The Clean Beauty Movement in 2022
If you’ve recently found yourself squinting at the back of your bottle of shampoo, you’re not the only one. You’ll no doubt have heard things like “no nasties”, “chemical-free” and “nontoxic”.
You see, the beauty industry has been trendsetting for years. And one of the recent movements that’s garnered a lot of attention is clean beauty.
Gone are the days of buying products based purely on brand name and packaging. Many of us didn't pay attention to what was in our products let alone make conscious decisions based on the contents. Today, we're increasingly aware of what we are putting in and on our bodies.
Over the years such a spotlight has led to innovation in product development as the concept has become more mainstream.
The whole movement has got us questioning what exactly we are putting on our skin and hair every day.
And so here we are, more inclined to learn about skincare ingredients, for our health and well-being's sake.
What is meant by clean beauty?
In its broadest possible sense, clean beauty describes products that are made without ingredients shown or suspected to harm us humans. They are 'clean of harmful ingredients'
But it’s also to do with transparency. Transparency that is reflected both on the label and via the way a brand talks about its product. No buzzwords, greenwashing or including none-ingredients such as ‘fragrance’. Clean beauty simply doesn’t contain mystery ingredients.
What are those harmful ingredients?
Well, that’s up for discussion. Whilst some brands will advocate for all natural ingredients (aka Tata Harper) some will talk about the suspicious six (a la Drunk Elephant). Some brands like Korres will extract ingredients from nature and formulate them into products that meet scientific standards.
But there are two ingredients that almost all “clean beauty” brands will avoid: parabens and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS). Parabens are preservatives and SLS is a surfactant that removes oils and allows products to foam (ie the lather we see in shampoo and shower gel).
How did we get here and why does clean beauty matter?
If you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of parabens in the past, you’ll know that parabens have caused loads of controversy. Whilst there’s been no proof that they are harmful, the stigma has remained in the consumer's mind resulting in many brands deciding to omit the ingredient completely.
Holland & Barrett’s clean beauty page says “some research suggests that [parabens] may disrupt the way our bodies work (although parabens haven’t been directly linked to any serious health conditions)”.
Is all clean beauty all-natural?
Back when ‘clean beauty’ was first talked about, only products containing natural ingredients were considered to be true to the concept of clean beauty.
But clean beauty doesn’t mean 100% natural ingredients. These days there are many safe synthetics and preservatives that are used to maintain the stability of a formulation. In fact, all cosmetic products need to contain some form of preservative.
As long as the synthetic ingredients are non-toxic and proven to not be harmful, they can be safely used in clean beauty products.
What’s next for clean beauty?
Globally, the clean beauty market is estimated to reach $22 billion by 2024, according to Statista Research
Based on research from Nielsen, looking ahead at what shoppers are searching for reveals what future trends will look like when it comes to clean beauty.
Based on the report, key themes were:
- Sustainability - reflected in online search terms, which have been skyrocketing in popularity.
- Plastic-free - has also been driving conversations as shoppers look for products that produce less environmental waste. As well as reef-safe and refillable options.
These search terms (amongst others) represent what is top of mind for consumers, which we can interpret as a signal that sustainability will become more relevant in the future of clean beauty products.
Clearly, the clean beauty movement has been attributed to starting the conversation about environmental sustainability. Which we think is flipping good news.
So where do we sit at Floragy?
Us consumers have come to expect our products to be free from harmful ingredients, fair enough! Many of us want skincare with honest and minimalist ingredient lists. But we also want effective skincare that addresses our concerns.
We believe skin care should be kept simple. Keeping the skin’s barrier healthy is our number one priority which is why we only champion a few key ingredients in our formulations.
But at Floragy we also believe that you should use what is right for your skin. Everyone is uniquely different and we’d never want to preach about what products are ‘best’. Overall we are about supporting simple products that actually work. To us, clean beauty means never compromising health for results.
But whatever you think, whether you’re a die hard clean beauty fan or are just interested in learning how to reduce your toxic load, clean beauty is here to stay.
We’d love for you to come and join the conversation, visit our instagram page @floragy_skincare and leave a comment.
References
https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2021/2030-glow-up-the-future-of-clean-beauty/
Article written by Annabelle Williams dos Anjos from https://www.muthacollective.com/
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