Podcast 73: Should beauty retailers boycott unsustainable brands?

The word sustainable hides a very complex set of questions and definitions. What is sustainable to one beauty brand, may not be for another. So, when a beauty retailer sets out to attract and sell only sustainable beauty brands, it challenges itself to define sustainability and sort out the pseudo sustainable from those beauty brands blazing a trail in the field.

Green Beauty Conversations podcast host and Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Jazmin Alvarez, founder of New York-based clean beauty retailer Pretty Well Beauty about her drive to showcase the best sustainable, clean beauty indie brands about. Pretty Well Beauty already stocks a Formula Botanica graduate brand.

There are good reasons to use retailers – online and bricks and mortar – to sell your beauty products. A specialty retailer focusing on the naturals’ space and who understand the mindset of indie beauty is very useful partner. Your products might sit among potential competitors, but the idea is that the vast number of eyeballs on the site will mean everyone gains more sales.

But how does a retailer vet beauty brands’ sustainability credentials? This is the mission Jazmin set herself when she launched Pretty Well Beauty. As a 14-year veteran of a parallel sector, fashion, before setting up her pioneering retail enterprise, Jazmin is well attuned to the issues of sustainability – or its lack – in the beauty world.

In this episode, Jazmin explains her views and definition of sustainability and talks about the mutual and beneficial relationship sustainable retailers can build with indie brands who together are dedicated to paying more than lip service to sustainability.

In this episode on sustainable beauty retailers, you will:

• Hear Jazmin’s viewpoint that an indie beauty brand that infuses sustainability into its mission and business practices right from the beginning, rather than as a response after they launch, will be better able to own the conversation and gain consumer trust.
• Learn how the sustainability journey starts with provenance of product ingredients’ which includes the way they are farmed and harvested and by whom, and their transport and packaging. The ingredients are the first place to start in defining the sustainability of a beauty brand.
• Hear how it is possible for small and start-up indie beauty brands to build sustainable practices into their businesses, even if it is a big ask. Just do what you can when you can. Jazmin recommends being transparent with your customers and take them with you on your journey as you manage to embrace sustainability step by step.
• Beauty retailers are increasingly interested in indie, and sustainable, ethical brands as it’s a win-win for them: customers are eager to learn the backstories of indie beauty brands and founders and this makes for excellent PR and marketing for retailers offering these brands.

Key take-outs include:

• No one expects a new, natural brand to have the nth degree of sustainability credentials from the start. Make moves to replace, renew, recycle or embrace circular beauty and similar missions when you can.
• By taking your customers on your journey, you are being transparent and also have a story to tell. Communicate the changes you make; even small things like replacing a plastic pump can be something to shout about.
• Do as much research on the sustainability of your choices as you can right from inception and conception stage of your beauty brand. Dig deep into supply chains and ingredient provenance, ask questions and be relentless. If need be, find a consultant to help you.
• As an indie founder seeking to create a sustainable beauty brand, set yourself goals such as not having more than 10% plastics in your packaging, for instance.

Meet our Podcast Guest

For the past 9 years, Jazmin has been a leading and trusted clean beauty advocate having experienced herself that using products with fewer and non-toxic ingredients creates a happier, holistic relationship with your skin.

Jazmin’s goal for Pretty Well Beauty is to define and set the highest standards of clean beauty and wellness by partnering brands that adhere to only the strictest standards of clean and sustainability practices. Additionally, she is building upon the Pretty Well platform a layer of brand and consumer education to show just how clean beauty has a role to play in our everyday lives and by making it accessible to everyone who seeks a more holistic approach to personal care and well-being.

Find out more about Pretty Well Beauty
Website: Prettywellbeauty.com
Instagram: @prettywellbeauty
Twitter: @bePrettyWell
Facebook: prettywellbeauty
Clubhouse: Clean Beauty Club

Green Beauty Opinion: podcast 74

Lorraine follows up our guest episodes with 5-minute Green Beauty Opinions in which she shares her thoughts on the key issues raised. Commenting on beauty retail, Lorraine says that retailers have the power and responsibility to help consumers make sustainable choices at the point of purchase. Green Beauty Opinions prompt us all to be the voice of change and integrity, making the beauty industry better and more sustainable.

Listen to Lorraine’s Green Beauty Opinion: beauty retail has to change:

You might also like to listen to our other episodes on sustainability issues:

Top sustainability challenges and concerns for the beauty industry
Are indie brands falling behind on sustainabiity?
Can a beauty brand ever be carbon neutral?

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

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.