Good for you? Good for the planet? Good for both? Conscious beauty represents a market evolution of the green beauty concept, according to Euromonitor International. Green beauty has its origins in the belief that natural is best, its movement became mainstream as smartphones proliferated and consumers were exposed to a more independent narrative and a wider product assortment that was no longer controlled by the leading multinational companies. Conscious Beauty is the culmination of a 360º consumer understanding: to be aware of and respond to their own needs, as well as those of the environment around them, says Euromonitor.

Indeed, Daniel Sabará, chief executive officer, Beraca, notes that previously, sustainability and business were disconnected, now sustainability goals are incorporated in business—from product concept to the end of the product’s lifecycle.

Sabará explained that Beraca offers a solution package that balances naturalness, costs and performance, and provides information about the socio-economic impacts of products. Some customers use this data to create their own socio-economic impact goals and build a narrative. But other clients want more and journey to communities for a deeper experience. Their demands contributed to the founding of Beraca Institute, an NGO that was born as a philanthropic arm with a market bias, connecting groups with markets to ensure their longevity and self-sufficiency. Hence, there was a necessity to train these groups to meet a demand and to analyze their profile.

“It is a need to be very careful with the value proposition, to add and not to destroy, not to interfere, not to make a value proposal that will hurt a certain tradition, simply because it will give money,” declared Sabará.

Another challenge is the new ingredients, as it is necessary to understand the behavior of that raw material within the formula. In the research and innovation team, new ideas start in the innovation funnel and move on to the exploratory stage. Then, there is supply chain evaluation to uncover the viability of product supply and whether there is a need to establish more supply chains.

“There is a great evaluation process because there is no point in having a super product that is not available, so it is necessary this whole evaluation of market viability, from the point of view of performance, product availability, chain reliability and formula,” he observed.

Sabará pointed out that incredible products may have a malodor or off-color, making them unusable. These disparities make finding a balance a real challenge, as it involves a performance, cost, availability and naturalness index.

Beraca recently built an application laboratory in São Paulo, with the objective of evaluating sensory perceptions from the beginning of the product development process. The innovation laboratory, in Belém in Pará state, is for exploratory analysis followed by formulation testing in São Paulo. The idea is to test from the beginning to the end of the chain with the teams. The application laboratory will also work with R&D to improve the flow for new ideas and proposals. The plan is to have interactions with other laboratories, as there is a laboratory building that is part of the structure of its partner Clariant, which includes other business units. There are food, pigment and industrial application laboratories that do not work with Beraca, but could make sense when it comes to cosmetic concepts.

“The market is much more open than before; it had açaí, chamomile, aloe vera, and shea, perhaps the most innovative. Today there are products from all over the world,” observed Sabará. “The perception of biodiversity from the consumer’s point of view has changed a lot. Brazil is the biggest source of biodiversity on the planet, so we have a competitive advantage.”

A Large Biome
In fact, there are endless opportunities for this concept in Brazil. According to Sérgio Gonçalves, director of global marketing and institutional relations at Chemyunion, the country has one of the largest biomes in the world and includes the Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga, Pampas and Atlantic forest.

“If we consider the species available in these biomes with their potential for personal care, hygiene and beauty formulas, we can consider that we will not have time in a lifetime to explore a small part of these potential sources,” he noted.

Gonçalves explained that using the Amazon as an innovation resource will keep the forest standing. Finding uses for materials, other than wood, will make it possible to generate value for more than 18 million people who live in communities across the Amazon.

“At this point, preservationist models have failed to protect the environment. Untouchability is not a viable alternative for preservation,” said Gonçalves.

Alternatively, in the new conservation model, there is enough space for a tripartite arrangement—ecologically correct, socially just and economically viable—to generate enough value to keep the forest standing. The challenge, of course, is moving from concept to final delivery. It may involve identifying an ingredient’s origin and its extraction process and certifying every step in the supply chain. The process can be arduous; for example, the original material may be organic, but that characteristic gets lost during the manufacturing process. Other times, the customer wants an extraction process that is green and  clean, with good result. Chemyunion relies on supercritical CO2 extraction to ensure greater purity, safety and quality of the ingredient. According to Gonçalves, the method also optimizes the manufacturing operations, saves energy and eliminates, in some cases, solvents. Therefore, in order to market the best conscious beauty solution, it is important to understand all the links in the supply chain.

Exploiting the Segment
Marketers are eager to partner with such suppliers. Slow Market Brasil promotes conscious entrepreneurship and consumption, according to its Founder Melissa Volk, who says there are plenty of growth opportunities since the majority of the population does not have access to these concepts, much less to products. In addition to the indie brands, the big players realized the relevance and the path of no return of the beauty market, as they have already launched products to meet this demand, reaching a portion of the population that would take time to access indie brands. This market in Brazil is still new, but the pandemic has accelerated growth.

“I’ve been following it very closely since 2016 and I’ve seen a lot of brands appear and grow. At the start, there were about 10-20 Brazilian companies with more prominence; today I have a mailing list of more than 600 beauty indie brands that follow the green/clean/natural/crueltyfree/vegan concept” said Volk.

Brazilian Indie Brands
As mentioned in the previous article, Conscious Beauty & the Consumer, according to Mintel, some indie brands have the upper hand with regard to sustainable beauty as they have built their business practices around ethics and environmentally- friendly practices.

Here are some Brazilian indie brands that are making in-roads with the consumer:

• Just For You, is a personalized, natural and direct-to-consumer hair care brand. Its technology analyzes the consumer, creates a profile, and builds the ideal shampoo and conditioner. The products are natural, cruelty-free, eco-friendly, and freshly-made. The consumer fills out a form, processed by Artificial Intelligence, to select a unique blend of ingredients. The formulas are produced just before shipping and rely on ingredients native to Brazil. According to the founder, Caio de Santi, since the start in July 2019, more than 150,000 formulas have been analyzed and the forecast is to reach 600,000 by the end of 2020.
• Casa Feito Brasil has two brands, Quintal Dermocosméticos facial skin care and Feito Brasil for body skin care. Quintal Dermocosméticos brought color and design, that captured consumer attention—especially among millennials seeking sustainable brands. In addition, it was the first dermocosmetic brand in Latin America certified by Ecocert. The company’s Natural for Blemish Blur Biomimetic Balm is said to provide SPF 30 protection and is available in seven shades that are appropriate for 49 skin tones.

On the other hand, Feito Brasil provides an experience that combines bathing and “Brazilianness.”  According to the company, the brand stands out for its sustainable character, and work with artisans work and Brazilian women.

Feito Brasil launched the Espuma Higienizadora (sanitizing foam), a dry cleanser for hands and the Antisséptico Hidratante (moisturizing antiseptic) a cleaning spray for hands, a sustainable alternative with proven effectiveness against COVID-19. It is also enriched with Umbu Extract, from the Umbuzeiro tree, that is typical of Caatinga biome in the Brazilian hinterland that, whose properties are said to keep the skin hydrated for up to 24 hours.

According to the company founder, Lena Peron, Feito Brasil and Quintal Dermocosméticos were the first and second Brazilian brands to be carried by Sephora, and both are among the 10 best-selling skin care brands at the ubiquitous retailer.

Clearly, there are plenty of opportunities as well as challenges on the path toward conscious beauty.

---

Daniela Ferreira
Correspondent
[email protected]
55-11-993880867

Daniela Ferreira is a marketing and communication professional in the cosmetic market. She has a master’s degree in fashion from the University of São Paulo (USP). The study presented in the thesis, integrated product launching in fashion and perfume, mainly comprising marketing studies related to brand, product and consumer behavior. At present, she is lecturer on marketing issues. Her expertise comprises managing and launching products, communication planning and market studies for identifying new business opportunities.