Discovering nature-derived beauty aligned with synthetics and sustainable supply chains

02 Feb 2023 --- Natural ingredients are becoming increasingly prominent in an era of green, clean and conscious beauty, where environmental sustainability and the circular economy are top concerns of the sector. PersonalCareInsights speaks with Firmenich, Symrise and 100% Pure, revealing market trends and the process behind classifying natural ingredients in relation to synthetic molecules, upcycling and value chains.

Consumers have gone from seeking green and all-natural to clean – meaning free from and safe, to conscious – meaning products containing ingredients that have a positive holistic impact on nature, the planet and people, says Michal Benmayor, VP for Global Perfumery Sustainability at Firmenich.

Innova Market Insights reveals that natural beauty product launches have shown stable growth with an average annual growth of 5% between Q4/2017 – Q3/2018 vs. Q4/2021 – Q3/2022. Of the natural beauty products launched, Europe is leading at 58%. 

Meanwhile, skincare leads in natural claims in NPD. Oils is the fastest-growing category at 42%, followed by fragrances at 41%. Animal welfare is the top claim for natural beauty products.

Additionally, Benmayor shares that 50% of the population considers the planet and climate situation a “significant concern,” and 65% of the population bought more eco-friendly and ethical products than last year.

“The ‘all natural’ and ‘clean’ trends have now evolved into concerns related to sustainability and full impact transparency,” she adds. “Consumers globally are engaged in the climate emergency and are taking it into account in their purchase decision, on a broader scale than before.”

To prepare for the steady rise among consumers of natural products, Symrise is studying consumer knowledge and their understanding of “sustainability” regarding beauty care products. 

“We have analyzed the role and place of ingredients’ origin within the sustainability strategy of consumer awareness, purchase criteria and habits. Using the findings of these studies, we have developed naturals – or nature-based solutions – in almost all categories of our portfolio to allow our customers to formulate natural cosmetics,” says Marie-Pascale Rogier, global project leader Nagoya of Natural Sourcing & Sustainability and Scent & Care of Cosmetic Ingredients at Symrise.Vegan cosmetics (Image credit: 100% Pure).

Benmayor adds that naturals are about savoir-faire, craftsmanship and transmission from farmers to perfumers to consumers. “Nature inspires our creations, supplies us with precious ingredients, and drives innovation. We cannot create without natural ingredients. Beyond the depth they add to a fragrance, they bring exquisite quality and a distinctive signature to them.”

What makes an ingredient natural?
Naturality is determined by knowing the ingredients’ source and referring to the ISO (the International Organization for Standardization). This delivers guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for cosmetic ingredients and products, shares Benmayor.

“Let’s start with naturals. As per ISO 9235, they are obtained only from natural raw material of vegetal, animal or microbiological origin, including those obtained by physical processes (e.g., distillation), natural fermentation reactions leading to molecules that occur in nature and other procedures, including traditional ones (e.g., extraction using solvents) without intentional chemical modification,” she explains.

“So next, what does natural origin, naturally derived, renewable ingredients, really mean? In fact, they all mean the same thing. Following ISO 16128 standard, they are defined as containing >50% renewable carbon, natural origin content, which can be replaced, either through natural regeneration or other recurring processes in a finite amount of time in a human time scale, i.e., plant-based, not fossil-fuel-based.”

Like Firmenich, Symrise refers to the ISO 16128-2 guidelines to calculate the naturalness of ingredients to share their status with customers.

“According to it, naturalness links to the sourcing of the material used and the production process. We favor renewable raw materials and production processes that respect the environment. Accordingly, we have our production sites ISO 14001 certified,” says Rogier.

Naturalness vs. environmental sustainability
On the relation between naturalness and environmental sustainability, PersonalCareInsights explores the importance of distinguishing the two as distinct and yet related in how they are communicated together.

“For Symrise, the naturalness or the renewable origin of its products closely links to the sustainability of the raw materials to the people who produce them and innovation and manufacturing. Upcycling forms a big part of our approach to developing nature-derived products. We can draw on our different partnerships to create synergies,” says Rogiers.

“For example, certain strains of Lactobacillus bacteria promote gut health as probiotics in food supplements. These bacteria are produced via fermentation, meaning they grow in a culture medium. In the process, the nutrient-rich fermentation medium gets discarded at the end. This by-product contains many micronutrients that can benefit the skin.”

Symrise and Probi have identified an opportunity to use this fermentation broth as the basis for SymFerment, a new cosmetic ingredient.Michal Benmayor, VP for Global Perfumery Sustainability at Firmenich.

“Today, there is increasing public awareness that ‘naturals equal safe and sustainable’ is not always true. Synthetic molecules can be more sustainable, in terms of eco-efficiency, by using less energy and water consumption during the development process, and often a safer alternative (when it comes to allergenicity, for example),” adds Benmayor of Firmenich.

