by Misha Hughes
Over the last few years, the green personal care movement has evolved from humble beginnings to a multimillion dollar industry, and consumer demands expanded alongside those business earnings. According to Mintel research, 35 percent of Americans are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. With major International companies entering the arena, green product manufacturers no longer resemble a ragtag band of small mom-and-pop manufacturers espousing a do-it-yourself philosophy of natural care—nor do their customers.
Now with a full-scale trend spanning multiple product categories, it’s hard to miss green products, whether looking at the food, cosmetics or cleaning supply categories. Consumers recognize the products they use on a daily basis can affect their health and the health of the world around them. This progression to a green lifestyle is natural and particularly present in the beauty industry. Consumers are more aware of the chemicals being used in skincare, and their possible negative impact on topical skin health, integrated overall health and the environment. As a result, manufacturers have responded with a plethora of green beauty products.
Green beauty manufacturers can differentiate themselves by integrating high-performance into the mix alongside natural ingredients, toxin-free formulations, sustainable production and recyclable packaging. Truly, though green beauty products flood the market, one key component that many of them miss is performance.
The Performance Pedestal
In the early years, expectations for green beauty products remained relatively low because the first priority was shedding dangerous ingredients for natural, earth-saving alternatives. However, as green has mainstreamed in many spheres, consumers now express frustration when they purchase a green beauty product only to find disappointment with the results. After all, an organic apple can taste just as juicy and delicious as a conventional one, if not more so; hybrid cars, certainly, must deliver on handling as well as safety; sustainable interior design is incredibly luxe; and an inferior green toilet paper or paper towel only needs to be used once before switching to a brand that works. In this context of mainstreaming, disappointment registers higher when green products don’t match up to traditional product performance.
Fortunately, the development of green cosmeceuticals proved to be a game changer for aestheticians who seek to bridge high-quality functionality and a green ethos. When cosmeceuticals went green, the raw ingredients were finally available to vault green skincare products to the next level. Consumers started to experience visible benefits to their skin from continued green product use, including soothing redness, improving complexion and contributing anti-aging effects such as luminosity and reduced appearance of fine lines.
Green Means Good
The result is the latest trend in beauty: Green products that perform. Consumers now have every right to expect results from their green skincare regimen, and they demand those results be delivered as safely as possible. Green cosmeceuticals form the basis of beauty treatments that combine science and eco-friendly ingredients to deliver optimum skin nutrition. Natural antioxidants like green tea extract, grape seed extract, mangosteen and pomegranate are all popular green cosmeceutical ingredients that seek to improve the skin’s appearance by delivering nutrients necessary for healthy skin. The mangosteen in particular has unique, highly beneficial, anti-inflammatory compounds called xanthones, in addition to a host of other flavonoids and antioxidants; the topical benefits of the fruit have been well documented.
XanGo LLC, for example, utilizes the active ingredients from mangosteen in a line of topical skin nutrition called Glimpse. BioActive X3 Complex is biofermented to enhance efficacy. The compound contains three xanthone-rich ingredients derived from the fruit’s nutrient-dense pericarp. The synergy of these three complexes provides support to skin through inflammation control, antioxidant supplementation and bacterial control. BioActive X3 Complex also has a host of vitamins, amino acids and additional nutrients that provide comprehensive topical supplementation to skin.
Green beauty products not only sustain our environment, but now rival their traditional counterparts in terms of execution. This is great news for the average beauty consumer, but even more beneficial for those with specific skincare goals and/or concerns. Dry/oily skin, sensitive skin, rosacea and anti-aging are concerns that many consumers experience, and ingredients in traditional beauty formulations can exacerbate these conditions. In the past, many of these conditions were not well understood (and there are still many questions regarding each of these, as skincare varies so much from individual to individual). Traditional formulas created to address common conditions often masked the problem without addressing the underlying cause. Coupling a growing understanding of the skin with natural alternatives to sometimes harmful synthetic ingredients that inhibit or impede skin functions is the true benefit of green formulations.
The green beauty movement gave consumers access to products that are good for their health and the environment. More recently, green product formulation began to compete with traditionally formulated products so consumers are able to purchase beauty products that are beautiful, effective, eco-friendly and safe for bodily use. This is crucial, as it is only through delivering results equal to or better than traditional formulas that we will ensure the green beauty market’s continued flourishing growth.
Misha Hughes has been a paramedical aesthetician for almost two decades, and an aesthetician and personal care consultant at XanGo LLC for more than a year. She uses cutting-edge, science-based formulations and ingredients, and has extensive skin care experience with brands such as SkinCeuticals, Gateway Aesthetic Institute, Aveda and Physician's Skin Care. Misha frequently presents on anti-aging skin care solutions and lectures on the efficacy of skin care products.