(The beauty industry may not appear to be under fire as much as its fashion counterpart when it comes to conversations around sustainability. However, they have been equally responsible for creating waste, resorting to animal-cruelty and ingredient deception, not to mention piling on plastic pollution with their packaging. Despite these pressing issues, certain brands have definitely come out on top in their attempt to rectify all that is wrong with the beauty business.
1. LUSH
Widely known as the go-to brand when it comes to handmade vegetarian beauty, LUSH cosmetics have paved the way for sustainability with their constant endeavour to reinvent and seek eco-friendly solutions. By eliminating packaging altogether that is otherwise plaguing the industry, the brand has prevented itself from potentially selling nearly 6 million plastic bottles globally by offering solidified shampoo bars instead. And when packaging is a necessity, they use recycled materials.
Pioneering in the fair trade and cruelty-free beauty space long before any other brands could catch on, The Body Shop launched its ‘community trade’ objective in 1987 that sources ingredients produced by small communities globally. The company has since gone on to invest in a ‘return.recycle.repeat’ scheme, plastics for change initiative and attained the elusive B-corp certification, that’s one of the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance.
3. Tata Harper
A cult hit owing to its 100% farm-to-face natural ingredients, Tata Harper is an ‘EcoCert’ certified beauty brand — a certification given when everything under the production supply chain, from start to finish is confirmed as ‘green’. The brand uses glass for most of its packaging, which is highly recyclable and can be reused multiple times. And the little plastic it does use is derived from renewable sources like corn.
4. Ethique
Shampoos and conditioners account for about 80 billion bottles per year and Ethique claims to have saved over 6 million plastic bottles from winding up in a landfill to date. By creating solid products that not only contain 100% naturally-derived ingredients but are also all biodegradable, Ethique is quite literally a brand that was born out of the purpose to purse ethical passions. Add to that, 20% of their annual profit is directed towards charities focused on the environment.
5. Kjaer Weis
Founded by Danish-born makeup artist Kirsten Kjaer Weis, her eponymous makeup brand was founded on the idea of merging the two worlds of luxury and sustainability without compromise. Almost all of their products have been certified natural or organic by the stringent standards of the Italian certification body where they are manufactured. 95% of the ingredients come from organic farming, where they don’t add chemicals to the soil. And when it comes to packaging, the products are designed to be refillable — once used up, Kjaer Weis does away with disposability by offering steps to refill different types of makeup like compacts, mascaras and lipsticks.
These brands may just be the five top picks when it comes to their sustainable approach, but seeking the right ones isn’t too hard either with the Good Guide app. A revolutionary application that provides information on over 75,000 consumer products and their social, biological, and ecological effects — where beauty items are scored from a low of 0 to a high of 10. The higher the rating, the better the product from a health perspective. With a simple search, browse, or scan for a product; a rating appears.
Published by: Vibhuti Vazirani/ 2020-02-23