So many beauty brands tout themselves as sustainable, but how can you know for sure?
Here’s how to find out the truth in three easy steps.
And with each and every step, brands make decisions that render the products more or less sustainable.
We started making choices, saysBee Shapiro, founder of fragrance brandEllis Brooklyn.
Shapiro, who is also aNew York Timesstyle section columnist, grew up in the Seattle area.
After school activities often involved hikes in the nearby woods.
beauty columnist for The New York Times and founder of the sustainable fragrance brand Ellis Brooklyn.
For me, nature was this very healing place, she says.
I can make this brand about me, [as a brand founder].
As we started making these choices along the way, our brand became sustainable.
How to know if a beauty brand is actually sustainable
1.
For Ellis Brooklyn, Shapiro pays close attention to how they source vanilla.
Vanilla is such a rare ingredient these days, she says.
Paper stock certified by theForest Stewardship Councilis a clear example, says Shapiro.
Its really tricky to be like, Okay, my brand is 100 percent sustainableno!
Because theres always something more you could do.
beauty columnist for The New York Times and founder of the sustainable fragrance brand Ellis Brooklyn.
Thats something thats become very important to us.
For example, Shapiro aims to offset Ellis Brooklyn-related travel emissions by giving to theCarbon Fund.
Everything changes all the time, says Shapiro.
There might be a better paper stock tomorrow.
There might be a better way of sourcing two weeks down the line.
So thats why I keep saying moving goalpost.
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