With the movement toward better consumer health in full stride, a smart strategy in the grocery aisle has found its way to the beauty counter: scanning labels for harmful ingredients. In the "Green Beauty Barometer" survey results released recently by all-natural beauty brand Kari Gran nearly six in 10 U.S. adult women read beauty product ingredient labels prior to purchase, while nearly 40 percent plan to buy more all-natural beauty products. This is good news for your spas and the clean, green beauty brands you carry. Here are a few more highlights from the survey to keep in mind:
- The most watched for ingredient was sulfates. 29 percent seek to avoid sulfates, followed by parabens (22 percent), synthetic fragrances (18 percent), PEG compounds (15 percent), and mineral oil (11 percent).
- No matter their age, a majority of women pay attention to beauty product labels—65 percent of women ages 35 to 54 claim they read beauty product labels, followed by 63 percent of women 18-34, 59 percent of women aged 45-54, 55 percent of women aged 65-plus, and 52 percent of women aged 55-64.
- The future is bright for natural beauty, 39 percent of women claim they will buy more all-natural beauty products in the next two years than they currently do.
- Millennials (women aged 18 to 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 percent of women aged 35 to 44, 34 percent of women aged 55 to 64, 31 percent of women aged 45 to 54 and 30 percent of women aged 65-plus.
- Natural skincare is key, with 54 percent of women claiming it is important their skincare product purchases are all natural. This was followed by all-natural haircare at 49 percent, makeup at 40 percent, fragrance at 31 percent, and nailcare products at 26 percent.
- When it comes to beauty product retailers, women are most disappointed in the volume of natural beauty products found in department stores. Let's call this a spa-pportunity, focus on natural products and get these potential buyers to purchase in your spa instead.
If you care about safer skincare and beauty ingrdients, check out other ingredients to avoid here and keep a lookout for more on the launch of Honest Beauty.