06 · 04 · 2021
The beauty universe is complex and fascinating with numerous trends and buzz words evolving and becoming synonymous with health and wellbeing. For the past decade the focus has shifted from admiring the surface, to exploring what’s beneath. Or what’s inside.
The hashtag #cleanbeauty has more than 3 million posts on Instagram. Nearly 50 % of women in the U.S. already use clean beauty products according to a 2019 poll by Harper’s BAAZAR. Although the term has been around for a while it still lacks a clear definition which is worrisome because the clean beauty movement wants to bring clarity and transparency to the skincare industry.
We believe that at this time clean beauty is a spectrum. Is it vegan? Non-toxic? Organic? Hypoallergenic? Yes and no. The American cosmetics regulation is 80 years old and only bans around 30 additives whereas more than 1300 ingredients are banned in the EU. Therefore toxic ingredients are determined based on where you live. Parabens, phthalates, artificial colors and fragrances, sulfates, Butylated Hydroxyanisole/BHT, formaldehyde, triclosan and oxybenzone are the usual toxic ingedients that clean beauty brands and consumers tend to avoid. Other popular, yet debatable, terms frequently included in marketing are vegan, organic and animal cruelty-free. Safe to say we could use a little cleaning up.
While consumers and brands dispute what is and what is not clean, the trend has mutated into not only one but two more trends: slow beauty and blue beauty. Slow beauty as in slowing down the pace of our consumption, society and everyday life. A year of isolation has inspired consumers to elevate their daily life through self-caring rituals. Often involving slower, simpler routines with fewer steps and more effective ingredients.
Where slow beauty is more of a holistic approach, blue beauty is all about limiting our plastic waste, making it easier for us to recycle and protect our oceans from chemicals. According to WWF, one dump truck full of plastic waste enters our ocean every minute and the beauty industry is the main culprit due to its single use packaging and products.
Sweden have been proactively dealing with these issues and plastic microbeads in cosmetic products were banned in 2018. Recently Hawaii, as the first US state, banned sun cream with coral-harming and chemicals like oxybenzone.
Clean, slow and blue beauty are all part of a movement from the conscious consumers: reaction to climate change, mental health issues and a fast-paced society. By scrutinizing the industry and making careful choices people are putting pressure on the companies to take action. And on that note, let’s end this article with a few words on the subject from Verso’s founder Lars Fredriksson.
Verso Skincare offers ethically produced products, all to ensure that they are kind to humans, animals and the planet.
Clean Beauty is without a doubt a term that we’re very familiar with at Verso, and we’ve had a long-term commitment to the subject.n
Verso Skincare offers ethically produced products, all to ensure that they are kind to humans, animals and the planet. For example, all products are free from color additives, parabens and mineral oils.n
We encourage conscious consumption without compromising on the results. Our products have a low count of high-quality active ingredients to ensure healthy skin, no frills included. We believe in a daily beauty routine with a few, high-quality products to reduce time and money spent and unnecessary pressure put on the environment by overconsumption. One could call it Smart Beauty.n
To meet our goals in offering sustainable skincare, our outer packages will be reduced by 14% during 2021 by decreasing them into a tight, not oversized, neat packaging with no unnecessary dead space being shipped around the world. We will also stop using cellophane to cover our products which will save 200 kg in plastic – a first and vital step.n