Balancing Natural Claims and the Need for Preservatives
Consumers want clean and natural – and their spending habits prove it. The desire for natural, organic, green, and clean claims on skincare, cosmetic, haircare, and other personal care products has simply exploded over the past few years, and there are no signs of the market growth slowing down.In fact, experts predict that the global natural and organic personal care products market will grow at a CAGR of 9.85% between 2017–2021, according to a new report.
This unstoppable, meteoric growth of the natural claims personal care market has shifted the winds for both formulators and consumers. In order to remain relevant, hip, and engaging to contemporary consumers, formulators are creating the most innovative and effective natural claims products ever available on the market.
Meanwhile, savvy consumers are now whipping out the magnifying glass to scour the label on their next serum, conditioner, or sunscreen purchase. And, in addition to the increasingly-important “natural” label consumers are demanding, there’s also a long laundry list of ingredients today’s shopper doesn’t want to see on their next personal care item. The top offenders and purchasing turnoffs? Preservatives like parabens, formaldehyde donors, and isothiazolinones.
However, despite this growing backlash against once-common preservatives like these, formulators know preservatives are a critical ingredient to creating safe and effective personal care products.
Savvy consumers are now whipping out the magnifying glass...
Key ingredients in protecting consumers
First, and most importantly, preservatives inhibit mold, bacteria, fungi, and other microbial growth in personal care products. Without preservatives, any water-containing product would essentially become a petri dish of bacteria – and put consumer health at risk if the product was ingested.
Additionally, preservatives create a longer, more stable shelf life for personal care products. Plus, preservatives help consumers from having to stash every cleanser, foundation, or lotion in the fridge or freezer. The bottom line? Preservatives are crucial for safe product formulations – but a “natural” claim is increasingly important to today’s consumer.
Fortunately, with exciting new innovations in the natural preservatives world, formulators now have the opportunity to create enticing new products and twist up fan favorite formulations with modernized, natural preservatives, like those from Sharon Laboratories.
These are ingredients 100% free of parabens, formaldehyde donors, and isothiazolinones, making them the perfect addition to both new and revamped natural claims products.
“It’s really important that we push people away from the idea of preservative-free. What we really want to see is innovation and testing to find newer preservatives that are safer.”
Nneka Leiba
The Environmental Working Group
Plus, the Sharon line of preservatives is globally approved, heat stable, suitable for wide pH range, and offers broad spectrum protection.
For formulators, natural preservatives like Sharon’s offerings represent the wave of the future, delivering both safe products and fulfilling the natural claims consumers desire.
“It’s really important that we push people away from the idea of preservative-free. What we really want to see is innovation and testing to find newer preservatives that are safer,” Nneka Leiba, deputy director of research for the Environmental Working Group, said in an interview with clean, green online influencer site Well + Good.
A win-win ingredients evolution
As the natural personal care markets continue to soar, preservative lines free from parabens, formaldehyde donors, and isothiazolinones will create a win-win situation for consumers and formulators.
Formulators can harness the power of modern, natural preservatives to offer the most innovative products ever – and consumers can safely enjoy the many benefits of these exciting new natural claims products.
