Using Google Trends, a tool of the popular search engine, we extracted global search data for the selected keywords “natural skincare,” “clean beauty,” “clean skincare,” “clean skincare,” and “organic skincare” over the past decade (July 2013 – July 2023). Extracted data was reported as Relative Search Volume (RSV), a metric showing popularity for a specific term via total searches in a geographical region over time.

Our study shows a steady increase in total searches for the above keywords over the past 10 years. RSVs in 2013 were 27, 19, 7, and 47 for “natural skincare,” “clean beauty,” “clean skincare,” and “organic skincare,” respectively. Ten years later, the same terms were found to have RSVs of 73, 81, 82, and 70 (Figure 1). Of note, each keyword experienced the highest relative value in either April or May of 2020. There was variation in location regarding popularity of search terms, where New Zealand had the highest overall search interest for “natural skincare,” the United States was highest for “clean beauty,” Norway for “clean skincare,” and Nigeria for “organic skincare.”

Figure 1. Locations with highest Relative Search Volume (RSV) for natural skincare keywords
 

The findings of the study show increased public interest in natural skincare over the 10-year study period. There is significant interest in natural ingredients such as whole botanical products, essential oils and other plant extracts, polyphenols, and polymeric nanoparticles. These materials can have health-promoting effects at studied concentrations, however consumer products remain unregulated in chemical formulations. [2,3] The rise in interest is likely driven by a combination of factors including concerns for uncertain chemical components, contaminants, and concern for hygiene during the COVID-19 lockdown. [2] Patients may prefer to use natural products for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to preference for environmentally gentle manufacturing, pronounceable names, and internet virality of “clean” practices in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, these trends emphasize the need for physicians to have a basic knowledge of the growing interest in natural skin products to align their counseling and education towards products with proven efficacy from trusted retailers.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Conflict of Interest: There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Data availability: Upon request to the authors