Has clean beauty reached its peak? Givaudan and Lignopure weigh in

03 Jan 2023 --- As we head into a new year, PersonalCareInsights delves into the world of clean beauty, speaking to Givaudan and Lignopure. The representatives discuss what defines clean beauty, how it became popular and whether it will remain popular in the years to come. The two also reflect on how the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the clean beauty trend.

As clean beauty rises in popularity, misconceptions around the topic increase, partly because its definition is not set in stone.

Gabriela Meza Armenta, marketing and business development manager at Lignopure, stresses that the industry has called for rules and regulations that consumers can rely on and clear paths for brands to achieve environmentally sustainable, effective and safe products.

“I think that the bigger misconception comes from the expectation toward what is a ‘clean beauty product.’ I say this because even with being one of the most in-demand categories of 2022, the definition is unclear nor regulated,” comments Armenta.

“Each brand defines that is ‘clean’ for their sentiment, which can lead to many troubles and confusion for the consumers. Currently, the focus has been on ‘free-from’ formulas, and slowly we are moving toward sustainable packaging, but nothing is truly regulated.”

On a similar note, Melanie Duprat, category manager and sustainability representative for Givaudan Active Beauty, says that clean beauty was associated with organic, vegan and cruelty-free. 

“But these are simply certification, but do not reflect all the work done in terms of eco-design of the ingredients, using natural solvent, working with upcycling raw materials,” she explains.Clean beauty grew more popular after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will clean beauty remain?
Looking ahead to the new year, we investigate whether clean beauty is here to stay if it will be trumped by another trend. 

“I am sure that consumers will go on informing themselves and, with this, keeping the clean beauty movement alive this coming 2023,” states Armenta.

On a larger scale, she highlights that many countries are switching to sustainable business models and governments are urging companies to meet sustainability goals such as UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“All this comes thanks to people realizing that we require a change if we want to secure a good life for future generations. These consumers have embraced the clean beauty movement and added valuable demands to the cosmetic industry,” says Armenta.

“For these consumers, a vegan product is not enough. The industry must deliver sustainable packaging, clean formulas and traceability, among other product properties. Some of these points have started to become the new beauty standard and, in a few years, I hope to see other ones become the new norm as well.”

Duprat adds that clean beauty exists today as the “basics.”

“Now customers expect so much more from brands: waterless products, reuse of waste, carbon neutrality. So in 2023, those concepts will be more popular because they will fit with customers’ expectations.”

Influence of COVID-19
The industry has witnessed an increasing preference for clean beauty from consumers this year. However, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that was the cause of it.

“After COVID-19, the notion of clean was essential. All those types of concepts merged to reassure the consumers,” says Duprat.

In agreement, Armenta says that many industries suffered a transformation due to COVID-19, and she thinks that it gave the clean beauty movement a big push for the cosmetic industry. 

“Many people spent way more time than usual at home, and they started to look deeper into their routines regarding the number of products, ingredients and sustainability. Many of them started to really read about it and understand what they want in their products,” she says.

“I think that clean beauty has not reached its peak, but I think it has been building momentum since 2015 with stronger growth after 2019. So, in my opinion, the popularity of clean beauty in 2022 is just a reflection of the past years.”Givaudan is working around the notion of circularity.

Outlook for the companies
Duprat says that Givaudan Active Beauty works far ahead of the notion of clean beauty.

“We are working around the notion of circularity, which, for us, reflects more the way we see beauty, reducing our environmental impact. So we have crafted this concept to use our internal capabilities to design ingredients by reusing waste.” 

“In this way, we managed to develop Patchoul’Up, an upcycling ingredient from patchouli, an iconic ingredient from fragrance. In this way, we reduce our impact on biodiversity, creating ingredients with the same level of efficacy.”

For Lignopure, Armenta says that clean beauty for the company is to produce safe, sustainable, natural and effective ingredients that can be used in multiple cosmetic formulations.

On the question of how clean beauty is related to natural beauty, Armenta clarifies that both movements are significantly different.

“Natural beauty is a movement that relies on purely nature-derived ingredients, and the clean beauty movement also uses non-toxic or lab-created chemicals which are scientific research-backed and have been proven to be safe,” she continues.

“Our new line called LignoBase is an upcycled natural ingredient line that transfers the power of lignin – a bio-polymer with protection properties existing in the majority of plants – like SPF boosting, antioxidant boosting and natural color into multiple cosmetic formulations like skincare, sun care and color cosmetics.”

She adds that environmental sustainability is also a vital aspect of the company’s ingredients. “Some important points for us are the traceability of our raw materials and to work together with suppliers that source their raw materials from renewable sources and that have ethical practices across their production chain.” 

“Lignopure believes that by creating clean ingredients, we can offer the cosmetic industry alternatives to use in their formulations and slowly start to move more in the direction of sustainable clean products that serve the consumer demands and take care of our planet,” she concludes. 

By Venya Patel