Little has affected cosmetic formulation in the last decade than the Green Movement. Proponents of this philosophy have prompted personal care manufacturers to completely reformulate many products to remove animal derived ingredients, add organic extracts and expunge formulas of any chemical that might sound controversial. Formulas also have to be sustainable and come from fair trade sources. The Sustainable Cosmetics Summit goes through all the things a cosmetic chemist will need to know to formulate “green” in the future.

Bio-degradability is an area of preservation where sustainable may be a better alternative than “natural.” Synthetic preservatives that are safe, effective and bio-degradable are usually easier to use in a wide variety of formulations than are their more natural counterparts. Au-natural "green" ingredients have a short shelf life and need a stable preservative system.

“It’s great to have exotic au-natural green ingredients, but not if they are simply used as a "special promotional additive" with little or no improvement and destroying rain forests in the process." Are you going green...it may be something to consider the next time you reach for something green.