December 31, 2020 

“While you may have heard of green beauty, blue beauty is the latest trend to sweep the industry,” explains Sara Radin in Vogue. “Where green beauty focuses on environmental protection, blue beauty aims to address the ways the industry’s products harm our oceans.” 

Blue beauty brands and consumers are focused on protecting the oceans in three key ways: innovative packaging, ocean and reef friendly formulations, and sustainable ingredient harvesting.

One dump truck of plastic waste enters the ocean every minute, according to the World Wildlife Foundation, and conscientious consumers are more concerned than ever about the impacts of their personal care packaging on the blue planet.

“Sustainability in both packaging and corporate practices continues as one of the key topics in the beauty industry, as well as many other sectors, driven primarily by environmental concerns from consumers and governments—especially as 2025 goals set over the past few years hover ever closer,” explains Beauty Packaging.

Blue beauty brands are attempting to reduce plastic packaging for products in several ways. Some of the more popular options include:

• Refillable, reusable containers 
• Use of post-consumer plastics
• Glass, metal, and other non-plastic containers to house formulations

As more consumers seek out blue beauty and plastic-free beauty products, brands that offer and advertise ocean-friendly packaging will be duly rewarded.

Another key piece of blue beauty? Ocean-friendly formulations, or products created without a list of ingredients that are potentially harmful to the ocean’s ecosystem and sea life, are in high demand from consumers.

Similar to the clean beauty movement, consumers are now worried that the ingredients from personal care products could hurt the ocean when washed down the drain. Enter: reef safe and ocean safe formulations.

The rise of reef safe and ocean safe personal care formulations is most visible in the sun care market. Spurred on by a slate of new sunscreen bans that have passed local legislations over the past few years, consumers are now hunting down products that won’t disrupt the ocean when washed off in the waves.

Experts predict the trending suncare claims of reef-safe and ocean-friendly will continue to trickle down to other categories, like skincare and haircare.

“Initially, we were seeing these (reef safe) claims in sunscreen, but are starting to see them appear in skin care, soap, bath products and hair care,” Andrew McDougall, associate director, beauty and personal care, Mintel, told Global Cosmetics Industry.

A third and final key component of the blue beauty movement is the use of sustainably harvested ingredients. Blue beauty formulations frequently feature aquatic ingredients, and many forward-thinking brands seek to use ingredient harvesting practices that protect and promote the health of the ocean.

Popular sustainable oceanic ingredients include:

• Sea salt
• Blue, green, brown, and red algae
• Seaweed
• Kelp

Additionally, many blue-beauty brands are focused on waterless formulations in effort to become more sustainable. While it’s not unusual for water to make up 50-80% of a personal care formulation, blue beauty brands want to remove the H20 in an attempt to protect water resources and minimize wastage.

Consumers want more sustainable options for their skincare, haircare, and personal care products. Brands can respond to these demands and offer innovation by creating ocean-friendly formulations that rely on eco-friendly ingredient harvesting and green packaging. 

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