Clean Beauty is Officially A "Billion Dollar" Industry, And It’s Only Growing

April 24, 2021 Hannah Warren

In what will come as no surprise at all to our readers, clean beauty is the fastest-growing segment of the beauty industry. But if you needed evidential proof, here you go: US clean beauty company Beautycounter has just been valued at USD 1 billion, thanks to a major influx of cash from an investment company.

This investment, which gives the Carlyle Group a majority stake in Beautycounter, is a clear marker of just how mainstream this movement has become.

It makes sense: As we become more aware of what we’re putting into our bodies, there’s a parallel awareness of what we’re putting onto our bodies. After all, skin is our bodies’ biggest organ, so how we treat it affects everything.

Image: @grownalchemist

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Luckily, clean skincare is everywhere—meaning it’s no hard thing to be aware of the products we’re using.

Clean can mean different things to different brands, but usually, it means a product that doesn’t contain anything synthetic, including preservatives, fragrances and colours. Usually, clean beauty products also boast "no nasties", like sulphates, parabens, silicones, mineral oils or phthalates. In skincare of old, those ingredients were used to give products longer shelf life or a specific smell/colour/texture, but increasing research shows that they can be harmful to our health as well as the environment.

As a result, clean skincare is everywhere now, with new, clean-focused companies—which even five years ago would have been considered niche—fighting for shelf space with mainstream brands launching clean lines.

Beautycounter is one of the brands that have built a name in natural beauty. The brand, created by Gregg Renfrew, launched in 2013, motivated by the intention to challenge existing standards in the industry, especially as far as product safety went.

Renfrew started with an in-house research and development team, which worked on creating products without any of the 1,800 ingredients that are found in skincare but that are known or thought to be harmful. Unlike other clean beauty brands at the time, which were small and only had a small market, Renfrew wanted to compete with the massive international brands for market share.

Research group CB Insights' 2019 list of top beauty trends noted ingredient transparency, partnerships with farms and sustainable packaging as some of the key trends.

“Consumers are increasingly demanding greater insight into what their products are made of — especially as the link between specific cosmetic ingredients and health issues becomes more apparent,” the report states.

Ingredient transparency has become a top priority not only for beauty and personal care brands but also for CPG [consumer goods] and retail companies more broadly… And one of the biggest ways ingredient transparency has manifested is through the clean beauty movement.

Farm-to-face, seed-to-skin — whatever you call it, the clean beauty economy is booming. The global natural and organic beauty market is estimated to be a $22B global market.”

However, something to be aware of when you’re shopping for green beauty: There is almost no regulation around the words used to market these products. “Natural”, “clean” and “organic” have no consistent standard and can be used without any evidence on personal care products.

To help you shop carefully, here’s a quick rundown of some of our favourite local natural skincare brands.

5 of The Best Natural Skincare Brands in Australia

Grown Alchemist

Image: @grownalchemist

This ultra-luxe brand, which is organic and cruelty-free, is all about improving skin health with natural ingredients and avoiding harm-causing synthetics.

Go-To

Image: @gotoskincare

With ultra-cute packaging and no-nonsense marketing, Zoë Foster Blake’s skincare brand is all about botanical ingredients that are gentle on the skin—no wonder the brand has a cult following.