When beauty is more than skin deep: Welcome to clean-and-green movement

Today, one can find a plethora of skin food that has been whipped up using recipes pretty much the same way as grub is prepared for your tummy

If one were to summarise our lifestyle aspirations in hashtags, #ecoconscious, #hyperlocal and #organic would feature high on the list. These keywords have started defining food choices, with many cheering for farm-to-fork, root-to-fruit philosophies. And now these have seeped into beauty regimens as well. Why should a face mask stop at just adding a pearly glow to your face when it can fulfil a higher purpose by being certified organic, natural, vegan, ethical and cruelty-free? 

Welcome to the clean-and-green beauty movement, the trend for 2018. And if you are reading this, with a yam and pumpkin pulp enzyme polisher smeared across your face, while nibbling at a red amaranth muesli bar, then you are already a certified member of this movement. Today, one can find a plethora of skin food — don’t even think of calling these potions and lotions “beauty products” — that has been whipped up using recipes pretty much the same way as grub is prepared for your tummy.

How do you make sure your skin food is green? For a long time, brands have been getting away by using the word “natural”, which is ambiguous at best as there are no guidelines to regulate the use of the term. However, the word “organic” cannot be used without meeting certain criteria: from the ingredients, the type of soil, environmental impact of processes, and more. “Vegan” bars the use of animal produce such as dairy, honey and biotin.

International agencies such as EcoCert, BDIH, NATRUE and USDA certify whether a product fulfils these stipulations or not. An EcoCert logo for a cosmetic product that claims to be “environment-friendly” is given if the ingredients are derived from renewable resources, manufactured by eco-friendly processes and have recyclable or biodegradable packaging. To qualify as “natural and organic”, there must be at least 95% of plant-based ingredients in the formula and 10% of all ingredients by weight must come from organic farming. For a “natural” label, 50 per cent of all plant-based ingredients in the formula and 5 per cent of all ingredients by weight from organic farming. Similarly, NATRUE-standard products are certified at three levels: natural cosmetics with no GMOs, synthetic ingredients or artificial additives, natural cosmetics with organic portion (at least 70 per cent) and organic cosmetics (at least 95 per cent). If a brand features BDIH certification, it means it has committed itself to a 100 per cent “no animal testing” policy among other things.

Besides certified international brands such as OuraDea, Gaea, Naturetrails and Bellaron, several homegrown green labels are making inroads in India. Skin Pantry, for instance, has acquired a minor cult following. It was founded in 2015 by Mumbai-based Colette Austin, after she suffered health setbacks and had to reevaluate her food and skincare choices. Confused about products in an industry with little regulation, she decided to create her own emulsions and creams using kitchen ingredients. In no time, word spread and she was besieged with requests. “My philosophy is based on the belief that you shouldn’t put on your skin what you wouldn’t put in your mouth,” says Austin, who creates sensorial experiences through products such as a vanilla bean drench and lavender dew. It is a made-to-order brand, crafted with organic ingredients and emulsifiers that are either EcoCert or certified organic, with a shelf life of only three months. “Some customers trust my belief system so much that they order them for their kids as well. Also, cancer survivors use these, as none of the ingredients are synthetic, and hence are not endocrine disruptors.” 

Products by APS Cosmetofood

Most of these brands have stemmed from deeply personal journeys. For instance, Himanshu Chadha launched APS Cosmetofood due to his strong belief in Ayurveda. Using Ayurvedic herbs and ingredients approved by EcoCert, his products are vegan and also halal-certified, as he also exports to West Asia. “Our factory is in Himachal, at the foothills of the Himalayas, as we source all our herbs and flowers from the farmers there at fair prices. We also provide employment to the locals, thereby making the label sustainable in all ways possible,” he says. APS Cosmetofood offerings include an avocado pulp mask, melting caramel body butter and a chocolate mousse skin soother.

SoulTree too has evolved over the years through founder Vishal Bhandari’s work with farmers in Uttarakhand. These producers are primarily single mothers, whose spouses are either no more or have travelled to the cities for work. “Over the years, we understood their challenges, one of these being an acute water shortage. Besides helping them with water harvesting, we have also done extensive research on crops, which were traditional to the area, but which were discontinued due to commercial farming. Some such as shatavari, ashwagandha and brahmi lend themselves to organic farming, while creating a dependable agricultural ecosystem for these women,” says Bhandari, whose products are BDIH-certified. Some of his most popular skin care and makeup offerings include a walnut and turmeric facial scrub with sandalwood, pure black kajal and rose face wash with turmeric and honey.

Products by Just Herbs

Just Herbs has the distinction of being one of the first beauty brands in India to use crowdsourcing to produce a herb-enriched skin tint. The label was started in 2014 when Arush Chopra returned to India after a long stint with a private equity company in Singapore. “There, I saw the world making a huge shift towards going green. And here was my mother, a biochemist, making lotions and potions in our garden lab in Mohali. So, I decided to take that further,” he says. He chose to base his company in Mohali, to be close to the local communities in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. “We also decided to go to places where ingredients are grown to their peak potential in a natural habitat, such as aloe vera in Rajasthan and virgin coconut oil in Kerala. For exotic ingredients, we work with communities that have been traditional foragers,” he says.

While each of these labels might confer on you an eco-warrior’s halo, you’ll have to pay for the feel-good sensation — these green skin foods cost anything between Rs 375 for a 100 gm soap, Rs 1,800-plus for a 50 ml serum, all the way up to Rs 6,500-plus for a rose and seabuckthorn face cream. “Most of these products are under 100 ml, so that they remain fresh and travel-friendly,” says Chopra. Didn’t someone say “small is beautiful”?