NGO-backed legislation at US federal, state and local levels to ban cosmetic ingredients and contain contaminant levels would be largely gratuitous if all cosmetics brands were compelled to be “Clean at Sephora.” For now, companies’ adherence to Sephora’s and peers’ green/clean chemistry principles remains voluntary, but retailers’ role as surrogate regulators seems only to be gaining in strength.
Beauty brands with a Sephora presence don’t have to meet the retailer’s “Clean” standard, as long as they’re content ceding the spotlight – and enviable real estate in-store and online – to competitors.
They can go on preserving their products with parabens, formaldehyde releasers and other traditional preservatives, assuming the eye-catching “Clean at...