Biotech in Beauty: How to Harness the Power of Natural Ingredients’ Sustainably

Skincare Anarchy Editorial

Author : Amy Niu

In recent years, consumers have been pushing for personal care products with components that are ethically sourced, free of animal testing, and leave less impact on the environment. One way the beauty and personal care industry is catering to that demand is by working with biotechnology companies.

In her TEDxBoston presentation, “Can Biotech Invent a Sustainable Future for the Beauty Industry?” Arcaea CEO Jasmina Aganovic speaks of her fascination with biological design as a sustainable and sophisticated tool that can be harnessed through biotechnology. Aganovic contrasts the potential of biotechnology with the beauty industry’s long-standing exploitative relationship with plants and animals.

“In humans, of course, when we see something that we want to emulate,” Aganovic says, “we take it. We extract it.”

In the absence of biotechnological tools, it is the tendency of humans to harvest natural resources, such as animal proteins used to form hair. The tendency has a downside in that the process of harvesting resources leaves the source organisms barren, unable to be reused.

Indeed, Aganovic states, “It is estimated we need 200,000 petals to create just a few milliliters of rose oil. This is the reality of plant-based sourcing, and the truth is that this earth could not grow enough plants to sustain this industry.”

The relationship between the beauty industry and the plants that make up natural products is one of extraction, wherein materials are extracted from natural sources and unable to be replenished. Aganovic believes in the potential of biotechnology as a tool to transform the beauty industry into an industry that is sustainable and innovative, rather than untenable and extractive.

The power of biotechnology and the consumer desire to understand how their skincare and beauty products use it lends itself to the “Beauty Rx” trend, as identified by global market intelligence agency Mintel in 2022. Mintel singles out synthetic natural ingredients as a major opportunity for beauty brands to embrace emergent technologies like gene editing in order to drive market growth.

On Mintel’s Little Conversation podcast, episode 108, the host and guests discuss 2023 beauty trends including Beauty Rx. They talk about the rise of content that meshes beauty and personal care products with expert-led, scientific perspectives.

Vivienne Rudd notes, “That sort of content has become so popular on platforms like TikTok that the consumer is now sort of primed and looking for that next level of information, which just creates a perfect environment for brands to really start digging into the science behind everything that they’re doing.”

Social media platforms are driving consumer behavior, which in turn makes brands follow the trends. One example of this is the rise of biotechnology firms that are working with the beauty and personal care industry. Biotechnology firms are synthesizing ingredients found in nature as an alternative to the wasteful extraction of ingredients directly from natural sources.

In the article, “Cosmetics: when biotech is better than nature,” Emily Waltz writes about how the biotechnology companies are sourcing ingredients for the beauty industry due to lower cost, consumer demand, and faster rate of innovation. At the same time, these companies must consider the efficacy and prices of existing products on the market.

As Aganovic noted in her TEDx talk, humans have had trouble emulating the facets of nature they envied. The clean beauty movement gave way to the advent of biotechnology in beauty products. Scientists can now recreate natural ingredients for use in a wide variety of products.

The main catalyst for the beauty industry to look into biotechnological tools to synthesize ingredients connects to what Rudd says about the value that consumers assign to the beauty products they use. She says that consumers view value as not necessarily the number of ounces of a product they receive per unit of currency they spend, but rather as the credibility behind a product. Just as companies are looking for cost-effective, sustainable ways to accrue the materials they need, so too are consumers looking for products that support their claims with science.

At the same time, Rudd stresses the importance of making sure brands are not following trends for the sake of following trends, but thinking critically about whether the trend aligns with brand values and whether it makes sense for a brand to shift in a certain direction.

The partnership between biotechnology firms and the beauty industry presents exciting opportunities for industry giants and boutique firms alike to lead the way for safer, more efficient products while acting with authenticity and the intent to improve products.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the old proverb goes. But, by harnessing biotechnology, beauty may also be in the eye of the eco-conscious brand, and innovation may be in the hand of the modern consumer.

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