There is still a long way to go on the sustainability front in the beauty industry. However, some brands and founders are forging paths towards a more earth-friendly approach. Here, Vogue champions three powerhouse women whose conscious brands are well worth knowing about.
Emily Cameron, co-founder and creative director at Ffern
Emily Cameron and her co-founder and brother, Owen Mears, have a huge waiting list for their delicious seasonal scents, inspired by the Somerset landscape they grew up in and housed in mycelium packaging. Ffern was born from their mission to recreate the olfactive, natural notes from nearby orchards and herb farms in perfumery.
“Thinking about the environment and sustainability has always been front of mind. Since we work with natural ingredients and the rhythm of the seasons, it just feels intuitive to ensure that we keep our impact as low as possible – after all, the seasons depend on us treading lightly.
“One of the worst impacts of perfumery on the environment is through its packaging. In 2021, we became the first perfumers to use plastic-free packaging, and now everything in our parcels can be recycled or composted. Part of that is our innovative mycelium bottle tray, which is made of mushroom roots, grown around waste from the timber industry. In springtime we send our bottles [to customers] with seeds, as these trays make the ideal seed-starters!
“We also set ourselves the challenge of creating an entirely natural and plastic-free store, experimenting with so many intriguing materials along the way. As an example, the mycelium desk – with its panels that can be regrown at any time – is the definition of a renewable piece. We also have curtains made from algae and large stone plinths from local quarries near to our Somerset studio. If you look closely, we also have some pineapple leather in our display cabinet.”
Ffern Spring 2024
£89
Ffern
Emma Lewisham, founder of Emma Lewisham
New Zealander Emma Lewisham set out to create a circular, climate-positive brand, and is now natural skincare with evidence to back it up. Her eponymous line, which is stocked in Space NK and at Net-a-Porter, is also the first beauty brand to be endorsed by Dr Jane Goodall.
“We believe a circular and carbon-positive business model has to be the future of beauty – the definition of ‘sustainability’ is to maintain or support a process over time. All of our range is designed to be refilled, and our refill products have a 74 per cent lower carbon score than their original vessels. To date, the sales of these refills has saved more than 79 tonnes of carbon emissions.
“We are proud that we were the first beauty brand globally to be certified Climate Positive, which means that a business offsets more carbon emissions than it produces. It’s not just about offering refills – our returns programme also focuses on refilling, rather than recycling. When they’re sent back to us, we sterilise them, refill them and then re-sell them. If it can’t be refilled, we pay for it to be properly recycled through our specialised partner. Being Climate Positive on a business level means you have measured and offset emissions from everything you own and operate, to your energy use, to your supply chains – so we’re incredibly proud to earn this certification.
“Producing single-use packaging that can’t be refilled or kerbside recycled is no longer good enough and we – as an industry – have a responsibility to do better.”
Emma Lewisham Supernatural Vitale Face Elixir
£85
Harrods
Emma Lewisham Supernatural Blemish Face Serum
£68
Space NK
Nuria Val, co-founder of Rowse
Rowse’s tagline is “plant-based beauty with a purpose”. Founded by former model Nuria Val, the brand offers sensorial formulas for different skin concerns – every lotion, potion and bar is proof of the power of plants when it comes to skin health.
“I could never really connect with beauty brands, and when I met my co-founder, Gabriella, in 2018, our first conversation was about plants and nature. We spent hours talking about how beautiful the natural world was. We knew that the purest thing you can extract from a plant is an oil – and different plants create different oils, depending on the season and so on. Our first product was our Winter Body Oil, which is made up of plants that grow in extreme winter conditions – they have amazing properties that take care of the skin during the colder months. Working with nature – and the seasons – helped us create a more earth-friendly formula.
“Sustainability and the ingredients within our products are our biggest priority – and I think you can feel the difference when you use them. For example, the almond oil we use is the best quality, which is very expensive, so our margins are not the best compared to other companies in the beauty industry, but the product is good. I prefer to grow our ingredients organically, it takes much longer, but I know that way of doing it is more sustainable and we can continue to do that in the long term, so it’s important to me. We try and source our ingredients as close as we can to our lab in Spain to cut down on carbon emissions – most are from the Mediterranean. We also create our own perfumes with essential oils from the plants.
“It’s a bit boring to see huge companies launching ‘natural’ skincare brands – all the products they launch are pretty much the same. They say it’s plant-based, but maybe 70 per cent is plant-based or even 99 per cent, but the [remaining] one per cent is full of preservatives. They take advantage of the trend and it’s not doing anything good to the planet. It doesn’t just matter which plants you use, you also have to find a producer that doesn’t use pesticides, and you need to make sure that the plant is organically and sustainably grown – and that the people who work with them are treated well, too.”
Rowse Perfect Balance Shampoo Bar
£26
The Hambledon
Rowse Tangerine Cleansing Balm
£37
The Hambledon