More shoppers are checking the reverse side of personal care products, perusing ingredient labels, and turning down products with unnatural perseveres and chemicals. An article by Kavita Daswani in the Los Angeles Times said product manufacturers are taking note by removing harmful chemicals and adding more natural ingredients.
She noted food ingredients are hot in the personal care aisles, from ordinary foods like honey to superfruits like acerola, adding some items are so food-like they have short shelf lives and require refrigeration. The article talks about three companies the Body Deli, Farmhouse Fresh and 100 Percent Pure that use unprocessed food ingredients.
Karen Young, chief executive of the Young Group, a consulting company that works with beauty brands, is quoted in the article as saying young consumers are pushing the trend toward natural, local and organic ingredients and away from chemicals and synthetics. She said America is following the trend of other countries that find it normal to use food ingredients for their personal care.
Daswani said purity is driving this new trend, noting fruit and spice scents have long been popular, but now manufacturers are increasingly making sure they now come from natural sources. She added purer products are available at every price level.
The hottest ingredients in this category now are pomegranate and those with exotic names, such as cupuacu, murumuru, acai and goji.
Elique's Reverby, who teaches classes on making beauty products at home, is quoted as saying consumers should check the ingredient lists for a low number of ingredients and said food-based ones should be listed first. She suggested smelling the product before buying, purchasing local and going “with your instincts.”