Sephora to launch new strategy to improve product transparency

US cosmetics retailer Sephora is set to launch its latest ‘Clean at Sephora’ product category in-store and on its website.

Scheduled for release on 1 June, the new strategy is aimed to increase product transparency and will allow users to easily source items that are free from certain ingredients, including Sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), phthalates, mineral oils, parabens, formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing agents, retinylpalmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, triclocarban, hydroquinone and triclosan.

Fragrance brands will be free-from ingredients such as acetonitrile, methylene chloride, benzalkonium chloride styrene, polyacrylamide/acrylamide, PTFE/PFOA, acetaldehyde,  methylisothiazolinone/methylchloroisothiazolinone, toluene, and resorcinol, as well as acetone, butoxyethanol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, methyl cellosolve, mercury and mercury compounds (thimerosal).

Available both in-store and online, participating brands will feature a label carrying a special seal indicating a range of ingredients that the product is ‘free from’.

Sephora has joined more than 50 brands in the initiative. In a statement to Allure, the company said: “Sephora continues to demystify beauty choices for clients, helping them find the right products for them, based on their lifestyle needs.

“Many of them are looking to shop brands and products that are ‘free of’ and Sephora is responding to help them do that, easily and conveniently in-store, online, and on mobile.

“Together with Sephora’s brands, industry experts, external council, including feedback from clients, Sephora has curated a partnership with its brands across cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and fragrance that stand behind the ‘Clean at Sephora’ category.”