TREND: Au Natural - Chemical Free

Definition: <au natural> in the natural state, naked, nude, nature, the absence of chemicals.

This definition should also say, No Petrochemicals, no toxins, no nasties, no microplastics; all which, when they are present, aborb into the human body or go through gray water or water waste out into the ocean to the serious detriment of ocean life and ecosystem.

When you hear that, “it’s Vogue official: the Rise of Natural Skincare,” there can little doubt that au natural is a future-defining state, not just a trend. As if Anna Wintour’s word isn’t enough, in 2021, G7 leaders called for the world to become Nature Positive. This represents a massive paradigm shift in how nations, businesses and consumers view their environmental obligations. No-longer is it only “do less harm, reduce impact, and tread lightly across our world” in order to “reverse the devastating impact of human activity on nature and biodiversity.

Under the Nature Positive remit, now we also need to ensure the regeneration and future resilience of nature. This is a callout for living in harmony with nature. In a genuine way, not just paying lip service to the notion.

Being a nature-positive economy means moving away from man-made interventions that destroy nature. Here’s the kicker. This means it is not acceptable for companies and countries to destroy nature in one place and restore in another. Or use carbon credits to offset the damage they are doing to nature as a Get out of Jail Free card.

There is still not yet the systemic infrastructure to enable every business (and consumer) to go completely au natural. Nonetheless, this trend has an exponentially upward trajectory with innovators driving the change back to nature across almost every sector.