Right now, beauty brands of all shapes and sizes are coming together—whether it’s creating skincare essentials in aid of COVID-19 or finding new ways to be more sustainable, the industry is stepping up in more ways than one.
The word ‘community’ is one we’ve been hearing a lot lately and aptly describes the beauty industry right now. As factories and brick and mortar stores close, beauty brands are using their resources for the greater good. Some have adapted their businesses to create essentials during the pandemic, like sold-out hand sanitisers and hand creams, while others continue on a global mission to make the beauty landscape a more sustainable place. Here’s just some of the brands making a difference in the beauty industry right now.
Pai Skincare
With a global shortage of hand sanitising gel, beauty brands from all over the world have taken matters into their own hands dedicating their factories to the production of hand sanitisers. Like Pai Skincare – the brand known for its sensitive-skin cleansing oils and clever formulas – who designed the ‘Acton Spirit’ hand sanitiser in just a few weeks (the name referring to the resilience and community spirit the brand is seeing in its neighbourhood in Acton). Aside from donating hundreds of sanitisers to schools, nurseries and charities including The Beauty Banks, Pai Skincare is committed to a buy-one-give-one approach, so you can donate to those in need and most vulnerable.
Medik8
It’s rare to find a scientific skincare brand that thinks like a natural one… Known as the ‘green chemistry brand’, Medik8 continually strives to minimise its impact on the environment. Founded by cosmetic scientist Elliot Isaacs, the high-tech skincare brand switched to using 100% renewable energy sources to power its production line, ensuring all its professional products used in treatments are 100% recyclable—including caps, pumps and bottles. Medik8 now uses former drinks bottles sourced from the UK (which would have otherwise been thrown away and have taken centuries to decompose) for its professional products to make better use of recycled materials and reduce its carbon footprint.
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Odacité
An ongoing topic of conversation in the beauty world, brands are finding innovative ways to be the most sustainable they can be. Part French, part Californian skincare brand, Odacité, has just launched its first 552M Shampoo Bar, which calls upon the millions of plastic bottles which are thrown into landfills every year in the US alone. “I googled how many plastic shampoo bottles end up in US landfills? The answer shocked me: 552Million every year… this is more than 1.5 million every single day!” said Odacité founder, Valérie Grandury. “We’re shining a light on beauty essentials more than ever right now and a foaming – and most importantly, effective! – shampoo bar is what the industry needs right now.”
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Cowshed
Once a name you’d associate with luxury and Soho House stays, Cowshed is now paving a way for sustainability in the beauty industry, reusing materials which would otherwise be thrown away to create its bath and shower essentials.
The brand’s skincare packaging is now made from recycled coffee cup paper by GF Smith and all plastic bottles are made from a carbon neutral bio-plastic, a by-product of the sugarcane industry. Most sustainable (and timely) of all—Cowshed has just launched hydrating hand and body bar soaps in all of their signature scents, so you can wash your hands and keep them moisturised.
Jo Malone
Jo Malone – the beauty giant known for its luxurious candles, bath oils and iconic packaging – has swapped its production of luxury beauty buys in favour of sold-out essentials. The British brand is going above and beyond to produce thousands of hand sanitisers from their UK manufacturing facility in Hampshire and distribute to key workers and medical professionals every week. Famous for its gifting experience, the brand has adapted to the current climate to help thousands of frontline workers across the UK and, in turn, gift those in need right now.
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Summer Fridays
Dry skin seems to be the universal result of lockdown these days. Whether it’s parched skin, flaky hands or chapped lips, staying indoors is wreaking havoc on everyone’s skin. Summer Fridays has just launched a vegan, paraben-free Lip Butter Balm that’s rich in plant-derived butters for extra hydration and creates a flexible barrier on the lips to lock in moisture while you sleep. A brand on a sustainable mission to change the face of the beauty industry, the new balm comes in a 100% fully recyclable packaging made of aluminium—the founders are encouraging its community to recycle all Summer Fridays tubes by creating a unique recycling program.
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Nuddy
Beauty essentials are becoming increasingly difficult to source due to the outbreak of COVID-19; as a result, beauty brands far and wide have adapted their businesses (and fast!) to create a number of essentials to aid those affected. New indie brand on the block, Nuddy, has removed the packaging from their soaps in order to initiate free soap bar donations to the public and keep costs down for everyone (a win in terms of minimising packaging, too). Given that we’re washing our hands more than ever at the moment, these soap bars are extra special—they’re triple milled (so they last longer) with Shea Butter to keep your hands moisturised.
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