The "Green Beauty Barometer" survey [1] has revealed that the majority of US shoppers (59 per cent) read beauty product ingredient labels prior to purchase, while nearly 40 per cent intend to increase their spending on all-natural beauty products.
"For the last several years shoppers have become more conscious about what they put in their body through food consumption, and that’s spilled over to a greater awareness for what they put on their body," commented Lisa Strain, co-founder of the Kari Gran skin care and makeup brand.
Avoiding sulfates and parabens
Sulfates were the top ingredient to look out for, with 29 percent of participants seeking to avoid them. These were followed by parabens (22 per cent), synthetic fragrances (18 per cent), PEG compounds (15 per cent) and mineral oil (11 per cent).
Women aged 35-54 are most likely to check the labels, with 65 per cent scanning the ingredients list of products. Sixty-three per cent of 18-34-year-olds do the same, as to 59 percent of those aged to 45-54. The age group least likely to read the label (52 per cent) was the 55-64s.
Going natural
Regarding future habits, it appears that natural beauty is becoming more of a priority for many women, with 39 per cent of participants claiming they will buy more all-natural beauty products in the next two years than they currently do. Millennials aged 18-34 are the most likely to spend more on all-natural beauty products in the next two years, with half of them claiming they will. This is compared to 44% of women aged 35-44, 34% of women aged 55-64, 31% of women aged 45-54 and 30% of women aged 65-plus.
When asked how important it was to purchase all-natural products among particular beauty categories, skin care came out on top, with 54% of women claiming it is important their skin care product purchases are all natural. This was followed by all-natural hair care at 49%, makeup at 40%, fragrance at 31% and nail care products at 26%.
A recent "Natural Personal Care Global Series" survey by market research company Kline found that the natural cosmetics market grew by 10.6 per cent between 2013 and 2014. Earlier this year a Nielsen survey found that 46 per cent of participants would be willing to pay more for a beauty product that claimed to be "all natural."
