EP156. Formulating for the climate crisis

I've been in the formulation sector for over a decade now, and in that time I've seen people formulate using organic ingredients and methods. I've seen people formulate to create gentler products. I've seen people formulate to protect the skin's barrier. I've seen people formulate to be more sustainable in the formulation process. But I haven't yet seen anyone formulate to specifically tackle all of the effects the climate crisis is having on our skin, hair or body. Beauty brands, until now, have always cherry picked a couple of those effects to formulate for, such as increased levels of pollution or UV rays or increased humidity or higher levels of heat. And the big reason for that, of course, is that there isn't a widespread understanding of what those effects actually are. The changes to our climate are happening over a period of years, decades, rather than being immediately visible. And that means that the beauty industry's understanding of the impacts of the climate crisis on our skin, hair and body is happening gradually. Which is what makes the interview I conducted here on the Green Beauty Conversations podcast last week even more remarkable. If you listened to it, I really hope you did. Even though it was my longest one yet, you'll have heard the ambitious story of two hair care entrepreneurs with a wealth of experience who have not only created a brand to mitigate all of the effects of the climate crisis on the hair, but also went out to have every single one of those claims clinically tested and proven. Last week I talked to Simon Ostler and Gian Antonio Negretti of Climaplex, who talked at length about their ambitions for creating hair care formulations that really work. And their approach is so innovative and so different that today I want to ask the question, is formulating for the climate crisis going to be the future gold standard in beauty? Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmayer, Chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school Formul Botanica. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my green Beauty opinions in which I share my takeaways from the podcast episode we released last week and challenge you to join me in making the green beauty sector a better place. And if you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast. We learned on last week's podcast that the climate crisis is affecting our hair in a variety of different ways. The outside and inside of our hair strands are more susceptible to damage. We're seeing increased buildup of heavy metals and pollutants in our hair. The scalp is more susceptible to irritation. And the skin is no different really. After all, it's our most exposed organ to our environment and we already see seasonal variations in certain skin conditions. So it's possible that we'll see a rise in skin related problems as we start to experience more variety in temperatures and humidity, precipitation, UV exposure, wind patterns. However, it takes some big picture thinking to bring all of this together. Now, when I scroll through the archives of the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, for instance, and I search for the term climate change, I get served a number of different articles and studies, but virtually all of them focus on a very narrow topic such as specific geographical regions of the world and specific demographics, and then specific effects such as increased UV exposure as an example. Which is of course completely understandable because scientists are still limited by budgets and scope for the studies they undertake now. Nonetheless, it is of course possible that the big cosmetics brands are undertaking worldwide reviews of the effects of the climate crisis on the skin, hair and body, whilst of course simultaneously contributing heavily towards exacerbating the effects of the climate crisis. But if they are, they're keeping that information to themselves. And yet, can't you imagine this being the future? A few weeks ago I recorded a short story for the podcast in which I envisaged the beauty industry in 2100, the year 2100, and one thing I didn't include in that story is an overview of the formulations of the future which need to tackle the increase in skin issues or dryness or UV exposure or excessive humidity or changes to our microbiome. I see a huge opportunity here for us to shift away from the tired narrative of needing to look younger and instead target the effects that our own lifestyles are having on our skin, hair and body. The biggest issue which the beauty industry will face is the need to clinically prove their claims, because you can't just rock up and tell people that your skin cream will combat specific climate induced skin issues. As we saw with the story of Climaplex, they went to great lengths to undertake clinical testing for their hair care formulations and as Simon and Gianantonio told me in last week's interview, they have 30 pages of data to back up the claims for each of the formulations they launched with. That's 30 pages per product. Now most beauty brands won't have this opportunity because it will be too expensive for them to do so, but I suspect that climate friendly skincare and hair care formulation claims will become more commonplace in the near future, where formulations then don't just claim to do the right thing by the environment, but also claim to tackle the environmental impacts on your body at the same time. We're looking at so many unknowns at the moment when it comes to the climate crisis, and a lot of it can feel really overwhelming and daunting. But there are obviously also massive opportunities out there for eco savvy entrepreneurs. I've talked about this before, in fact, in episode 144144 earlier this year, and I stand by that statement. The green beauty pioneers of today will likely be the cosmetic giants of tomorrow, because for all the bravado and bluster that comes out of the mainstream cosmetics industry, one rule holds true for everyone. If the formulations work, then everyone will want to buy them. The opportunities are vast. Last week's interview with Simon and Gianantonio demonstrated that, and Climaplex will be a household name before you know it. I'm sure of it. So my challenge to you for this week is really simple. Keep this episode in the back of your mind as you shop for your next beauty purchase. Try to support the eco beauty pioneers of today wherever you can, as you'll be investing long term in a brand that is actively thinking ahead to a better future. Or if you're a formulator, keep in mind that this approach will very likely be the future of the beauty industry and you have an opportunity to get in on it right now. Thank you for listening to my Green Beauty opinions. If you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations I host and I'll be back soon with my next episode.