I am making a concerted effort to try and use sustainable beauty products that are as good for the world we live in as they are for me. Consumers are questioning brand values more than ever before. And so they should be. We are so lucky now to have such easy access to an array of sustainable beauty brands that didn’t exist a few years ago. We demand to know more from the brands we buy from, like:
- how do they work to protect the planet we live on?
- how do they protect the materials suppliers they buy from?
- how do they treat the staff and workers in their organisation?
- how do they give back to community?
- What charitable organisations do they support?
Sometimes it is not always easy or possible to find this information out about a brand. But there are some others leading the way with being completely transparent about all that they do, even dedicating as much web space to covering these things on their ecommerce sites as they do the products that they sell.
A Fair and Sustainable Beauty Brand
What would you think if I told you I buy from a sustainable beauty brand that:
- Offers a recycling programme. With refillable bottles in their stores and a whole range of reduced plastic packaging when buying new products
- Supports local suppliers and farmers. With not just contracted trade but also local outreach and development programmes
- Empowers women. With charitable endeavours to empower women in the communities from which they buy their raw materials
- Offers parental leave like no other. 20 weeks fully paid leave if you are a parent, no matter your gender, where you live, what job you have
- Has supported through Covid. With the delivery of millions of products to healthcare workers & reassignment of manufacturing lines to the making of hand sanitiser
Too good to be true you think? Think again. In my opinion, one of the most overlooked and humble brands on the market, and yet one that everybody would recognise thanks to its accessability in supermarkets, department stores, and large retailers like Next and Marks & Spencer.
Have you ever used any products by L’OCCITANE? If not, then you should.
L’OCCITANE are more than sustainable beauty
L’OCCITANE was born in 1976, when its founder began distilling essential oils and selling them in his much-loved land of Provence. Built on strong principles and true stories, the brand has grown (a lot!), but its philosophy remains the same. Nature matters. People matter. That is why L’OCCITANE has 6 clear commitments, focused on protecting our precious planet and treating people with respect:
- Respecting biodiversity
- Supporting producers
- Reducing waste
- Empowering women
- Caring for sight
- Celebrating craftsmanship
Shop my favourite L’OCCITANE sustainable beauty products for women here:
A NEW Sustainable Product Launch from L’occitane
L’OCCITANE have this month brought to market two new products absolutely committed to continuing the growth of their sustainable approach to beauty.
Shampoo Bars
Reducing waste is one of L’OCCITANE’S 6 commitments to live by. They reduce excess packaging and plastics wherever possible to reduce the impact of their products on the environment. With every purchase of a L’OCCITANE Solid Shampoo, a customer’s plastic consumption will be 31.3g less than if they bought a liquid shampoo!
L’OCCITANE has concentrated 5 essential oils into each Solid Shampoo. They provide a generous, luxurious foam upon application, smell amazing and save money in comparison to liquid shampoos. All of their Solid Shampoos are also silicone and sulphate-free, as they were created with our hair and the planet in mind.
Deodorant Bars
Following on from the successful launch of their Verbena Deodorant balm last year, L’OCCITANE have now launched a new gentle Shea deodorant balm to compliment it. Their deodorants are packaging in recyclable jars with aluminium lids unlike plastic deodorant packaging which is non-recyclable.
How do they work to protect the planet we live on?
L’OCCITANE stores offer bottle refills to reduce the amount of plastic we consume. Furthermore, they have an ever-growing range of low plastic refills that you can buy from them too, which up to 90% less plastic weight than traditional bottes. It’s a no brainer.
L’OCCITANE uses local produce whenever possible in order to reduce carbon footprint and support local business. They also give priority to small, integrated networks, to bring added value to the producer and have complete control over the traceability of materials.
How do they work to protect the suppliers they buy from?
L’OCCITANE builds real partnerships that are strengthened, whenever possible, by multi-year contracts with producers. These contracts guarantee them a minimum purchase volume, which ensures that they have a reliable, lasting outlet for their produce, at a price that is agreed by all parties. Several of L’OCCITANE’s supply chains (shea butter, argan oil, orange blossom floral water) are fair trade approved and they donate a percentage of the purchase price of the raw material to local development projects.
Top Tip: Always check QVC for some amazing limited-time deals for L’OCCITANE products and gift sets
How do they treat the staff and workers in their organisation?
Parental Leave Policy
L’OCCITANE has announced the launch of a global parental leave policy to support families of all shapes and sizes. The new policy gives primary caregivers a minimum of 20 weeks’ fully paid leave and secondary caregivers a minimum of 12 weeks’ fully paid leave to bond with their new child. It will apply to L’OCCITANE employees worldwide – across its offices, factories and owned retail stores – whether the child is welcomed by birth or through adoption or surrogacy. The new parental leave policy seeks to empower all employees and their families. It directly promotes health and well-being through equal opportunities in the workplace and fairer gender relations within the family.
Woman Empowerment
The story of L’OCCITANE and the women shea butter producers of Burkina Faso began in the 1980s. Since then, L’OCCITANE has built up a joint development partnership and a close, supportive relationship. There were about a dozen women at first. Now there are over 10,000! And since 2009, their shea butter supply chain has been 100% Fair Trade certified. Shea butter is called “women’s gold” in Burkina Faso and by tradition, it is only women who harvest the shea nuts and make shea butter. Women in Burkina Faso are the pillars of society and play a key role in the country’s economic and social development. You can read more about what L’OCCITANE does to empower women in Burkina Faso by clicking here.
Shop my L’OCCITANE sustainable beauty favourites for men: