Glamour. Glitter. Gorgeous.

The three G’s are switching over to the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

The beauty industry has been associated with extravagant terms like these and prioritizing aesthetics over sustainability, until now. In recent years, the beauty industry has been revolutionized as consumers become more concerned with the sustainability efforts of cosmetic companies in regards to formulation and more glaringly, packaging.

The industry is embracing a greener and more eco-friendly approach to cosmetics. But what does sustainability really mean? Why should consumers care? What can consumers do? And more importantly, how much do you really know?

The beauty industry is full of terminology that paints a complicated picture to unknowing consumers.

Let’s catch you up to speed quickly.

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The cosmetics industry has been inundated with these terms in recent years – when women are buying cosmetics, are they really sure what this means in relation to the environment?

The More You Know

“This all started in a class at USC”.

SOSHE Beauty is a refillable cosmetics brand, started by USC alum and current CEO, Sahar Rohani. The brand focuses on refillable items, with a mascara and a lipstick currently on the market. Rohani has focused on every aspect of her business model with sustainability in mind in hopes that the cosmetics industry will follow suit in generating a closed-loop production cycle.

Now more than ever, consumers are paying attention to the origins and sustainability efforts of their beloved brands and products. While eliminating plastics from cosmetics as a whole is a difficult task to navigate, at SOSHE “for every product we sell that contains plastic, we fund the removal of at least twice as much nature-bound plastic waste from landfills and natural environments to be recycled and repurposed”.

Rohani speaks about the demand for cosmetics and the sheer importance of the evolving landscape as brands become more eco-conscious. “When we see these brands innovating in terms of packaging and becoming really sustainable or really conscious, the product itself has to be amazing. The product itself has to be good enough for you to leave your L'Oreal or your Maybelline or your Mac or whatever it may be.”

USC Senior, Estelle Murray, tries to stick with beauty brands that promote sustainability. “Rare Beauty is one of my favorites. People don’t realize how important it is to prioritize sustainability. I think it’s obvious with health trends, such as clean eating or working out, however, I find it equally as important to make sure your beauty regimen is healthy.”

PACT is a non-profit collective that works with beauty brands to fully recycle empty cosmetic containers, in hopes of creating a closed-loop production cycle.

The beauty industry generates over 120 billion units of plastic packaging annually with 70% of the product containers ending up in landfills. “Most beauty packaging can't be recycled through traditional curbside blue bin recycling facilities. It's actually too small, and it falls through the levers and gets discarded into the landfill. So we created PACT”, says Sarah Kales, dual-store manager of sustainable beauty retailer, CREDO Beauty Los Angeles.

Why Should I Care?

"If we don't change our decisions, we're just going to continue drowning in these plastics. It's killing our planet", says Tara Fothergill, Marketing and Communications Consultant for the PACT Collective.

"The use of chemicals and plastics in the industry is not just detrimental to the health to the health of the planet, it's detrimental to people who live on the planet. We need change, and PACT is optimistic".

When individuals think of “health” they think of the food they consume, the amount they exercise or even how they manage stress. What is not commonly thought about is “how healthy are the cosmetic products people use on a day to day basis?”

In a research study conducted by Nielsen, 81% of global consumers say that it is "very" or "extremely important" that companies implement programs to protect the environment.

THE INGREDIENT PROBLEM

Sustainable beauty brands promote a host of health benefits. With ingredient transparency as well as sustainably farmed or fully sustainable ingredients, consumers can be more health aware with their beauty products. Many big name brands use harmful chemicals that have been linked to extremely negative effects.

The US Food and Drug Administration only prohibits or restricts 11 ingredients that are known to cause harm to human health such as chloroform and mercury compounds. Conversely, the European Union prohibits approximately 1,300 chemicals, including lead, parabens and phthalates, that have been directly linked to negative health impacts but are still permitted in the United States. Brands and companies in the United States that comply with sustainable beauty guidelines are far exceeding the 11 ingredient regulations set by the US FDA.

THE PACKAGING PROBLEM

The beauty industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation. Beyond packaging that is oftentimes falsely marketed as recyclable, many cosmetic lines use microplastics, such as microbeads and glitter, in their products. Microplastics have become one of the largest threats to environmental health with a 280% annual growth rate, according to data analytics company Kantar. These plastics are less than five millimeters in size and can infiltrate virtually any ecosystem, as seen with traces of microplastics being found in the bloodstreams and internal organs of a variety of species. Effective recycling should be the first step in addressing the industry’s sustainability problem.

What Can I Do?

MAKE THE SWITCH

Switching to sustainable beauty can be daunting at first. Sustainable beauty brands are working to bring the highest quality goods to cosmetics consumers with the lowest possible impact.

BE AWARE

For consumers, products marked with the Leaping Bunny logo are Leaping Bunny certified, cruelty-free, and do not test any step of the cosmetic production process on animals.

While it is hard to make the switch, the most effective way to grow the sustainable beauty market is to choose and support sustainable cosmetic brands and products. By engaging with these brands, brand growth is expected to increase and it creates more demand for sustainable products. Products marked with the Leaping Bunny logo are Leaping Bunny certified, cruelty-free, and do not test any step of the cosmetic production process on animals. To choose sustainable products, consumers should look for the Leaping Bunny logo as well as brands that are eco-friendly and ethically-sourced.

BE ACTIVE

It’s time to demand more from the beauty industry. It is imperative that consumers hold brands accountable, especially large, international corporations that continue to follow unethical practices and are unsustainable in nature, despite active awareness of the negative effects these practices have on the environment and health. Sign petitions, speak with lawmakers, hold brands accountable and ultimately be a force for change.