Over the past few years, the beauty industry has been experiencing a remarkable transformation. With shifts towards clean and natural ingredients, sustainability, and inclusivity driving product innovation, beauty brands are making strides to meet the evolving needs and desires of consumers and our planet. However, when it comes to the oral care industry, it feels as though it's been slower to adapt. Traditional toothpaste and oral hygiene products continue to dominate the market, often laden with artificial ingredients and plastic packaging. Around 1.5 billion toothpaste tubes are discarded globally each year making up a huge portion of the single use plastics we find in landfills and oceans. These can take up to 500 years to fully biodegrade - mind-blowing statistics.

Part of Laro’s mission is to challenge the status quo and answer the questions on everybody’s minds - when will the oral care industry catch up with wider global trends? And why aren’t we demanding better? It’s time to change the status quo and embrace the innovation consumers should be looking for.

Natural Ingredients and Clean Beauty

One of the most notable recent trends in the beauty industry is the shift towards natural and clean ingredients. Consumers are becoming more conscious of what they put on their skin and bodies. People are seeking products that are free from harsh chemicals, artificial colours and preservatives, and have clear active ingredients non-experts can understand. And when it comes to this understanding, there are some absolutely amazing brands out there that have been striding ahead and driving this change - think brands like The Ordinary or The Inkey List doing a phenomenal job of educating alongside providing the products we need. 

It’s safe to say now that most people would not put ingredients such as hydrogen peroxide, a harsh bleaching agent, near their skin, so why is it still so prevalent and unquestioned in whitening toothpaste products? The most likely reason is the cost, with harsher chemicals usually being the cheaper alternative. But how much are you really saving if the end result is enamel damage, increased sensitivity and tooth problems requiring more dental intervention? There are some smaller brands out there trying to make an impact and working hard to develop more natural alternatives. You can now find toothpaste with activated charcoal, baking soda, and essential oils. However, there is still room for further development, as only a very small proportion of oral care products meet the higher standards set by the clean beauty movement. 

Laro has very carefully selected premium natural ingredients in order to produce a toothpaste that uses clean natural active ingredients, but one that also creates an enjoyable experience sometimes lacking with the other ‘green’ alternatives. Delve into our ingredients to learn exactly what each one does, how it supports your oral health and where the ingredient is derived from.

Sustainable Strides

The beauty world has also made considerable progress in adopting eco-friendly packaging, going back to the age-old industry roots of using glass, aluminium, or other recyclable materials (such as metal alloys or sugar cane ‘plastics’) to reduce plastic waste and overall impact on the environment. Here, the oral care industry is starting to take note. In very recent years we have seen the introduction of new products such as toothpaste tablets, refillable toothpastes or toothbrushes made from bamboo within the mass market. However, these initiatives are not yet the norm, and there's much more work to be done to reduce the industry's plastic footprint. 

Laro is the first brand within the UK market that uses 100% aluminium packaging for their toothpaste - whilst this is significantly more expensive, we have made a purposeful choice to join the circular economy. Aluminium is fully recyclable through household channels meaning no extra effort or consideration for the user when it comes to recycling. It is also one of the easiest materials to recycle, without the unwanted byproducts and huge energy usage that come from recycling certain plastics - around 75% of all aluminium ever produced in the history of the world is still in circulation, something worth supporting.

Inclusivity and Personalisation

Beauty brands have been at the forefront of promoting inclusivity, offering a wide range of shades and products for different skin types and tones. This shift towards diversity and personalisation has allowed more people to feel seen and catered to in the beauty industry.

The oral care industry can take a page out of this book by addressing diverse oral health needs. Brands are now widely offering products tailored to specific concerns such as sensitivity, teeth whitening, or gum health. Expanding these offerings to accommodate a broader range of consumers with unique oral care requirements will help bridge the gap between the oral care and beauty industries. 

So What’s Next? 

The future is bright for the oral care industry with such a huge opportunity for innovation. Using better, cleaner ingredients in more sustainable ways is a step forward on the horizon, and Laro invites you to be a part of this journey. Follow us on social channels and be part of the journey in redefining oral care. Are you ready for the revolution?