Green Beauty Conversations by Formula Botanica

Latest Episodes:

EP81. Can the beauty industry ever be transparent? Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

The beauty sector is a half-a-trillion-dollar global industry, but it's only recently that beauty brands are finally starting to take part in the sustainability conversation. Largely, this is in response to greater consumer demands for transparency in how beauty does business - all the way from its supply chains to the truth behind its claims.

We've seen this play out on this podcast. Over the past year, sustainability has featured in just about all our episodes in some form. We have covered topics such as circular, net zero, zero waste and climate neutral beauty along with the issues like biodegrability, sustainable retail and skinimalism.

But, there are plenty of brands, from multinationals to indie beauty, who are are out there using sustainability terms as a veneer; green-washing us in other words.

How do we as beauty consumers verify the truth of a beauty brand's claim that their packaging is made of recycled materials? Or that they've offset their last year's carbon emissions? None of us can hold every single beauty brand to account on every single impact.

One ambitious entrepreneur is on a mission to change that by encouraging the beauty industry, as well as many other industries, to verify their claims and turn positive social and environmental impact into brand value; a win-win for brands and consumers.

In this episode, Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Jessi Baker, MBE, the founder and CEO of Provenance, a software solution verifying sustainability claims and helping empower shoppers to make sustainable, ethical choices at the point of purchase.

EP80. Let's remind the ingredients' sector of its roots Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to this Green Beauty Opinion on the challenges indie beauty faces in sourcing natural ingredients. Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier shares her views on the main takeouts from the podcast interview with Timo von Bargen of Covalo, a one-stop platform representing 40k beauty industry suppliers.

Lorraine welcomes the arrival of innovative marketplaces like Covalo and praises entities like in-cosmetics Global, which facilitate the matchmaking of suppliers with customers.

But, she reminds us that indie beauty has faced an enormous uphill struggle to be recognised by ingredients' manufacturers as a force in the industry. Even today, some in the industry don't understand that the indie businesses of today can be the giants of tomorrow.

Formula Botanica has seen this attitude change and is itself now approached by suppliers keen to reach indie beauty brands. However, the industry seems to have forgotten that some famous, decades-old beauty brands were in fact started by indie formulators.

Lorraine challenges us to connect and communicate as a collective voice to change the dominant culture in some quarters of beauty industry that downplays the value of indie business.

Listen in for a thought-provoking five minutes that challenges us to be the voice of change and integrity, making the beauty industry better and more sustainable.

EP79. The indie beauty challenge of sourcing natural ingredients Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

Finding cosmetic ingredients is one of the first challenges every indie formulator faces. After all, we want our ingredients to be natural, sustainable, efficacious and, ideally, available in small Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs).

However, the big wide world of cosmetic ingredient suppliers has not set itself up to cater for indie beauty. Suppliers generally don't realise that today's indie formulators may become tomorrow's industry giants.

We've a good many of our graduate brands at Formula Botanica which have grown large and fast and are now taking overseas markets by storm.

So, how do indie beauty brands find and source the innovative, plant-based ingredients that will set them apart and help them formulate effective products and grow remarkable brands?

In this episode, podcast host and Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Timo von Bargen of Covalo, a comprehensive search platform that connects beauty brands with over 40K suppliers.

Covalo offers access to a huge ecosystem of cosmetic ingredients as well as listings of suppliers of packaging, and services such as contract manufacturing, formulation, regulatory compliance and testing. These are all areas of the beauty supply chain and business that small indie brands have to grapple with.

But how do they find their way through the thousands of possible solutions and ingredients?

We encourage you to listen in for some very useful advice and tips to help you on your formulating journey.

EP78. We can't shop our way to sustainability Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to this Green Beauty Opinion on the sustainability of the beauty industry. Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier shares her own views on the main takeaways from the previous episode with guest Anna Teal of the British Beauty Council.

Lorraine, a chartered environmentalist herself, praises the British Beauty Council's 2020 report 'Courage to Change' which raises the industry's unsustainable practices and challenges it to change.

But, she asks if the industry can ever do more than pay lip service to sustainability if rampant consumption of beauty products lies at the heart of its economic model.

There needs to be a complete rethink in the way the entire sector operates, from manufacturers, retailers and buyers to the media right down to individual shoppers.

Lorraine is astonished that the beauty industry, while talking sustainability, has gone silent on the elephant in the room: its traditional model of volume-driven profit. After all, we can't shop our way to sustainability.

Listen in for a thought-provoking five minutes that challenges us to be the voice of change and integrity, making the beauty industry better and more sustainable.

EP77. Does the beauty industry have the courage to change? Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

"For beauty brands, the risk of not changing is starting to outweigh the risk of changing, uncertain and fraught with challenges as it may be." When Green Beauty Conversations' host and Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier read words like these in the British Beauty Council's report, The Courage to Change, she realised that the beauty industry had reached more than a light bulb moment in its drive for sustainability.

The Council's 48-page report, which is full of wake-up call statistics and hard-hitting quotes from surveys and leading industry names, is more than window dressing. It shows that the British Beauty Council, a not-for-profit body founded just over three years ago, is already a catalyst for that change.

