Following the successful history of natural cosmetics in the last ten
years it is hardly expected that this megatrend will suddenly come to an
end in 2011, but neither will green cosmetics grow as fast and as
furiously as has happened in recent years – these are the conclusions of
a recent survey by the IKW.
Natural ingredients will continue to be in demand
But for all of those suppliers who are enjoying the boom, and launching
products onto the market with natural alternatives to what are now
regarded as doubtful ingredients, the opportunities for this strategy
are good not only to arouse significant consumer interest but also to be
a profitable venture.
Manufacturers should however also be clear that nowadays it is not
enough to launch new products that – like many others – contain new
ingredients and are simply certified by one of the many eco labels. In
fact new ingredients for natural cosmetics must be shown to be equally
as effective as traditional ingredients.
Safety evaluation of natural substances
And that should be the challenge that will keep the ingredients
suppliers on their toes in the coming years – even if only in matters of
product safety. For well-documented synthetic ingredients there are
already detailed safety evaluations, but what about safety evaluation of
natural ingredients?
At the moment the EU Cosmetics Directive is mainly concerned with the safety of chemically well-defined ingredients.
The way that this safety evaluation is approached cannot necessarily be
applied to natural substances. This is an area that requires further
study and investment to allow such shortcomings to be cleared up.
Which ingredients tend to be avoided?
It is interesting to take a closer look at substances that the consumer will not accept in natural cosmetics products.
According to the presentation “Best of both worlds: reaping the
benefits of both natural and natural-inspired products”, given by Kline
at the Natural Beauty Summit (Paris, November 2010) these include the
following substances that have a very low level of acceptance in natural
cosmetics: paraben as preservatives, propylene glycol as a moisturiser,
phthalate as a solvent, petrolatum as an emollient, chemical UV
filters, silicones and strong surfactants such as sodium lauryl
sulphate.
Dr. Karl Lintner of Kal’Idées is however of the view that the way that
these ingredients tend to be classified totally misses certain important
aspects: “Parabens are also found in natural substances and extracts -
even at a very high cost – or in “natural” fermented products. So
parabens must therefore meet the requirements of a natural product.
Chemical sun filters, that are avoided in natural cosmetics, are a
significant advance on mineral titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. If these
minerals are treated as if they were more natural than Avobenzone or
cinnamic acid ester, one is totally ignoring the manufacturing process
which is necessary to produce (nano!) micronised metal oxides from these
ores.
But if we want to protect the consumer from UV-induced skin damage we
should be using substances with scientifically proven efficacy and not
take chances with untested natural UV absorbers. Silicones are also not
natural, but that does not mean that they present a safety risk. If they
are not used then one is obliged to forgo their technical and textural
benefits. And with regard to the “strong” surfactant sodium lauryl
sulphate, Rhodia have just recently received Ecocert approval for their
sodium lauryl sulphate, which is based on ethoxylation with the
“ill-reputed” ethyl oxide, but whose origin is a natural sugar
molecule. But is such a surfactant less aggressive because it has an eco
label?
Johann Wiechers of JW Solutions made it clear in his presentation:
“Natural Ingredients – the new cosmetic religion”: “The body does not
differentiate between plant-derived CH2OH-CHOH-CH2OH (glycerine) and
animal-derived CH2OH-CHOH-CH2OH (glycerine) because both are the same.”
In other words: In the future it will be necessary to regard natural cosmetics “dogma” differently from before.
Natural cosmetics without sustainability?
Another topic that will play a more significant role in the future is
the whole question of sustainability – a topic that from a marketing
point of view has been much harder to exploit than the “natural” theme.
But just how natural is a natural cosmetics product, with certified
ingredients but that cannot be produced in a sustainable way? In any
case it is quite clear that there is still a lot to do before the
subject of natural cosmetics is totally clarified and defined. Let’s get
started !