Decade-long transformation strategies, corporate responsibility workflows and changing the consumer’s first high-touch experience of their brand through packaging – this is how the beauty industry is currently communicating sustainability to its consumers.

And it’s not working.

Every year, the beauty industry generates 120 billion pieces of plastic packaging. Is TikTok or ‘Shelfies’ to blame? Not entirely. 

Legacy beauty brands worldwide are fully aware of the need for intentional change. And in their attempts to wage war on industry greenwashing, from L’Oreal to The Estée Lauder Companies, their efforts to make everyday sustainability more accessible to luxury consumers are waning.

Like other FMCG categories, challenger brands are coming for their market share. Offering luxury beauty consumers an alternative, they have created condensed beauty products and simplified sustainability. 

They are moving beyond zero-plastic shampoo and reusable glass jars. These innovative brands are pioneering first-to-market waterless cleansers and cleanical (a cosy spot sat quietly between ‘clean’ and ‘clinical’) products to give luxury beauty consumers an option for a more ‘skinimalistic’ approach to their self-care.

While Legacy beauty brands are working to create a more circular beauty industry that marries corporate responsibility and stakeholder benefit, something else is happening. Even Colgate and Aquafresh are being challenged by competitors they don’t know exist. 

Challenger beauty brands like Waken Mouthcare are giving their luxury consumers the chance to pair their toothpaste with vegan-friendly, sustainability packaged, carbon-neutral lip balm – a sharp contrast to Colgate’s stock sustainability-led positioning.

Never heard of stock sustainability? I promise you you’ve seen it. 

A clip-art hand holding the earth, another pair of hands cupping the air around a sapling, an only child walking through a sunny forest holding the hands of both parents – is it all flooding back now? 

Described as “bizarre photography and dated, corporate visuals” by Radley Yeldar* It can include a variety of clichés, including wind turbines and strangely single, solitude droplets of water.

Sound familiar? The problem is they are no longer brand cues, but category cliches. And, iIt’s what a luxury consumer sees when exploring the digital shopfront of sustainable options from legacy beauty brands, which begs the question; How are they telling distinctive sustainable stories beyond physical packaging? And what can they improve?

Now – Studio staged shots of product ingredients. 

Next – Instead of balancing a coconut atop a precariously peeled avocado half filled with chamomile seeds, lead with relatable visuals. Use stories from your consumers’ real choices in line with your transformation goals. 

Now – Leading every statement on sustainability with ‘We.’

Next – Avoid using corporate clichés and imitating sustainability organisations. Be a sustainable brand, not a brand that acts sustainably. Treating people and the planet more kindly should be part of your brand, not an add-on.

Now – Using vast sweeping statistics to prove the legitimacy of your efforts. 

Next – Share more insights and statistics that focus on the present. Help the consumer see the impact of their choice today, not at the end of your 10-year transformation mission. Show them the domino effect of their purchase from you in real-time—hero their choices.

Use your platform to prove your product’s provenance and the transparency of your supply chain and invite your consumer on the platform with you. Open up the story for them to be a part of and work alongside organisations helping to put the fire out on the industry’s worst practices and not just challenging mindsets but educating people on the power of their decisions.

45% of consumers find new beauty purchase inspiration on social media.

The new sustainability in beauty isn’t about simply switching your packaging to kinder alternatives – it’s so much more. The digital transformation is not letting up, and making sustainable choices in beauty attractive to your consumers will be better for them and the planet and you.