As the climate crisis continues, droughts, ingredient shortages, and other impacts are affecting the way we shop for makeup, skin care, and assorted beauty industry items. The problem is, too, that the beauty industry itself has been contributing to some of the stressors on our environment.

As with the push to make the fashion industry more sustainable amid climate change, some beauty brands are making moves to prioritize sustainability. There have also been international efforts, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to curb the negative environmental impacts of various industries, including the beauty space. The cosmetics field is so full of innovation, experts say, there’s no need to rely on some vulnerable ingredients and processes that were once commonplace.

So, instead of doomscrolling, we decided to talk to some of those experts about how climate change has been impacting beauty products and how the industry will innovate in the future. Here’s what you need to know.

Beauty ingredients being impacted by climate

Certain ingredients are already in low supply. For example, unusually long droughts and deforestation in countries across the “shea belt,” a range of land where shea trees grow between West and East Africa, have created a shea nut shortage.

In the US and Canada, hot, drought-ridden summers led to a 2025 pumpkin shortage, which became a new obstacle for brands like Lush, which adopted regenerative farming practices to keep its popular seasonal Mr. Pumpkin Face Mask in production, according to Business of Fashion. Regenerative agriculture seeks to minimize soil disturbances, increase biodiversity of crops, and ultimately build resilience against climate change.

Squalene, a well-known cosmetics ingredient with antioxidant properties that is used in moisturizers and other hydrating skin-care products, has been impacted by recent environmental protections. Though many brands now use plant-based squalane (yes, the plant-based version is spelled with a second A), a derivative that has similar moisturizing properties, the former was historically extracted from the liver oil of deep-water sharks, particularly gulper sharks, which are being driven to extinction.

In November 2025, CITES passed trade protections for a number of species, including gulper sharks, granting them stronger guards against international trade. Even olives aren’t safe: Their moisturizing properties are often used in beauty as a source of plant-based squalanes, but supplies are a concern as the Mediterranean grows drier.

Efforts to reduce harm to the environment

In 2024, the European Union announced a new set of restrictions under its REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation, which need to be implemented by either 2026 or 2027 in relevant cosmetics products. Restrictions will limit the use of three types of cyclic silicones, like cyclotetrasiloxane. Turns out, these human-made silicones could damage the environment.

The cyclic silicones addressed by REACH are responsible for the spreadable, ultra-smooth consistency of base-makeup products. “If I give you something that I make for you—let’s say, a foundation with cyclic silicones, and then I give you a foundation where I have not used cyclic silicones, you’ll easily be able to tell the difference,” Krupa Koestline, a cosmetic chemist and founder of the award-winning, biotech-driven formulation and research facility KKT Labs, tells Teen Vogue. “You know that lightweight consistency that sticks around, the powdery feel? Those are very, very hard to match.”

Certain cyclic silicones are very long-wearing, Koestline notes. They’re likely to end up in the food chain through waste in manufacturing processes and by washing off products, which sends product residue down the drain and into watersheds.