B Corp Month: The B Corp beauty brands working towards a more sustainable industry

March marks B Corp Month, an annual celebration that highlights the work of certified B Corporations who are meeting verified high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

TheIndustry.fashion has taken a look at some of the beauty industry's best B Corp brands and how each works towards a more sustainable industry.

To become a B Corp, a company needs to complete a B Impact Assessment. This analyses a company's business activity and provides a precise score to measure their impact across the different assessment criteria. Only companies that score higher than 80 points out of 200 can qualify.

Aromatherapy Associates

Founded by Geraldine Howard and Sue Beechey in the early 1970s, Aromatherapy Associates is known for its range of home and beauty products, including its bath and shower oils. The beauty brand became a B Corp in 2020 and that same year removed over 1.5 tonnes of virgin plastic from its products by using fully recyclable and where possible, reusable packaging. The brand's headquarters also uses 100% renewable energy.

With targets for 2023 in place, Aromatherapy Associates plans to become carbon neutral across its direct company operations. The brand has also pledged that 100% of its palm oil, palm oil derivatives, wood, pulp and paper will come from sustainable sources.

Anna Teal, CEO at Aromatherapy Associates, said: “It's not just about being best in the world, it's about being best for the world. A new generation of consumers want brands to enact the values they preach authentically, in their products, practices and how they define profit.”

Listen to our podcast with Global CEO of Aromatherapy Associates Anna Teal.

Skandinavisk

Skandinavisk is a home and bodycare fragrance brand inspired by the beauty of Scandinavia. The brand is B Corp certified and is a founding member of the new B Corp Beauty Coalition. Launched in January 2022, the coalition brings together 26 B Corporations to try and improve the sustainability standards of the beauty industry.

In 2020, the brand released its Next Generation collection. Within this, the brand's vegan and cruelty-free products help maintain the brand's light footprint across its supply chain, from natural ingredients to packaging sourced from managed Swedish forests.

Skandinavisk is now aligning its sustainability targets with its home: Copenhagen. The brand plans to become net zero by 2025, coinciding with the city's goal to become the first carbon neutral capital city.

Listen to our podcast with Skandinavisk Founder Shaun Russell.

Rituals

Founded in Amsterdam in 2000, Rituals is a global beauty brand with more than 870 stores in over 33 countries. Inspired by the wisdom and ancient traditions of Asian cultures, the brand creates luxurious yet affordable products for home and body.

Rituals joined the B Corp family in January 2022. Following its certification, the brand set itself additional goals across three areas: Considered, Conscious and Caring. Within these areas, Ritual's sustainability goals include refining its GHG emissions targets to aline with the scale of reductions required by The Paris Climate Agreement, leading the brand to net zero.

Aesop

Aesop is a global skincare brand owned by Brazilian company Natura & Co. The beauty brand boasts its responsible ethos by designing sustainable stores and products, sourcing ethical ingredients and supporting local communities.

Believing that "packaging must be functional, modest and have minimal environmental impact", the brand has now transitioned from using over 80% of PET plastic bottles to a minimum of 97% post consumer Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (recycled PET).

Dr Kate Forbes, Director of Innovation at Aesop, said: “The many challenges we have faced globally have brought into focus the responsibility that each of us, as individuals and businesses, has to change our future. Passing the rigorous standards required to become a Certified B Corporation is part of Aesop’s commitment as a business to use our profit and growth as a means to a greater end.”

Davines

With its slogan “sustainable beauty for your hair”, environmental impact is something Davines takes very seriously. Founded in Italy in 1983, Davines Group started as a research laboratory, producing haircare products for cosmetic companies around the world. Since its launch, the brand has rewritten its business model to create a brand that both generates profit and has a virtuous impact on people and the environment. As a result, Davines became a B Corporation in 2016.

This year, the brand certified all of its products as plastic neutral. This means that for every product sold in 2022, an equal amount of ocean-bound plastic will be collected and removed from coastal locations across Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines.

For each combination of formula and packaging, Davines does an environmental impact analysis to help boost sustainability. Davines also donates 1% from every website purchase to a charity that supports the planet and communities.

Beauty Kitchen

Beauty Kitchen was co-founded by Stuart and Jo-Anne Chidley in 2014, after Jo had difficulty finding natural and sustainable beauty products that worked well. The brand has now grown from six products in one retailer to over 120 products stocked across the UK at retailers including Boots, Feelunquie and ASOS. Beauty Kitchen became a B Corp in 2017, the first high street beauty brand to do so.

Beauty Kitchen's products are made in the UK to limit the brand's carbon footprint. In addition, the skincare brand works with its local community to develop sustainability initiatives. One big initiative for the brand is its Return Refill Repeat programme, which allows customers to send their packaging back to be washed and reused.

Beauty Kitchen also partners with the Plastic Soup Foundation to help reduce plastic pollution. The charity works to ban micro plastics in cosmetics.