Shoppers want clean and green beauty products

Health & Wellness

Since April 22, 1970, Earth Day has promoted awareness of the environmental challenges we face. It serves as reminder for many consumers to evaluate their lifestyle and consumer choices and support the cause with their purchasing power. In the last decade, sustainable and clean products are almost used interchangeably, the movement lends its influence on the growing trend. The definition of clean continues to evolve, especially in the beauty category.

Clean product waves

The first wave of clean beauty focused on the removal of ingredients perceived as harmful and the addition of ingredients perceived as natural.

Over 60% of beauty and personal care products are now considered paraben-free and “free-from” products overall continue to show strong growth, with products that meet the cleanest standards growing at 16.7% in store.

Environment first

Consumers are now shifting their focus to embrace products that are clean, green and doing their part to protect the environment through sustainable efforts. Shoppers are looking for products that minimize waste or eliminate it all together. Consumer online searches for “plastic-free” beauty products grew +86% in the past six months vs the same time frame two years prior. We see growth among products that are in recyclable and refillable packages as well as products that don’t test on animals.

The most progressive consumers are now going even further and demanding that the companies they support be ethically minded as well as clean and sustainable. We are seeing increased growth in products that are fair trade at 4.2%. Expect consumers to expand their welfare focus to include an interest in the ethical treatment of workers and fair wages as well.