From the Global Climate Strike, the biggest environmental protest in history, to the state of climate emergency declared by UK officials, this year has been a much-needed wake-up call on the growing importance of being environmentally conscious. Earlier this year, Stockholm Fashion Week was cancelled in favour of a climate-conscious alternative. Last month, luxury fashion behemoth Gucci announced its decision to go entirely carbon neutral, while New York city made bold strides to #UnplasticthePlanet.
Though the beauty industry has begun to follow suit, with brands the likes of Lush and Charlotte Tilbury taking steps towards becoming more sustainable through the introduction of alternative packaging and vegan initiatives, the sheer quantity of products on the market makes it overwhelming to cut through the green-washing masses and zero in on ethical brands.
Enter SUSTbeauty, the just-launched online retailer making ethical and environmentally conscious beauty the baseline of its endeavours. Featuring a carefully curated selection of brands that provide sustainably made, non-toxic and responsibly packaged products, SUSTbeauty is committed to creating a more transparent beauty industry for the future, and hopes to be an honest destination for those seeking to make better choices. Each brand hosted by the retailer is rigorously analysed against SUSTbeauty’s code of ethics which includes the brand’s manufacturing process, carbon footprint, workplace ethics, down to each of their ingredients and whether they bioaccumulate.
SUSTbeauty hopes to do away with green-washing and the confusion over terminology used by beauty brands giving the appearance of being sustainable. “I think consumers are ever better informed and well researched, which in turn is pushing the industry to make changes,” says founder Zahra Broadfield, who drew from her experience as a beauty buyer at Harvey Nichols when launching her own platform. “My suspicion, however, is that there’s more token gestures and talk than action from the beauty mainstream industry. Consumers can see it and aren’t impressed.”
“My hope is that SUSTbeauty can be a leading voice for change in the beauty industry. I want to draw attention to the fact that, with this rigorously assessed collection of products, it’s not hard to make some small changes that will have a big impact. Now is the right time to launch SUSTbeauty because there is a growing movement toward individuals wanting to understand their impact and what changes they can easily make that will lessen their impact, without diluting their experience.” She continues, “[this] is a beauty blind spot that urgently needs attention and that’s where I believe SUSTbeauty can make a difference.”
Photos: Instagram and Supplied
