Checking labels, researching ingredients and making sure what’s put on our body doesn’t harm us in any way isn’t just a trend. It’s a way of life. And beauty is a big part of the movement. But there’s more to being eco-friendly than safe, natural ingredients. Some of these things include evaluating how a brand’s packaging impacts the earth, their philosophy on recycling, using solar power and how and where they source their ingredients. A combination of these things, and more, goes into choosing this year’s Eco Beauty Award Finalists.
To tally up their respective sustainability actions, and who ranks highest, CEW partners with Givaudan, the world’s leading flavour and fragrances company, and largest purchaser of raw materials (the ingredients that makes beauty products smell so good), using criteria developed by sustainability expert, The Natural Step. Brands are scored on a scale of one to five on how they have implemented measurable change through the lens of certain sustainability principles, and this score determines the Finalists. The winner is chosen by the Eco Beauty Award Finalist Voting Committee. Here, we spotlight two finalists, Teadora and EO Products.
Teadora
Teadora looks to revolutionize beauty with luxe yet eco-conscious products by sourcing ingredients in a responsible way from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, while making them here in the US. Its collection is formulated with novel ingredients such as acai, pitanga, andiroba, buriti and cupuacu, the latter of which is a Brazilian superfruit known for its strong moisturizing benefits and antioxidants.
Here, some of the reasons why Teadora made the Finalist cut:
- Teadora is Ecocert certified and B-certified; none of its hair care or body care items contain sulfates, plastics, silicone, mineral or petroleum.
- Ingredients from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest are gathered by hand without vehicles.
- Packing is 100 percent recyclable; all office paper is now made from elephant, horse and cow waste.
EO Products
Essential Oils [EO] is a collection of bath, body, skin and hair care products that are made with active botanicals and scented with pure essential oils. Founded in 1995, the company launched as five essential oil blends for Bloomingdale’s holiday gift guide. Now, 20+ years later, EO Products makes hundreds of items researched, developed, manufactured and shipped from its 56,000-square-foot facility in Marin County, CA.
Some of the reasons that catapulted EO Products to the Finalist circle include:
- EO Products uses plant based ingredients sourced from regions where they thrive naturally. No petroleum-based ingredients are used in products. The company uses herbal wax in exfoliants instead of plastic microbes.
- EO creates packaging from 100 percent recycled cardboard boxes; the company recycled 125 combined tons of plastic, wood and metal in 2014.
- Supply chain focuses on consolidating inbound shipments of material to limit fuel consumption.
To read about CEW’s other Eco Finalists, click here and here.
The Winners will be announced May 13 at the CEW Beauty Insider Awards Luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria New York.
