The Chemistry of Greenwashing
For cosmetic chemist Karoline Wells,
greenwashing presents a slightly different image.
Karoline is a trend microbiologist and herbalist
who has been formulating cosmetics since
2009. We got in touch to learn her side of the
greenwashing story.
Greenwashing is a big topic for different
people, and I’d like to get a definition of it
from a cosmetic chemists perspective.
As a chemist, I see a slightly different side of
greenwashing. Greenwashing is usually fudging
the truth, like implying a product is all-natural
when it isn’t, or practices like “angel dusting”
(which is putting in just a drop of an ingredient
instead of an effective dose.) Sometimes it’s
much worse. I have seen products that don’t list
the true ingredients – I can tell which synthetic
colors, fragrances, and emulsifiers are in the
product, but none of those ingredients are listed
on the label. That’s really terrifying.
On the flip side, consumers will often suspect
greenwashing when the complete opposite is
true, simply because the name of the greener
ingredient is hard to pronounce, or it contains
trigger words like “synthetic.”
A great example is synthetic fluorphlogopite,
which is lab-created mica. Natural mica is mined
out of the earth, and mining has the potential to
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cause environmental damage. The earth’s crust
also naturally contains trace amounts of lead and
other contaminants.
If the public is demanding purer, more
ecologically safe ingredients, a formulator might
try synthetic fluorphlogopite instead of natural
mica. But the word “synthetic” can be a trigger
and the rest of the word is hard to pronounce,
so a company can erroneously get accused of
greenwashing when they’re actually trying to be
responsible. It’s a very complex subject.
I’d also love to know what greenwashing looks
like from your end and why companies might
be inclined to do it.
The cosmetic market is hyper-competitive. In
a hyper-competitive market, companies need
to work harder to differentiate their products in
the market. Often, brands start with a “green”
marketing angle like organic or all-natural.
Customers demand natural and organic products,
but they also demand the same performance
as the synthetic products. From a chemistry
perspective, it’s next to impossible to do both.
Many 100% natural products are sticky and
unappealing, and consumers won’t purchase
them. Companies can’t stay in business making
products that people won’t buy. So to provide
the impossible to the consumer, that’s when
greenwashing starts.