Posted by Chelsea Hynes.
Health and wellness is a very popular practice in our society. It touches upon almost every consumer market out there and continues to grow each year. One area in particular that has seen some conflicts with its efforts to capitalize on the health and wellness kick is the beauty industry. One of the most popular buzzwords used to market these “natural” ingredient based products is “clean beauty.” At stores like Target and Sephora, many products that are advertised as “clean” have minimal ingredient lists and are said to contain no harmful chemicals. While this label seems like it should be helpful for consumers to easily identify the healthy products they want to buy, the problem is that “the Food and Drug Administration, the government agency in charge of regulating the beauty industry, doesn’t have an established definition of “clean” for cosmetic claims” (Akpan and Bustos). The requirements for using the “clean beauty” label are not very strict, allowing for many companies to falsely advertise their products.
The Federal Trade Commissions Act handles false or deceptive advertising throughout different industries. It also ensures “that health-related benefits of products are accurate, so consumers make informed decisions” (Akpan and Bustos). The Act says that to make health-related claims, sufficient research needs to be conducted in order for it to be true and valid. These regulations are mainly used in the pharmaceutical industry and the law has not caught up yet to the cosmetic industry. One case in particular that tackled this issue is Finster v. Sephora USA, Inc. The dilemma is whether Sephora should more openly disclose what their requirements for the “clean” label are, or, should it be the consumer’s responsibility to do more research before buying a product.
Overall, the “clean beauty” market is still rapidly expanding each year. It is “expected to reach an estimated $11.6 billion by 2027” (Akpan and Bustos). The desire for “healthy” products is likely not going anywhere, it is the regulations that need to catch up with its growing popularity. It is only a matter of time before more attention is brought to this issue and for consumers to be more critical of the labels brands put on their products.
Chelsea is a marketing major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2024.