Visualising through storytelling is a good way to set our sights on what is desirable and possible, and then make the imagined become reality. Beauty brands have long used storytelling to create an appealing narrative about their products. Increasingly, brand storytelling is taking place in the futuristic beauty metaverse, which we explored with our podcast guest, Dr Alex Box. It is in this context that Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier dares to air a new format in this green beauty opinion episode – a short story about life in the beauty industry in 2100.
Lorraine helps us imagine what may seem impossible today: a truly sustainable beauty industry – one not driven by ever-more consumerism but founded on sound sustainability principles. Inspired by her guest on the previous episode, sustainability leader, activist, and artist Khandiz Joni, Lorraine asks us to listen to her hopes for a future beauty industry that has avoided breaching the 9 planetary boundaries – or tipping points of sustainability – that Joni outlined.
Our story starts in 2100 with a look back at the decades from now to the mid-21st century. Many of us have already seen evidence of climate change in our parts of the world, but Lorraine’s depiction covers floods and droughts to come. During the pandemic and beyond, we have also experienced faulty supply chains and now a fuel crisis that has driven costs up in every aspect of our lives. Lorraine predicts more years plagued by these issues.
The story may paint a somewhat bleak picture for the next few decades, but Lorraine focuses on the lessons we learn from these crises. The global outcry finally gives rise to a shift in how we consume, and by the 2050s onwards, we will be rejecting our 20th-century-driven aspirations to consume and deplete the world’s resources. The new “Natural Human” movement is born, and plastic packaging becomes anathema to us as we embrace local refill stations and seek out sustainable products from local suppliers. The personal care giants that dominated the beauty industry for 150 years fall silent as they grapple with the new normal we now clamour for.
In conclusion, Lorraine says she hopes this story inspires us to transition faster to embrace and act on sustainability now. This challenge faces all of us engaged in the beauty business, whether as businesses, media or consumers. Indulge in our storytelling and act to envision a truly more sustainable future for the beauty industry.
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.
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Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.
