Blame it on the sudden emergence of beauty platforms or the growing popularity of self-styled beauty and make-up gurus if you will, but there’s no denying that the cosmetics market in India is bigger than ever before. As per a September 2021 report, the market size of this industry is anticipated to grow from $11 billion in 2017 to nearly $30 billion by 2025. With this surge come concerns about the environmental impact of the products that are a part of our skincare and makeup arsenals. “From the ingredients used in beauty products, the manner in which they are sourced, to the packaging of these products, there’s a lot that goes into determining a product’s environmental impact,” says Dr Simi Sugathan, a cosmetic product risk assessor, founder of  Maya, a web-based R&D platform for clean beauty products and Safety Monitor Research Foundation,  which assists consumers in choosing products based on  health and safety standards. 

Reading labels 

“It’s very difficult for most people to read a list of ingredients and conclude whether or not the product is eco-friendly. Eco-friendly products may be of two types — those that involve green chemistry and those made with natural ingredients. What most people don’t realise is that it is the level of processing that an ingredient goes through, which determines whether it can be classified as natural or synthetic. For instance, if the juice extracted from a pineapple goes through minimal processing to extend its shelf-life, it can be called natural. But if the same juice undergoes distillation and is combined with other chemicals to obtain a desired effect, it is no longer natural. Yet, due to a lack of regulation, many brands do get away with mislabelling, to create the impression that the product contains natural substances. This is often the case with coconut-based products,” elaborates Dr Sugathan.