Beauty Sustainable and ethical beauty
It’s really important to understand what you’re looking for from your beauty brands if you’re trying to make better choices. What makes a brand or product truly ethical and sustainable can depend on a number of factors. Most of them are small brands, where the founder is still involved in the making of the products, though there are some which are more mainstream. Here’s a quick guide on what to look for when buying your new moisturiser or shampoo.
Cruelty-free
Products with ingredients that have not been tested on animals at any stage in their development.
Non-toxic
Products that do not contain any GMOS, herbicides, artificial fertilisers, preservatives, parabens or any other toxic ingredients.
Vegan
One to watch with this is that vegan products may contain palm oil, which is not an animal by-product or ingredient, but the plantations the palm tree is harvested from have replaced rainforests and have destroyed and displaced many thousands of rare and unique species.
Thoughtful packaging
This is crucial. Waste is a major problem for the planet. The brands that really do well on packaging are those that allow you to reuse your existing packaging or use compostable materials. Sadly, these zero waste options are not yet widely available for the average shopper so well done brands who use post-consumer recycled materials and packaging that is widely recycled (e.g. glass, aluminium). At the very least, we want to see packaging that is recyclable (and hopefully made from recycled materials too).
Here are some recent product launches that are working towards sustainability:
Klorane
French haircare brand Klorane has a real focus on sustainability and ethical practices. They’ve recently launched a new range of quinine-based hair products to encourage hair growth. These are made with 98% natural ingredients and part of their process is to give back to specific communities and eco-systems. For each new product launched, the Klorane Botanical Foundation aims to give back via a dedicated initiative. The Foundation is working to protect primary forests and promote sustainable agro-forestry practices with local communities in Ecuador, where they source the quinine in their products, by setting up six community nurseries to plant 15,000+ trees.
Handmade Soap Co.
After two years of research, planning and development, the Co Meath based Handmade Soap Company recently launched their new product range: Anam. Derived from the Irish word for ‘soul’, the new Anam range ticks the sustainability boxes. This collection is the brand’s most sustainable move to date, completely re-imagining the way we enjoy luxury soaps and lotions at home.
The hero products are life-long, ornate hand lotion and hand wash glass bottles. Once your soap and lotion are running low, you simply reorder and refill the contents to your glass bottle, which arrive in a 100% compostable pouch, to be placed in your food bin.
The glass bottles can be filled with the contents of the compostable pouch time and time again. The collection is Ecocert and Cosmos accredited and the pouch will fully decompose in as little as 90 days. They have recently added a gorgeous candle to the range as well.
Attitude
Attitude Baby Leaves and Little Leaves are available in pharmacies and health food stores. This is a new sustainable personal care brand focused on creating innovative natural baby and children’s products, all while taking care of the planet. With children’s gentle skin in mind, particularly as they are more prone to skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis and general sensitivities, Attitude’s products are dermatologically tested and take all of the worries out of skincare for your little ones.
Crafted with natural, dermatologically tested ingredients, the entire line of Attitude products adhere to the highest quality and eco-conscious standards. They are 100% vegan, certified by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and ECOLOGO. They’re also free from potentially harmful substances according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Jordan Green Clean
A dental brand created with the environment in mind, Jordan’s Green Clean initiative believes sustainability is key and wants to make it easy for consumers to make greener choices.
Jordan was created in 1927 in Norway and they believe that we all share a common responsibility in becoming more sustainable, with their main mission to keep improving their products, ensuring the high quality that they are known for, and always aiming towards more sustainable solutions in their entire portfolio. Since they introduced their sustainability initiative, Green Clean, starting with just one toothbrush, Jordan has developed and expanded the range to include toothpaste and a child-friendly line. 90% of the total product (including packaging) is made of recycled materials, minimising resource use and giving materials a new life. The remaining 10% mainly consists of the bristles, which are 100% bio-based, and the packaging label, which is made of Fsc-certified paper from responsibly managed forests.