We’re currently in the era of clean and conscious beauty. Natural and sustainable products are still on buyers’ minds, but they’re just two parts of a bigger picture. Today, “conscious” is buyers’ top priority, especially among Generation Z and younger millennial consumers.

To these buyers, “conscious” means safe and responsible. These are products buyers feel are safe for themselves, their families, and the environment. As consumers prioritize consciousness in their product choices, it’s critical for manufacturers and brands to understand that there are different underlying reasons for this priority. While some buyers are primarily concerned with how the chemicals in products can affect their health, others are driven by concerns about products’ environmental impact. To ensure your brand reaches its ideal customer, you need to do your homework and identify what’s driving your buyers’ decision to purchase conscious products. Then, manufacture the products according to the standards that matter to that customer most and design packaging that effectively communicates these standards.

Understanding Clean, Conscious, and the Buyers Driving this Trend

“Conscious” doesn’t have a clear-cut legal definition. Rather, it describes a category of products that meet certain buyer values. Clean, sustainable, and natural are commonly used labels in beauty and skincare packaging, but these labels don’t have specific legal definitions. However, they have specific meanings to buyers who expect products with this messaging to be transparent about their ingredient lists, sourcing, and manufacturing practices.

Clean products are generally understood to be products that do not contain ingredients from certain chemical groups, including (but not limited to):

  • Phthalates
  • Perfluorinated substances (PFAs)
  • Propyl- and butyl-parabens
  • Formaldehyde donors

Clean products are defined by what they lack. A good guideline for clean products is: “a product is only as clean as its worst ingredient.” If your goal is to label a product “clean,” familiarize yourself with the ingredients clean buyers avoid as you develop formulations.

Natural is another term that’s often used on beauty and skincare product labels. While this is another term that doesn’t have a strict legal definition, it does have two recognized international standards:

  • ISO 9235, which defines “natural fragrances” as those derived from natural sources such as flowers, fruits, grasses, and spices.
  • ISO 16128, which defines how to numerically determine the percentage of a product’s natural and organic origin.

On a product label, natural is generally understood to mean the product does not contain synthetic ingredients or at least contains mostly natural ingredients. Its fragrances may be derived from raw materials like plant essential oils, resins, distillates, and extracts. In contrast, clean products can and often do contain lab-crafted ingredients. With clean products, the goal is not only to develop safe products but also to educate consumers as to why and how a product is safe. Depending on your brand ethos and product formulas, this could involve debunking the idea that “chemicals” are inherently bad.

While natural was previously a priority for beauty buyers, that priority has shifted to clean and sustainable products. Sustainable means the product was manufactured and packaged in a way that minimizes its use of natural resources and impact on the environment. This broad term can be applied to many manufacturing and packaging practices, such as using locally sourced ingredients to reduce shipping emissions and reusable packaging to reduce waste. It can also include vegan and cruelty-free products, additional priorities for today’s beauty and skincare buyers.

Products bearing any (or all) of these labels can be considered “conscious” products. To effectively connect with buyers seeking conscious products, though, there is another element at play: transparency. Buyers want to know every ingredient in the products they buy and feel confident that the products were manufactured responsibly and eco-consciously.

How Retailers are Guiding Brands on Conscious Beauty Messaging

“Clean at Sephora” is a recognizable seal that communicates a product was manufactured without specific ingredients known to be harmful to human or environmental health. When a buyer sees this label, they instantly know they can feel good about buying the product because it aligns with standard “clean” expectations. Similarly, Sephora’s Clean + Planet Positive label communicates that the product was manufactured and packaged according to certain sustainability standards.

In addition to Sephora, your brand can look to Target and Ulta to see how they’re communicating products’ commitment to clean and sustainable practices. Target offers products under two conscious labels: Target Clean, a seal that stands for products that are manufactured without chemicals that are commonly avoided in clean products, and Target Zero, which covers products that meet a variety of eco-conscious criteria, including waterless, refillable, compostable, and made with recycled plastic.

Ulta takes a similar approach, grouping products under two labels that make transparency easy: Ulta’s “Made Without List,” a list of commonly avoided ingredients, and Conscious Beauty at Ulta, which covers products that are vegan, cruelty-free, sustainably packaged, clean, and have a positive impact.

Other data shows us that while consumers are strongly motivated to buy clean products, they are not willing to sacrifice efficacy or experience to get them. This means that as a beauty brand, you may need to find innovative ways to formulate products, especially if you’re re-launching an established product with updated ingredients.

Crafting Clean, Conscious Products is a Science and an Art

Clean and conscious are pillars in today’s beauty and skincare markets. With this in mind, it’s important to remember that although many of the labels buyers seek don’t have legal definitions, they do adhere to certain standards and collective goals. Understanding these standards and goals is key to developing products that resonate with today’s buyers.

Beyond understanding buyers’ standards and expectations for beauty and skincare products, every brand needs to find their fragrance “positioning” and what speaks to their ethos. Custom Essence can help your company navigate the challenges that may arise when exploring the right scent for a brand and/or product.

Our team can craft custom fragrances to fit any standard. We can also work with your marketing team to identify key points to highlight in your brand story, depending on your goals and the buyers you aim to reach. Every ingredient we use is safe for consumers, so when we develop product formulations, we follow your lead on which ingredients will resonate with the specific buyers you aim to reach. Think of us as your partners in bringing conscious products to the market—your brand has a unique story, and together we can shape that story to highlight its best parts.

Ready to get started? Contact Custom Essence today.