Time for classification of natural and naturally-derived cosmetic ingredients

Raw material suppliers have made significant progress in filling the gaps in the palette of green ingredients available to formulators; however, many technical challenges still remain to be overcome.

“One of these is simply having the knowledge of what ingredients classify as natural / naturally derived, where to find them and how to use them effectively,”​ Beerling told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.

Workshop​

The technical researcher will deliver this year’s workshop at the industry event on the 18th of April, entitled “Formulating Using Green Ingredients”. 

“This workshop will focus on green ingredients at the more functional end of the spectrum: surfactants, emollients, emulsifiers, preservatives, polymers, etc,”​ says Beerling.

“In particular, an interactive exercise with participants will be based on creating different textures using materials covered in the session.”​

Sustainability and CSR​

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are major drivers in the use of green ingredients for many companies in this decade, and will be the first area identified during the workshop.

“The days of natural or organic for the sake of making such marketing claims seem to be drawing to a close,”​ continues the Organic Monitor researcher.

“So not only is the ‘naturalness’ of ingredients important but companies are also becoming concerned about a multitude of other issues,”​ she adds.

Carbon/ water footprint ​

These include the carbon and/or water footprint of finished products and raw materials, reducing energy during manufacture or distribution and the use of more environmentally friendly packaging.

Beerling states that whilst some of these are outside the control of the product formulator, there is desire to use more renewable, sustainable and ethically sourced raw materials but only if they can be obtained at a reasonable cost.

The perceived safety of certain key synthetic raw materials is also tending to drive marketing and technical departments to reconsider what they are comfortable with using in their formulations.

“Added to this is the issue of an increasing regulatory burden on all European cosmetic companies and for some the need to formulate to one of the wide ranging eco or natural/organic standards available worldwide,”​ concludes Beerling.