Skin-deep decisions

Wearable fashion

Kirsten Dunst for L'Oréal Professionnal

Alexandra Palt, director of CSR & Sustainability, L'Oreal Group, says many of the labels of the group's products are educating their consumers about sustainable practices.

Biotherm, for example, has launched its "Water Lovers" campaign, which has involved changing its products' formulas and packages. The brand is also calling for its consumers to take part in the campaigns.

The brand invited artists to create limited-edition illustrations for its special products, and its profits have enabled Biotherm to donate 250,000 euros ($341,000) to help protect the planet's aquatic resources. The brand has also launched a water footprint e-calculator on Facebook that helps consumers track their use of water in daily life.

Yu Lu is a regular user of La Roche-Posay. In 2012, she was happy to find the Lipikar body balm she had been using had changed its packaging. The brand had found a way to reduce the bottle's weight by 40 percent.

The focus on sustainability differs according to different cultural backgrounds.

US and European consumers will ask if the cream or lotion has been tested on animals, but in the Asia-Pacific region, there is less emphasis on that, according to L'Oreal's 2012 Consumer Affairs Department Annual Survey and Report.

That may be because people in the West care more about animal welfare, explains Maria Jones, director of international consumer affairs, L'Oreal Group.

A sustainable future depends on consumers making sustainable choices. However, there is a gap between what consumers want and what they actually buy.

For many Chinese consumers, one of the major barriers is that they do not have enough access to the sustainability information of a shampoo, a lotion or a cream.

"In Western countries, consumers can easily find products' sustainability information, including carbon footprints, materials and techniques. However, in China, there is not such a regulation on this, so consumers are very passive," says Zhan Yufeng, secretary-general of Beijing-based nonprofit China Youth Climate Action Network.

"But it is progress that they are beginning to care," he adds.