As Kline gears up for the research for the next edition of Natural Personal Care Global Series (base year: 2012) and for Inside the Minds of Natural Consumers, a new study from Kline designed to understand consumer perceptions of natural personal care and natural household cleaning, some trends are worth mentioning. While the natural personal care market has been growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 13% since 2006, Kline observes that lately, natural ingredients are making an especially big splash in ethnic hair care, professional skin care, and male grooming products.
While there is a lot of buzz about locally sourced ingredients in personal care products, the other end of the spectrum still generates excitement: exotically sourced ingredients. Beautiful locales like Brazilian rain forests, the jungles of Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea immediately evoke a romantic and traditionally natural image. Don’t forget the water! Water, the main ingredient in many beauty products, can come from interesting and far-away places too, such as New Zealand and Patagonia, each with its own special properties.
While vegan consumer products are being snatched up in the form of clothes and home goods, they are also gaining attention in cosmetics. Some companies in the United States are making news with not just natural, but vegan products, meaning no animal-derived ingredients. Vital to the vegan lifestyle is the commitment to not wear, eat, or use anything that exploits animals. “Cruelty-free” claims mean animals aren’t used to test the products, and the products do not contain any animal ingredients. Lanolin, for example, could be considered natural, but it would not be vegan because it is a yellow waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Most lanolin used by humans comes from domestic sheep. Ditto for beeswax and carmine: not vegan either.
Tata Harper – the namesake skin care brand of a woman who sources ingredients from around the world, but many come from the farm in Vermont – is touted as vegan. However, it also claims clinically proven and visible results. The products come with premium prices and are sold mostly through spas or online. The Regenerating Cleanser ($75.00 for 125 ml) is a daily exfoliating cleanser that includes apricot seed powder and pomegranate enzymes for exfoliation, grapefruit and bergamot for its antibacterial and detoxifying properties, aloe vera to hydrate the skin, and pink clay to minimize pores and increase circulation. The Hydrating Floral Essence ($71.50 for 50 ml), which is a moisturizing toner containing 19 active ingredients, including hyaluronic acid to help skin retain its moisture and minimize fine lines, willow bark to encourage cell renewal, witch hazel to reduce redness, and jasmine and tangerine to restore the skin’s elasticity.
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) is another American vegan brand, but this one centers around brightly colored cosmetics. It is self-labeled a professional line for photographic subjects. The front label boasts “100% vegan and cruelty free” and its website says that one “need not necessarily be aligned with animal rights issues to reap the benefits of a vegan cosmetic line: animal ingredients can be amongst the most allergenic and skin reactive, and prevent makeup from being considered Kosher, Halal, or otherwise compliant with various dietary” guidelines. OCC Lip Tar, a highly pigmented lip color that has gained a lot attention in the press, sells for about $15.00.
The truly natural personal care market is transcending beyond mere natural ingredients used in products. With ever-growing consumer awareness, many companies are concerned with the environmental impact or the importance of eco-design and innovations in recycled packaging. But they go beyond these trends looking to create unique natural skin care line that really works. The usage of new formulations, with the ancient overtones, the new combinations of exotic ingredients, veganism and other trends are newly emerging on the market, and in the upcoming research will be investigating all new entrances on the market. We will look at this not only on a global basis, but will provide an examination per country and product category.
For more information see Kline’s Natural Personal Care: Global Market Analysis and Opportunities.
