), it was the rise of independent, creative and digitally native Indie brands, but also committed, transparent, organic or vegan. And these troublemakers arrived in Europe by boomerang effect, which explains the craze for brands like Tata Harper, Glossier, or Drunk Elephant.
Towards Clean Beauty with the impact of CSR
Make no mistake, brands did not become virtuous just out of deep conviction. It took pressure on multiple levels for Clean to become a norm.
The CSR obligation
In France in particular, the obligation to report CSR (corporate social responsibility) was introduced by Article 116 of the law on new economic regulations (NRE) of 2001. Originally only concerning companies listed on the stock exchange, it was largely extended by the Grenelle 2 law of 2011. The companies concerned must include in their annual report information on the orientations and actions carried out concerning the social, societal and environmental issues of their activities. Obviously, to be able to include such an appendix to its annual financial report, real initiatives must have been initiated. In fact, CSR influences the "employer brand" and the image of the company.
Consumers and candidates as CSR actors
Awareness of environmental and societal issues has been real for 10 years. No candidate from a Grande École (business, engineering, etc.) who does not ask questions about a company's commitments and values during a job interview and does not make it one of their arbitration criteria. To attract young, valuable graduates, companies – cosmetics among others – must remain attractive and therefore become exemplary.
As for consumers, increasingly informed, expert and suspicious, they have become very careful not only about the composition of a product, but also about new criteria: ethics, fairness, inclusiveness, ecology, animal cruelty and therefore overall responsibility throughout the product life cycle. They are ready to make new trade-offs, to abandon or even boycott major brands that have not committed to these new virtuous paths. And the health crisis linked to Covid-19 is accelerating and amplifying these requirements. Major groups such as L'Oréal, Yves Rocher, Unilever and Shiseido have now understood this. The Clean Revolution is underway.
The current demand for Clean beauty should not be seen as a rejection of science, or even chemistry, but as the service of greater transparency and better expertise in naturalness. Unlike brands stamped Organic, Clean brands can combine natural and biotechnology. The trend also extends to holistic, integrative beauty, combining In and Out (topicals and food supplements).
What are the paths for the future of Clean Beauty? After exploring the botanical world, it is likely that marine biotechnology will bring new innovative active ingredients. Towards Blue Beauty?