“The opposition between naturals and synthetics is being revoked and has now shifted into the necessary transformation toward renewability.”

The company has set renewable ingredients and lead in Conscious Perfumery as its primary targets for 2030. 

“This is a major innovation challenge because it cannot be achieved using naturals alone. It would not be sustainable. So, we need to ensure that we shift to renewable sourcing for our synthetic molecules. Progress in green chemistry and biotech will be pivotal to this shift.” 

“Modern perfumery has been striving to reproduce the beauty of natural scents through chemical synthesis. This is still our mission, and it gives us pride when we combine science’s sustainability benefits with olfactive perfection.”

Question of synthetic alternatives
Symrise is seeking more natural cosmetic alternatives to synthetic ingredients, such as silicone, as they are not biodegradable. “For instance, we developed an alternative with SymMollient S green, a saturated wax ester of sustainably sourced nonanoic acid and Cetearyl alcohol,” says Rogiers.

On the other hand, Benmayor says that “all naturals are renewable, but so are some synthetic molecules.” 

“Naturals and synthetic molecules have been working hand in hand since the late 19th century, with perfumers using both in crafting their unique creations to give consumers the exquisite, blooming and long-lasting scents they know and love.”

“Natural origin ingredients help widen olfactive expressions and performance and are a great support in today’s climate change context. We as an industry must address the necessity to reduce and, in time, fully stop our reliance on fossil fuels,” she continues.

However, synthetics also offer possibilities for wider exploratory olfactive paths that can create scents nonexistent in nature or recreate scents from natural entities that are difficult to access or endangered.

“Synthetic ingredients’ availability is also more consistent and accurate than naturals, as they are not subject to weather conditions. Following green chemistry principles, they are designed to maximize efficiency and minimize hazardous effects on human health – allergens are removed – and the environment, which we know is now a key driver of consumption for consumers looking for eco-friendly products,” continues Benmayor.

“In Conscious Perfumery, naturals, as well as synthetics, play a significant role in sustainable fragrance creation. Our responsibility and commitment lie in ensuring we keep within the natural boundaries of our planet.”

Sourcing and supply chain
Transparent value chains are crucial to understanding how raw materials from the field make it into a beauty product, shares Rogier.The ‘all natural’ and ‘clean’ trends have evolved into concerns related to sustainability and full impact transparency, says Benmayor (Image credit: Firmenich).

“Our sourcing approach includes trustful partnerships with the farmers and their communities who grow and harvest our raw materials. Early on, we developed respectful supply chains in Madagascar, where we empower farmers and their families with education, health and crop diversification programs through partnerships with non-profit organizations like UEBT or Save the Children.“

Similarly, Firmenich launched “Naturals Together“, a program to shape the future of responsibly and sustainably sourced naturals, from their olfactive qualities to the certifications for strong involvement at source and advanced digital Traceability via its “Path2Farm.“

“Naturals are a continual story of partnerships and innovation to source and craft exclusive and exquisite qualities of naturals. This represents over 150 species, supplied by 100 producers and locally sourced in 40 countries – while contributing to the livelihoods of 250,000 families,” says Benmayor.

“Creating sustainable value is also about driving responsible and transparent supply chains, leveraging purchasing power to impact people and nature positively reinforcing resilience to climate change.” 

Wang of 100% Pure says they like working with the farms directly for natural ingredients: “Since we like to build personal relationships with the farmers that grow our ingredients, so there’s more transparency about their farming practices.” 

Circular holistic approaches
Some notable examples include the cultivation of ginger used in Symrise’s active ingredients SymVital MADA and SymVital Ginfuse. According to Rogier, these also represent sustainable diversification of the Vanilla program in Madagascar and create a complementary source of revenue for farmers.

“With our cranberry products, we look beyond the extract. We capture the concept, i.e., the native character of the cranberry, its sustainable growing and harvesting methods and its upcycling possibilities as a by-product of our nutrition division. This results in three synergistic innovative ingredients.”

Meanwhile, Firmenich sources patchouli from Indonesia, vanilla from Madagascar and jasmine from India.

“With Patchouli, we built a full project which benefits around 3,800 people of the community. We are planting fast-growing trees, providing farmers with training on agricultural practices and best distillation practices,” shares Benmayor.

“In a 2019 partnership with our supplier Authentic Products and the NGO Fert [in Madagascar], we created a joint project to support the development of a youth professional farming school called “Mahadera.”

Moreover, Firmenich entered a joint venture with Jasmine Concrete, the largest manufacturer of floral extract in India, to tackle certification challenges on their jasmine grandiflorum supply chain.

By Venya Patel