Natural cosmetics is the fastest growing segment of the global cosmetics market. In Germany for instance, sales of naturalcosmetics grew by about 5 percent to 675 million Euros in 2009, according to estimates provided by the German Cosmetic,Toiletry, Perfumery and Detergent Association (IKW) (1). And this pattern is set to continue, with British research company OrganicMonitor predicting that the European natural personal care market will be worth 1.928 billion Euros by the end of this year – anincrease of 27 percent since 2008 (2). This market growth is mainly driven by the LOHAS (lifestyle of health and sustainability)movement. LOHAS consumers are looking for personal care products that offer well-being benefits, at the same time as havingminimal impact on the environment. Consumers are becoming more interested in how the products they use are made andwhich ingredients they contain.One of the latest market developments is the growing trend for personal care products that are formulated without synthetic orpetrochemical ingredients, such as silicones or mineral oils, but also without sulphates. Even though these conventionalingredients offer excellent performance and are con ...