Key insights:
- Without clear government oversight, clean beauty is essentially a marketing term open for interpretation.
- Ingredients need to back up brand promise as consumers become increasingly invested in their health and the earth's.
- Clean beauty companies are focusing on the harmful ingredients their products leave out as well as high standards for ingredients.
The last time that the United States passed regulations on the ingredients allowed in cosmetics, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in his second term as president. The Wizard of Oz was still a year away from its theatrical release. And the beauty industry as we know it today was still in its infancy—which makes sense when you consider the fact that at the time, makeup had only recently gained widespread use. (Before, the only women who dared to wear it regularly were prostitutes.)
This story first appeared in the June 15, 2020, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.
