By Luke Smith
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Saving the planet is not a task for the faint-hearted, but the beauty industry has taken it very seriously in the last few years. This is due to rising consciousness among both brands and consumers over eco-friendliness. Sustainability is quickly becoming a qualifying factor for consumers in choosing a beauty brand.
This means that the interest in the process of manufacturing and distribution of beauty products is increasing. With the vast variety of beauty products now available, sustainability thus becomes a noteworthy differentiator. Not only does a sustainability-focused agenda indicate that a brand cares about the environment, but it also consequently shows that a brand cares about its consumers. With this widespread shift in the way beauty brands are viewed, it’s important to consider how these brands can help the environment.
How Does Sustainability Help Businesses?
According to an article by Maryville University, “76% of Americans expect companies to take action against climate change, and 73% of Americans would stop purchasing from a company that doesn’t care about climate change”. At this point, being a sustainable brand that cares for the environment is no longer a choice — it’s a necessity. If sustainability is a consumer need, fulfilling it seems to be a natural course of action. Ignoring this aspect in any beauty brand essentially drives consumers away.
It is not just sales that are affected by becoming a green beauty brand. If a business really believes in sustainability, its brand identity and image should demonstrate such to the consumer. Sustainability also means taking responsibility and accepting that corporations cause the most damage to the environment. Accepting this and consciously changing it makes a whole lot of difference for a business’ brand perception.
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How Are Sustainable Cosmetics Made?
The first step to implementing a sustainability-driven agenda is understanding the components of what makes a beauty brand sustainable. Here are some of the general actions beauty brands have taken to help the environment:
Using “Green” Ingredients
Green cosmetics are defined as “cosmetic products using natural ingredients produced from renewable raw materials.” Possible sources of ingredients for sustainable cosmetics include natural oils, agricultural plants, and bacteria. Today, more beauty brands are using and sourcing organic ingredients responsibly to create indulgent products that we have all come to love. In turn, the elimination of petrochemical ingredients (ingredients that are on the non-renewable resource of petrol) has increased and benefited the environment as well.
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Manufacturing
Among the many ways beauty brands are becoming more eco-friendly, one of the most surprising is the industry’s increasing use of renewable energy during manufacturing. Brands committed to green beauty are not just ensuring they use organic and cruelty-free ingredients but also attempting to revolutionize their manufacturing process. They are shifting to using different forms of renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy. This is going one step further in ensuring they remain eco-friendly from all aspects and not just one.
Packaging
Possibly because the beauty industry was known for creating a huge mass of waste with its packaging, it is now shifting to the other end of the spectrum. Recycled or reusable packaging is now a popular green effort that many beauty brands have utilized to gain favor with the public.
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Why Is A “Green” Beauty Industry Important?
With a rapidly increasing digital audience, awareness about beauty products is also on the rise. Consumers are not only aware of the differences between harmful and organic ingredients, but also understand the impacts of packaging choices and methods of production. These factors have created a real demand for a greener beauty industry.
The progress in technology goes hand-in-hand with a need to save the resources we have access to. It is not enough to simply implement technology to advance the beauty industry as is. Rather, developments in technology can and should be integrated into the production process to make the beauty industry more sustainable. For instance, beauty brands may invest in anything from plastic recycling technologies to carbon capture integration in cosmetics to make their offerings more “green”. So while brands explore newer AI and AR Beauty Tech for virtual make-up trials, hair color experiments, and more; they also need to focus on using technology to bring eco-friendly products to the table. The tech advances of today can help achieve this goal.
Secondly, green beauty is also becoming more affordable every day. Similar to the sustainability trends in the fashion industry, green beauty trends lean towards bringing high-quality products to shelves at affordable prices. Lowered prices almost always translate to customer acquisition and if the products are of good quality the customers are going to stick around.
Green beauty products are essential to sustaining the entire industry’s future. If the demand for sustainable beauty products is not fulfilled, the beauty industry might begin to fall from its glamorous heights.
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Innovation Alongside Finding Roots
The goal of green beauty brands is to ultimately provide a product that can simultaneously save the earth from further destruction. However, while accomplishing this goal beauty brands can unlock the potential for innovation. Innovation can be found in all areas of sustainable beauty. A good example of innovative and sustainable beauty in action is hemp seed oil. Hemp seed oil has a variety of beneficial properties for the skin such as the regulation of oil production, reduction of inflammation, and even has anti-aging properties. Additionally, this handy cosmetic ingredient can benefit the environment. Since hemp is a pest-resistant crop, farmers can avoid pesticides while growing hemp — effectively helping to save the bee population.
However, beauty brands need to look deeper into innovative methods. They can find inspiration in age-old skincare remedies and use them to create modern-day solutions for specific skin problems. Going back to natural roots and balancing it with the right technology can save the future of beauty brands.
Although many brands have recognized the need for sustainability, and are working towards helping the environment, some are yet to acknowledge the rising demand for sustainability in the industry. Ultimately, clean beauty can lead to a greener earth. Not only can sustainability save the earth, but it can give you the glowing skin of your dreams!
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