THE FACE OF CHANGE
Cosmetics brands push for animal-protection policies, restriction of harmful ingredients
Earlier this year, Lush Cosmetics released a small blue brick of soap with a tiny black piece of paper, cut in the shape of a shark’s fin, sticking out of the top.
Cheekily named Shark Fin Soap, the full proceeds from the sale of each soap were directed toward the The Rob Stewart Sharkwater Foundation and Fin Free organizations throughout North America, which work to protect sharks around the world (a staggering 70 million sharks are killed each year for the shark fin trade).
“Like thousands of others, we were motivated by Rob (Stewart)’s dedication to protecting sharks, as well as his understanding of the importance of healthy oceans to combat climate change,” Carleen Pickard, the company’s ethical campaigns specialist, explains of the decision to support the ambitions of Fin Free and its late founder.
It wasn’t the first time Lush released the charitable soap block. First debuting the product in 2017, and then again in 2018, the soaps have sold out each year, raising $350,000 for shark protection. This year’s release went even further, selling 75,000 pieces to the tune of $450,000 for the cause.
The beauty brand-backed battle to save the sharks didn’t stop there.
“The campaign also encouraged our customers to take a pledge to protect sharks and receive information about the places beyond shark fin soup that shark is showing up in everyday products, such as cosmetics, pet food, supplements and food,” Pickard says.
In 2016, the company joined the battle to ban trophy hunting of grizzly bears in B.C., working closely with animal protection organizations already advocating for the change.
“By supporting our partner organizations with a North American campaign that closely supported their messaging, we were able to uplift the call for a ban during the provincial election and then hold the new government to their promise to enact a ban — which they did in December 2017. It was such an important victory,” Pickard says.
Armed with education and information about the plight of sharks, the Lush campaign worked in support of Bill C-68, amending the federal Fisheries Act to outlaw the shark fin trade (import and export) in Canada. While shark finning was banned in Canadian waters in 1994, more than 148,000 kilograms of shark fins were imported into Canada in 2018, making it the third-largest importer of fins outside of Asia, according to the Humane Society of Canada. Bill C-68 was passed in June. “Ending the shark fin trade in Canada is an important step toward protecting sharks worldwide,” Tricia Stevens, manager of charitable givings and ethical campaigns at Lush Cosmetics, remarked in a news release of the announcement.
The success was one of several recent examples of cosmetics and beauty brands affecting change at a governmental level in Canada — and beyond.
THE BATTLE AGAINST TESTING ON ANIMALS
Beauty is big business. According to recent statistics, the industry is expected to top US$15.8 billion in sales by 2021.
But what if more brands used even a portion of that money to change the state of the industry, utilizing their unique brand platforms to inform consumers as well as changing the industry they operate within?
“Influencing positive change is something every business should strive for,” says Hilary Lloyd, The Body Shop’s vice-president of marketing and corporate responsibility. Shedding light on industry related issues — from fair-trade ingredient sourcing to plastic packaging problems — has long been a pillar of the Britain-headquartered company.
“Our founder, Anita Roddick always believed that The Body Shop had both the potential and the means to do good,” Lloyd says. “Part of doing good meant that beauty shouldn’t be at the expense of another living creature, so from the start all ingredients tested on animals were to be avoided in our products.”
In 1989, The Body Shop launched an international campaign then called “Against Animal Testing ” as a direct response to a draft of a directive in Europe that called for all cosmetics to be tested on animals.
“Customers and the public supported The Body Shop’s campaign, signing a petition calling for the directive to be withdrawn, which eventually it was,” Lloyd explains of the change, which was fully implemented in the European Union in 2013. And, in recent years, The Body Shop turned its ambitions to the Canadian beauty market.
“In Canada, there really is no reason for cosmetic animal testing to still take place. Alternative approaches for cosmetic safety testing exist, are widely used, and tend to be faster and more accurate than those conducted with animals,” Lloyd says.
In June 2017, the company launched its biggest campaign against animal testing, aptly called “Forever Against Animal Testing,” aimed at ending animal testing in cosmetics “everywhere and forever.” Globally, it received 3.8 million signatures in the first six months, before reaching the goal of more than eight million signatures by 2018. In Canada, more than 900,000 signatures were collected.
Buoyed by the level of support, The Body Shop team decided to take those signatures to Ottawa.
“In May 2018 we marched alongside our passionate customers, and their pets, onto Parliament Hill with 625,000-plus petition signatures to ban cosmetic animal testing in Canada,” Lloyd says. “This was the largest petition presented to Canadian Parliament in over 70 years.”
This past spring, after months of lobbying and grassroots activism, Bill S-214 — The Cruelty-free Cosmetics Act — passed the Senate and moved to the House of Commons. “We have made incredible strides toward a cruelty-free beauty industry within,” Lloyd says. “But, our journey toward banning cosmetic animal testing in Canada isn’t quite over, so we will see that campaign through until a ban becomes Canadian law.”
CLEANING UP INGREDIENTS
The push for change has been initiated on the ingredients side of the industry, too.
“Perceptions surrounding clean beauty have changed,” says Gregg Renfrew, founder and chief executive officer of the company Beautycounter. “A few years ago — it wasn’t even ‘a thing.’ People talked about ‘natural’ or ‘organic,’ but there was no ‘clean.’”
Throughout the past decade though, as increased consumer consciousness has further pushed the conversation surrounding potentially harmful chemical ingredients lurking inside self-care products, more “clean” brands and ingredients have been entering the market. But in North America, Renfrew says the information and education surrounding the issue of harmful ingredients — as well as the regulation of such additives — are woefully far behind.
“The United States has not passed a major federal law governing the beauty industry since 1938 — which is over 81 years ago,” Renfrew says. “While Canada’s ‘hotlist’ of banned ingredients is close to 700, it is still far behind the EU who bans or restricts close to 1,400. For comparison, the U.S. only bans 30 ingredients.
“I think most consumers would be shocked to learn that loopholes exist in regulations that allow for secret fragrance ingredients.”
The facts and figures, Renfrew says, are what keep her motivated to further her company’s work toward updating the ingredient laws. (For those looking to further their understanding, Renfrew points to the EWG’S Skin Deep Cosmetics Database as a “great tool.”)
“We have been fighting both on Capitol Hill and Parliament Hill for more health protective laws governing the beauty industry,” Renfrew says. The Beautycounter team lobbied on Parliament Hill in May to strengthen beauty laws in Canada, bringing attention to a piece of Canadian legislation that has been long overdue for an update, she says.
“The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), which governs ingredients used in personal care products, has not been updated since 1999,” Renfrew says. Meeting with more than 25 MPS, the group was looking to secure support for CEPA reform. And, according to Renfrew, that’s exactly what they got.
“Leaders on Parliament Hill have indicated that CEPA reform could make the platforms of each political party, which would help make sure it’s a priority in 2020. It’s time for safe beauty to no longer be an option, but rather a requirement,” she says. “We will continue to advocate for safer personal care products by taking trips to Capitol and Parliament Hill. We are marching towards a future where all beauty is clean beauty. We want to enable consumers to make safer decisions and get safer products into the hands of everyone — whether they are Beautycounter products or not.”
Renfrew says shoppers can expect to see more brands joining the push toward safer products and increased transparency. “Consumers ... are now more equipped with the proper information to make safer decisions for themselves and those around them. People are demanding more of the companies from which they buy — total transparency,” Renfrew says. “Clean beauty is not a trend or a fad. It is the future of beauty.”
Consumers ... are now more equipped with the proper information to make safer decisions for themselves and those around them. aharris@postmedia.com