Organic phenomenon hits skin care

Chain Drug Review, March 19, 2007

NEW YORK -- Skin care suppliers have always played up the use of natural ingredients in their products, noting how these formulas helped restore moisture, reduce wrinkles and rejuvenate aging skin.

Now, at least one company has taken the phenomenon a step further, developing line of certified organic skin care products.

Fine Organics--created by the Australian company One Group--is said to be the world's first certified organic skin care brand. While it has yet to reach the United States, the line is being marketed in Australia and is expected to launch in Europe later this year.

Industry insiders say it is only a matter of time before Fine Organics or another line of organic skin care finds its way into American drug stores.

These lines, they note, seek to tap into the increasing demand for natural and organic items. Some researchers suggest that the market for organic and natural personal care products is growing by nearly 20% a year and could easily reach $1 billion worldwide this year.

Consumers' demand for natural and organic products has even caused some of the industry's largest skin care suppliers to begin exploring alternative formulations.

Cosmetics giant L'Oreal, for example, has said that it is looking to buy an ayurvedic skin care brand from a supplier in India.

Ayurveda is the ancient Hindu science of health and medicine and is used widely across India and southern Asia.

"We would be interested in buying an ayurvedic brand to tap the increasing consumer appetite for exotic beauty products," L'Oreal chief executive officer Jean-Paul Agon told The Wall Street Journal last month.

Agon said that if L'Oreal strikes a deal with an Indian producer, it would introduce ayurvedic skin care products worldwide.