That’s all good, but it definitely makes things a bit trickier: How do we really know if a product actually lines up with what’s imprinted on its package? Even peeking over at the ingredients involves some guesswork for most of us. It’s why Sephora introduced a “Clean at Sephora” category last year—to clearly establish what they, as a retailer, consider “clean,” and help shoppers make more informed decisions about the products they buy. The green Clean at Sephora seal is a quick heads-up to shoppers that a product is formulated without certain ingredients, and the products that have since earned it are legit. mbg spoke with Cindy Deily, a VP of skin care merchandising at Sephora, to get the scoop on the retailer’s fastest growing category and their newly updated “formulated without” list. This July, we’re launching a new evolution of Clean Beauty as a result of extensive research to evolve our “formulated without” list. It will now include over 50 ingredients from 13 last year with some notables like BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), ethanolamines DEA/TEA/MEA/ETA, toluene, carbon black, mercury and mercury compounds, aluminum salts, lead, and lead acetate, to name a few. We’re also requiring brands to test for contaminants like 1,4 dioxane and have ingredient thresholds in place to monitor the levels of certain ingredients. We continually educate ourselves through our relationships with industry leaders. Technology and innovation are increasing so rapidly, which is making clean beauty reformulations occur faster and creating more accessible new clean formula innovations. We’re learning every day, and we expect our program and criteria to continue to evolve to meet or exceed the wants and needs of our clients, as well as keeping pace with what science and innovation make possible.
