Podcast 158: Why the beauty industry needs more indie formulators

Big beauty has spent well over a century using fear-mongering to market its products to us. Even if today it is more sophisticated in its methods and use of media, the mainstream industry is still telling us we are not good enough or beautiful enough. In effect, it is telling us it’s not alright to embrace and celebrate our unique, inherent beauty and the normal part and parcel of being human – ageing.

But there are some in the beauty industry daring to ditch this messaging and give voice to a different way of looking at beauty – one that celebrates us as we are and makes us feel good in our own skin without using negative messaging to make us buy their products. In this green beauty opinion, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier explains how indie beauty formulators and entrepreneurs are helping dismantle decades of big beauty’s domination of the beauty narrative. Lorraine concludes with a clarion call for more of us to learn to formulate and change the industry for the better.

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If you have listened to Green Beauty Conversations for a while, you will not be surprised to hear Lorraine talk about the stranglehold the mainstream industry has on defining the beauty ideal. If you are a new listener, it might shock you to hear the host of a beauty podcast call out aspects of big beauty and be scathing about its behaviour.

However, as Lorraine explains, the mainstream cosmetics industry displays many heavy-handed practises that can in fact be seen as detrimental to our wellbeing, and we’re not just talking about the way industry giants determine beauty ideals.

Lorraine refers to cosmetic conglomerates lobbying regulators such as the EU to ensure certain spurious microplastic ingredients remain in some products (see her podcast episodes 115 and 116 on liquid plastics lurking in our cosmetics).

She also mentions an article written by a dermatologist which implied that “…your skin’s appearance reflects your health and wellbeing – and wrinkles are the most notable sign of this”. Lorraine gets on her soapbox to decry this simple linkage that plays to big beauty’s tune.

But there are signs of this domination waning as indie beauty formulators and founders grow in numbers and take to the airwaves. In the previous episode, we heard from one such indie beauty entrepreneur, Roshanne Dorsett, a Formula Botanica graduate whose brand, The Glowcery, is going from strength to strength. Having started on a shoestring, as most of our graduates do, Roshanne is talking about beauty differently. Her brand sees beauty as inherent and unique to us and offers products that take a holistic view.

Lorraine ends by calling for more of us to enter the industry by learning to formulate and becoming indie beauty founders. Join the indie beauty formulating community and be the change the industry needs.

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 iTunes, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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