Color Plates I to IV

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability on the cosmetics industry has received growing interest from consumers, cosmetics industries and organizations, as well as academics from various disciplinary fields. Increasing concerns about cosmetics safety, environmental impacts as deforestation and social impacts as those resulting from unfair trade have intensified attention given to such topic. While sustainability impacts occur through all phases of the cosmetic product life cycle, selection of raw materials is deserving of greater attention as information on this topic remains scattered and diffuse. Formulating with alternative ingredients considered more sustainable can be quite challenging due to possible lack of performance, instability and aesthetic limitations normally associated with their use. This paper discusses the relation between sustainability and the cosmetics industry, the factors stimulating the developments on this field, the need to assess those and the available tools, alongside with the sustainability impacts produced during all the product life cycle. The analysis reveals cosmetics sustainability as a complex and multifaceted issue that cannot be evaluated considering single aspects, but using an integrated assessment about the environmental, social and economical dimensions and about the final product quality and performance.