Beauty in mind with Roberto Valente

The last few years (particularly after Covid) have brought important changes in the attitude of people in Western countries. We have witnessed a marked increase in the importance attributed to human and interpersonal relationships: in practice, the value of relationships has been rediscovered, while not underestimating but rather benefiting from what technology can offer. As a consequence of the re-evaluation of the human aspect of life, people have placed themselves at the centre, for instance by deciding that they want to better balance time between work and private life in order to have time to devote to themselves, their family, friends and passions. Then there is another important aspect in the global landscape that influences people’s choices: climate change. The awareness that the planet is suffering due to certain human behaviours has progressively influenced consumer choices that tend more and more to seek and demand natural products. And this applies to various types of products, not only food, as one would naturally think, but also, for example, beauty products. Research by Beautystreams shows that in the USA 43% of young people (belonging to GenZ) are willing to spend more to buy a sustainable product. 

The search for natural products
Roberto Valente

The younger generation is clearly more sensitive to these issues, but even the older population is not absolutely indifferent. There is a growing demand for carbon-neutral cosmetic products, i.e. the ingredients must ensure the sustainability of the product and this can sometimes, paradoxically, be the case with ingredients artificially produced in laboratories using biotechnology rather than obtained in nature with the resulting environmental impact. The situation is apparently opposite when it comes to preservatives, where the demand is for products with natural rather than chemical preservatives. But when we talk about sustainability, we mean a very broad concept; therefore, product efficacy also comes into play, guaranteeing a product performance that reduces waste. Even in the world of fragrances, there is a return to natural processes that allow the use of vegetable enzymes to convert sugars into fragrances. We are therefore talking about a global process in which cosmetics is 100% involved, not least because consumer demands are moving in that direction. The last point not to be forgotten concerns packaging: here too the great challenge is to replace plastic packaging with materials that can guarantee greater sustainability. In short, a great challenge for a greener future.