The Clean & Ethical Beauty boom: How to connect with the conscious consumer

By Kacey Culliney

25-Feb-2020 - Last updated on 25-Feb-2020 at 13:04 GMT

CosmeticsDesign is holding its Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit 2020 in Amsterdam on June 3-4 (Getty Images)CosmeticsDesign is holding its Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit 2020 in Amsterdam on June 3-4 (Getty Images)

RELATED TAGS: clean & ethical beauty, clean beauty, ethical beauty, trends, Innovation

Conscious consumerism is here to stay and as the fast-paced clean and ethical beauty trend takes its grip, industry needs to start delivering on all fronts – overcoming lab and regulatory hurdles along the way.

Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit, Amsterdam June 3-4​

From better understanding what makes consumers tick, to navigating challenges in the lab and the complex EU regulatory landscape, CosmeticsDesign’s Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit​​ will bring you exclusive insight from important thought leaders in the category, as well as provide an intimate setting for high-level networking and ideas exchange.

The advanced programme for the Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit 2020 has now been released and is available for download​. Tickets to the two-day summit in June are also available to purchase online​.

To be held in Amsterdam on June 3-4, the summit will bring together a wealth of like-minded industry professionals to debunk, discuss, learn and network on the ins and outs around the consumer buzz that is Clean & Ethical beauty.

Sustainable considerations and consumer needs​

The two-day summit will kick off with a wider look at the market and consumer trends shaping the Clean & Ethical Beauty movement. We’ll hear from Chris Sherwin, director of sustainable design consulting firm reboot innovation, about the environmental context and whether industry efforts are currently enough and what needs to happen next. With 25+ years of sustainable innovation expertise and previous work with non-profit Forum for the Future, Sherwin is well-placed to provide an important overview on what this topic means in the wider context of today’s environmental crisis.

Lia Neophytou, analyst at GlobalData, will then bring us exclusive insight on the important consumer aspect of Clean & Ethical Beauty – what do they actually look for in this beauty category and why? And how have consumer needs evolved? Neophytou’s work at GlobalData sees her track innovation across the FMCG space, with a particular interest in beauty and personal care trends and how these influence global innovation.

Holistic product development and lab challenges​

Jo Chidley, founder of Beauty Kitchen and chemist, will then take us through important considerations to have front-of-mind when developing a successful, sustainable beauty brand. Notably, Chidley will discuss the importance of packaging in new product development, putting into focus the importance of taking a holistic approach. Packaging, after all, plays a critical role in protecting the clean beauty formulas and ingredients inside.

We’ll also hear from Luciana Coutinho, chief product officer of product development firm Lulable, about the challenges of creating clean and ethical cosmetics in the lab. With 20+ years of experience in the CPG industry, working for companies like Avon Products, Reckitt Benckiser and Prestige Consumer Healthcare, Coutinho will unpick how clean and ethical product development differs from standard work and spotlight specific challenges around using preservatives, emulsifiers and colourants. She will also address the important question of natural versus naturally derived versus synthetic in the Clean & Ethical movement.

Regulatory hurdles and certifications​

Important to whether Clean & Ethical can truly take off in the global beauty market are regulatory considerations. Dr Mojgan Moddaresi, director of consultancy Personal Care Regulatory, will take a deep dive into the regulatory landscape and considerations in the EU for developing clean and ethical beauty products, addressing issues to be mindful of and the toughest aspects set to face industry moving forward. Does ‘clean’ and ‘ethical’ stand up to what’s written into law?

We’ll also hear from Bryony Morgan, executive officer of FairWild Foundation Secretariat, and Emma Dawes, technical specialist at the Soil Association Certification, on two options industry has for marketing clean and ethical beauty products through certifications.

With ten years of experience working with the private sector on sustainable trade initiatives, Morgan will discuss the value of the FairWild certification and wider resource management and business practices when working with plants, fungi and lichen. Dawes will dig into what the natural and organic COSMOS standards really mean in practice and how this presents another option for the clean and ethical beauty movement.

Clean & Ethical Beauty - future innovation and concerns​

The Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit will then focus on what the future might hold for global beauty manufacturers and suppliers – considering water scarcity as the biggest issue in the next few years. Dave McCaughan, chief strategy officer at Ai.agency and founder of consultancy Bibliosexual, will spotlight why water – the single greatest beauty ingredient – deserves attention and how exactly it needs to be talked about.

Helga Hertsig-Lavocah, senior futurologist at Hint Futurology, will then provide a provocative look at what clean and ethical beauty innovation efforts need to look like, given widespread sustainability challenges facing our planet. Hertsig-Lavocah will dive into adjacent industries, looking at some old technologies being revived, to provide a bit of inspiration to the conversation.

With a plethora of additional speakers yet to be announced, the Clean & Ethical Beauty Summit will be an event not to be missed this year! The unfathomable rise of the conscious consumer shows no sign of stopping or slowing, so navigating this concept will be an important one for beauty in years to come.

https://www.cosmeticsdesign-asia.com/Article/2020/02/25/Cosmetics-Design-Clean-Ethical-Beauty-Summit-2020-advanced-programme