The beauty industry impacts the environment heavily and touches all of us whether we're directly involved in the industry or not. From the obvious actors such as personal care manufacturers and beauty retailers to each of us taking a shower every day, this is one industry that we all participate in.

The beauty industry is not traditionally known for its collaborative approach nor to value the environment more than the volumes of product it churns out. However, the Council's report states that some 88% of consumers want brands to do more to help them make a difference. Given the sheer diversity and scale of this sector, how can its players collaborate and be the actors of change consumers are demanding?

Lorraine spoke to Anna Teal, The British Beauty Council's Pillar President for Innovation and a leader with over two decades in the commercial beauty sector. Listen in to hear how the Council, headed by visionaries like Anna Teal, is determined to help the beauty industry change the habits of a lifetime.

EP76. Treat essential oils with reverence Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to our Green Beauty Opinion on the sustainability of essential oils hosted by Lorraine Dallmeier, Formula Botanica CEO, who is also a Chartered Environmentalist and biologist.

In this short opinion piece, Lorraine picks up on the key takeouts from the last episode when she spoke to Dr Sally Gouldstone, a long-time conservationist and founder of Scotland-based natural skincare brand Seilich.

The overuse and misuse of essential oils is worrying not only qualified aromatherapists but also environmentalists. Essential oils can leave a heavy production footprint to the detriment of the planet.

Urging us to reduce our use of essential oils, Lorraine points to botanical alternatives that formulators can explore for their scent and skin benefits and talks about the option to go fragrance free.

Can you cut down on your own personal use of essential oils? Would you pay more to buy the limited amount you need from ethical suppliers that support a sustainable essential oil industry?

Listen in for a thought-provoking five minutes that challenges us to be the voice of change and integrity, making the beauty industry better and more sustainable.

EP75. How sustainable are essential oils? Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

A few decades ago, essential oils were used mainly by aromatherapists and barely featured in our daily lives. Now, we use essential oils in everything from cosmetics to household cleaners.

Essential oils are also a mainstay of natural skincare where they are used for their gorgeous scents and also as skin-beneficial ingredients.

However, our use of essential oils is putting pressure on plants, pollinators and the planet's sustainability.

Essential oils are big business for entities like multi-level marketing companies and large cosmetics' manufacturers. Even indie beauty, which generally works in small batches and low volumes, is contributing to the global demand for essential oils.

Lorraine Dallmeier, podcast host and Formula Botanica CEO, talks to Dr Sally Gouldstone, conservationist and Founder of natural skincare company Seilich. Sally puts forward some controversial opinions on essential oil use and starts by asking: "Just how essential to our lives are essential oils?"

This episode challenges Sally to square the circle for natural formulators who want to continue using essential oils, but mindfully and sustainably.

EP74. Beauty retail has to change Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to our Green Beauty Opinion on sustainable beauty retail. Lorraine Dallmeier, Formula Botanica CEO, a chartered environmentalist and biologist, voices her views on the key takeouts of the last episode with Jazmin Alvarez, founder of retailer Pretty Well Beauty.

In this short opinion piece, Lorraine says that the retail industry has the power and responsibility to make sweeping changes to the way cosmetics are sold.

While we are now seeing schemes such as Clean at Sephora and Target Clean, most large beauty retailers are fumbling in the dark about what to do.

Should mainstream retailers start refusing to stock some big name brands because they can't demonstrate their sustainability credentials yet - if ever?

Can we envisage a retail world with store categories such as Circular, Biodiversity, and Zero Waste? Consumers are seeking out these labels already.

Systemic change won't happen overnight but we encourage beauty retail to start having those conversations with brands. Lorraine challenges us to speak up and ask retailers for evidence of beauty brands' sustainability credentials.

Listen in for a thought-provoking five minutes that challenges us to be the voice of change and integrity, making the beauty industry better and more sustainable.

EP73. Should beauty retailers boycott unsustainable brands? Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

Sustainable beauty is sometimes seen as a subset of clean, green, natural beauty and more, however the single 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 one Formula Botanica graduate brand.

Rarely do you find a clean beauty brand that isn't passionate also about reducing its environmental footprint and in promoting sustainability. But just how do you go about vetting beauty brands' credentials and finding out about their journeys to sustainability?

This is the mission Jazmin set herself when she launched Pretty Well Beauty. And 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.

EP72. We must get to Net Zero in Beauty Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Green Beauty Opinions.

In this five-minute short, Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier reflects on the key takeouts of the last episode with Austin Whitman, CEO and founder of Climate Neutral; a non-profit actively assisting beauty brands to become certified to its carbon neutral standards.

Sustainability will define the next decade in beauty and beyond. With indie beauty brands coming under intense pressure to demonstrate their sustainability credentials, and facing a bewildering number of new certification options, Lorraine queries how they can decide which schemes to embrace. And how does a brand measure its carbon footprint and in a way that is open to public scrutiny?

Lorraine prompts us as beauty consumers to be a 'sustainability task force', pressing for change in the industry, but also reflecting on what we really need to use and buy.

Listen in for a thought-provoking five minutes that challenges us to be the voice of change and integrity, making the beauty industry better and more sustainable.

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