Sustainability and eco-friendly are two common terms used interchangeably these days. Does that mean natural skincare can be sustainable and eco-friendly at the same time? We believe it can be achieved with some conscious effort.
Let's break it down to three points to explain how natural skincare can aim to be sustainable and eco-friendly.
1. Upcycled ingredients
Balm Botanique is big on using upcycled ingredients as we believe that such practice can reduce waste and turn them into skincare ingredients that are beneficial for our skin. We actively source for upcycled ingredients such as cranberry, raspberry and strawberry seed oils to be used in our products. These fruit seed oils are cold pressed from rescued fruit seeds that are discarded by the juicing industry. Upycling of ingredients can be expensive as it is still considered a niche industry but we think this is the right direction and we know that in the future it will become a common practice.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska, Pexels.
2. Reuse and Refills
We are big on reusing existing materials such as packagings. We collect used packagings and reused them to pack our orders to be shipped out to our customers. We know that many people love the unboxing experience of opening a beautifully designed custom box and tissue paper. However reusing used packagings is also part of our branding as we want to keep these materials in the system before their lifecycle ends.
By offering refills for some of our products, we can continue to keep using the same packagings over and over again. We believe in a circular economy and resonates with our motto: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Photo by Vlada Karpovich, pexels.
3. Ingredients created by Biotechnology
We love using botanicals and skincare is made by science. Chemistry forms the backbone for all skincare products. Biotechnology is one such chemistry used to create skincare ingredients. Biotech ingredients are created by bio-fermentation using microorganisms such as yeast which requires less land and water for production. Biotechnology is one method to reduce reliance on land and water resources.
One such biotech cosmetic ingredient is our sugarcane derived squalane. The sugarcane is sourced from certified renewable Brazilian sugarcane. Sugarcane is a versatile crop and become fully mature for harvesting around 12-14 months. The sugarcane is then harvested and squalane is created using biofermentation. Sugarcane is a resilient crop and is less prone to diseases.
Olive derived squalane is another common ingredient. Squalene is the by-product during refining of olive oil. Olive squalane is then created by hydrogenation of squalene. Olive trees are prone to crop diseases and thus production of olives can be inconsistent which can drive up prices when demand is more than supply. Hence when comparing olive squalane and sugarcane squalane, the latter is a better and sustainable option to be used in our products.
The cosmetics industry is heading towards a more sustainable future and we want to be a part of it albeit a small role. Being a micro business, we can still do our part for the environment as we are part of it too.
