It seems consumers have a growing list of demands these days when it comes to their personal care products: they must be eco-conscious, sustainable, natural and organic, vegan-friendly, use responsible palm sources, support remote or local communities… and on top of all this, the product must actually work. How can your cosmetic brand calculate sustainability of their cosmetic formula accurately and make sure they are not guilty of greenwashing?

With all of these ethical values potentially driving the cost of product up, and limiting the choice of ingredients a cosmetic formulator can use, just where does the line blur between formulating for cosmetic product performance versus achieving ethical values?

There has been a lot of research conducted on how much a consumer’s ethical or moral values influence their product purchases. Researchers have found that positioning products to appeal to consumer morality can be an effective way to drive their purchasing behaviours¹. But, in order for ethical claims to influence consumer habits, they need to be values that matter to that individual. For example, being vegan friendly is a message that appeals specifically to vegetarians and vegans, but may not have much, if any, impact on those who are non-discriminate meat eaters. See tips on how to formulate vegan-friendly personal care in this blog.

Price can also have an impact on a consumers’ purchasing decision, even if that purchase does not perfectly align with their ideal moral values. For example, ‘organic’ ingredients or certification will carry substantial value to those who want to live pesticide free and return to traditional farming practices; but the cost of purchasing truly organic products may mean that person needs to purchase a product claiming it contains natural ingredients, without being all natural or organic, at a lower price instead.

Finally, there is nothing like product performance to drive repeat sales. Even with the most effective ethical claims, a personal care product simply will not be purchased a second time if it doesn’t work as promised, or as the consumer requires. Even with the most ethical of messages, a personal care product that doesn’t work well will also attract negative online reviews and comments, which is commercially damaging no matter how good the original intentions. While a strong moral message might attract a consumer to purchase a certain product, if the product doesn’t fill that consumers’ needs or deliver the desired benefits, then they simply won’t use it, recommend it, or purchase it again.

So how does a cosmetic formulator meet the needs of an ever-growing list of ethical values without impacting that all-important product performance?

Cosmetic chemists are always limited by the cosmetic ingredients available, but fortunately, multiple cosmetic ingredient suppliers have risen to the challenge and can provide various eco-conscious, sustainable, vegan friendly, natural and organic ingredient options. The task for a cosmetic chemist is to stay connected with your suppliers, visit trade shows and exhibitions to see the new ingredients being launched, and take a little extra time to search out the required options. It is equally important for the Marketing department of a brand to have conducted the relevant research into what really matters for their target consumer, so as to not overly restrict the choices of the cosmetic formulator when it comes to ingredient selection.

For example, let’s say a hydrolysed protein is required in a conditioner formula to achieve specific repair and conditioning properties. Is vegan-friendly important? Then a plant protein source is required, and this could also be a great natural ingredient addition. However, a Cosmetic Chemist should inspect their choices a little closer: of the plant protein sources available, which are all natural, including any preservatives used? Which have the best efficacy data, to meet the performance needs of the product? Of the remaining selections, which have additional eco-friendly, community support or other appealing messages? Finally, which meet the costs and minimum order requirements of production? Simply selecting a plant-based protein source is not enough if you are trying to meet multiple consumer demands, so start with a clear list of what is absolutely needed compared to what is preferred, then refine your available choices to tick as many boxes as possible with every ingredient you select. Obviously, this takes a little extra time, but it’s the only way to achieve the desired cosmetic product performance whilst appealing to as many consumers ethical values as possible. This also gives the marketing department a much stronger story to compete amongst the sea of ethical claims they may otherwise find themselves drowning in!

But what if the desired ethical values contradict possible performance? For example, it is impossible to formulate an all-natural aesthetically pleasing SPF50+ sunscreen with 2 hour water resistance because of the ingredients that simply must be used to achieve the required results. What is a cosmetic chemist to do then? The first step is to discuss it with marketing: will their consumer accept some ethical compromises to achieve the desired performance characteristics, so long as every other ingredient in the product has a strong moral story – or will those ethical values rule out, making the finished product no longer attractive to their consumers’ purchasing decision? With a product such as this, a consumer will find that they must compromise if they want that level of performance; but a cosmetic brand must do what they can too. In this case, choosing naturally derived, sustainable, responsible palm and vegan friendly functional ingredients such as the gums, emulsifiers and lipids could be essential to the cosmetic products’ success, and the only way to achieve both the required product performance and still have the required appeal to consumers’ ethical values.

The take home message is: to compete in the crowded cosmetic marketplace, cosmetic brands must understand their target market needs and desires more than ever. The line of compromise needs to be investigated and articulated too. Finally, the Cosmetic Chemist must stay connected and do the extra research steps as part of their development to make the most fitting cosmetic ingredient choices to ensure the final product formula delivers on the required performance whilst satisfying consumer need for ethical products when purchasing. The extra steps at the early stages of product concept and design are essential, but the finished product can then give a rewarding sense of achievement to all involved. Not to mention the ultimate winner, particularly where overarching decisions are made about conscious sustainability: our planet.

Happy formulating!

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1 Luttrell, A., Teeny, J. & Petty, R. 2021. “Morality Matters in the Marketplace: The Role of Moral Metacognition on Consumer Purchasing.” Social Cognition.