sustainability in skincare

As a growing skincare brand, one concern we are faced with is sustainability and how we can work towards a more ethical, planet-friendly future to help minimise the impact we leave on the environment.

With varying standards of what sustainable beauty looks like in an ever-changing beauty space and many brands marketing themselves as “clean” or “green” without doing anything meaningfully sustainable, we have taken four steps to be a more sustainable brand.

Here is the breakdown of our sustainability efforts:

1. Vegan and cruelty-free.

Formulating cruelty-free, vegan skincare benefits not only animals but also the consumer and ultimately the environment.

Sheep’s wool lanolin, cow milk-derived lactic acid, emu oil, shark liver squalene, marine derived collagen, and sea cucumber extract, to name a few, are ingredients we have consciously omitted as they are derived from animals that can be artificially inseminated, raised, fed, and processed which is not only a sustainability issue but also an ethical one.

We don’t think they have any place in modern skincare as there are synthetic options that are as beneficial or even out-perform animal derived products.

2. Recyclable Glass and cardboard packaging

We committed to using glass for our products as it is one of the world’s most sustainable packaging options due to its natural origin and can be continuously recycled.

Our outer packaging is made of cardboard which originates from a renewable source, is biodegradable, easily recyclable, and without a thin plastic protective sleeve that is not recyclable.

3. Sustainable natural ingredients where possible.

Where possible we look to incorporate local Australian ingredients in our formulas such as Kakadu plum, silky oil grass, aloe vera juice, and Tasmanian seaweed but are also mindful of easily grown ingredients such as various forms of algae and phytoplankton that do not require feed or fertiliser to grow and importantly do not create waste.

Other ingredients we love to incorporate in our formulas are chamomile, oat beta-glucan, oat kernel oil, olive oil, shea butter, castor seed, and green tea because they are low-impact, sustainable crops that do not have to be ripped out of the ground to be processed and aren’t intensive to grow, meaning there is little to no significant damage to soil, air, water or forests and do not cause a reduction in wild animal food sources.

4. Sustainable synthetic ingredients where possible.

When we started our formulation journey we knew we wanted to incorporate science-backed ingredients that work synergistically with potent natural ingredients, foreseeing that this will be the next frontier after the green and clean beauty movement, where science is embraced and forward thinking formulas can be created without self-imposed limitations.

Our research lead us to discover that although an ingredient may be natural in origin it did not automatically mean that it was sustainable so where possible, we chose synthetically created, safe yet easily replicated ingredients, ingredients with a low carbon footprint, and ingredients already manufactured in Australia.

Synthetic ingredients have long been subject to an intense anti-chemical, anti-toxin campaign by certain brands, certain social media personalities, and some beauty editors who may not know that it is impossible for skincare to be chemical-free as everything is a chemical and that it is the dose that makes the poison - meaning that if there is a certain preservative in your skincare formula it is not the same as a rat ingesting 100% of said preservative.

Synthetic ingredients mimic nature and in many circumstances outperform their natural counterparts since they can be reproduced with a whole lot less water consumption, to exact specifications every time without waste, without being influenced by growing conditions and they do not have to be picked, washed, processed, packed and in some instances, flown across the globe like many exotic naturals.

This is not to say natural ingredients are bad but we believe in balance and transparency and by consciously selecting the most sustainable ingredients available to us, we can create truly fear-free skincare.

So in conclusion, now that humanity’s collective consciousness is awakening to better environmental practices with more consumers understanding the impact of their skincare choices, brands and packaging manufacturers are meeting consumer demand head-on with more honest, fear-free options in the beauty space.

We are proud to say, Synth Labs Intl. is a sustainable brand.