With chemical overload uppermost in consumer minds, due in part to scare stories in the media, some beauty brands are reacting to public concerns by removing a haul of chemicals from their formulations and replacing them with naturally derived alternatives. And any new brand had better be formulated with a green consumer in mind because lately, it seems, what has been taken out of a beauty product is more important than what has been put in.

It began with Ren. The British science-from-nature skincare brand, launched in 2000, was the first to promote a list of omitted ingredients. “It was a reaction to the smoke and mirrors surrounding the cloudy definition of ‘natural’ beauty products,” says founder Robert Calcraft. “With Ren, we wanted to tell the truth and enlighten our customers.” Just a few years later the practice has gone mainstream and consumers expect even the most science- and performance-driven brands, such as Nubo, a luxury skincare range due to launch in Harrods in November, to have considered the issues and to have responded to their fears.