The benefits of upcycling skincare ingredients, and why we do it.
Food waste accounts for 6% of the greenhouse gasses emitted into our atmosphere—which is 6% more than we want it to be.
As an all natural beauty brand,, we have a rare opportunity to tap into food waste streams to source some of our most nutrient-dense, effective plant-based ingredients, quite literally turning trash into treasure. By upcycling ingredients that already exist we’re able to:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
It may sound odd, but upcycling in beauty has existed for some time and is a savvy way for brands like us to access ingredients that another industry doesn’t need, and would otherwise be thrown away. There are plenty of supply chains that grow produce to utilise only a partial part of that plant, or create waste that is actually highly valuable. Think the seeds in fruit and vegetables, the water used to distill essential oils or used coffee grounds from cafes and restaurants. It may not sound super glamorous but in actual fact these are high quality, food-grade ingredients that yield potent skincare results.
Though 50% of our line uses upcycled ingredients, let’s focus on one of our favourites—Strawberry Booster. To make this sweet, softening serum our supplier works with smoothie manufacturers to collect the seeds that get removed from strawberries before they are juiced. There’s no place for the seeds in strawberry smoothies, so they would otherwise be on their way to landfill if they weren’t utilised in this way. Our supplier then sterilises the seeds and then they are cold-pressed in order to extract their luxurious oil. When we upcycle, we negate the need for a secondary supply chain that would grow the fruit (meaning there’s no pulp to be discarded—it all went to the juice) so there’s no extra energy consumption.
Et voila! Strawberry Booster is born. Once it’s all pressed, we bottle it and ship it out to you to use in your pro-planet skincare routine. Enjoy bright, soft skin, knowing you aren’t doing harm to you, or the planet.