When it comes to sustainability efforts in the beauty industry, The Body Shop has been ahead of the curve for the past 45 years. After all, the brand was founded in 1976 on the principles of using ethically-sourced and naturally-based ingredients as set out by its late founder, Dame Anita Roddick. This is clearly still important to the brand today.
Fast forward to 2021, The Body Shop is taking its sustainability initiative one step further, aiming to be the first global beauty brand to have 100 per cent of its product formulations certified by The Vegan Society by 2023.
For the uninitiated, The Vegan Society represents the global gold standard in vegan certification. And its globally recognised trademark provides a trusted stamp for The Body Shop products across the world.
“Our decision to go 100 per cent vegan is a natural next step for The Body Shop,” says Lionel Thoreau, global brand director for The Body Shop.
“Thanks to our founder Anita Roddick, we were the first beauty company to fight against animal testing in cosmetics, and the first major global beauty brand to use cruelty-free musk in our fragrances. Vegan beauty is a critical next step in our sustainability and environmental endeavours. This, along with our global refill and in-store recycling programmes, makes The Body Shop a destination for ethically-minded customers.”
In fact, Annie Chan, senior general manager for The Body Shop APAC Company Markets, says that it is a move that many The Body Shop customers expect, as it cements the brand’s “long-standing commitment to protecting the environment”.
Fact: Vegan beauty is critical when it comes to helping the environment. Chan explains: “By reducing the consumption of animal products and by-products, be it in our diets, skincare or other lifestyle habits, we reduce our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions from farming that contribute to global warming.”
In short, by making the commitment to go completely vegan in its product formulas, The Body Shop is ensuring that it will continue to do good by Mother Earth through the use of sustainably sourced, natural ingredients, ingredients of natural origin, and environmentally-friendly synthetic ingredients.
And with the vegan movement being one of the fastest growing lifestyle movements worldwide currently, along with the rise in popularity of vegan beauty, it is indeed a natural move for The Body Shop.
According to The Vegan Society Market Insights, 95 per cent of vegans and vegetarians actively look for vegan/vegetarian certification logos when buying into a brand for the first time.
Globally, 60 per cent of The Body Shop products boast vegan formulas, including some of the brand’s best-selling ranges like the Tea Tree skincare range, Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask, Body Yoghurts and Body Butters.
According to Chan, the Body Butters were the first products that The Body Shop turned vegan. “Body Butters are one of The Body Shop’s most famous products. They’ve come a long way since our first Mango Body Butter in 1992, so it made sense for this signature product range to be the first in line for our vegan reformulation and fresh, new sustainable packaging,” says Chan.
However, it was not without its challenges. In the case of the Body Butters, it was removing the natural, non-vegan beeswax and replacing it with a rice bran wax that would still retain the same aesthetics and performance, and be approved by The Vegan Society.
Though you will still have to wait a bit longer to get your hands on the updated body butters (they’re arriving in Singapore in September), you can check out the brand’s revamped 100 per cent vegan-certified shampoo and conditioners that are already in stores.
The range offers five improved haircare products consisting of shampoos, conditioners and serums that cater to various hair needs, from dry and flaky scalps to frizzy and dull hair. The products are made with at least 90 per cent ingredients of natural origin, as well as a vegan silk protein to nourish and strengthen hair.
Chan shares that while it has been a challenging process to replicate certain ingredients in the brand’s non-vegan formulations, The Body Shop remains committed to its sustainability goals, and is working hard towards creating 100 per cent vegan formulations that work just as well, if not better.
The Body Shop is known to use ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients through its Community Fair Trade programmes, but here are three other ways to do your part for the environment:
1. Opt for a refill packaging
The Body Shop is taking refills mainstream. Stemming from the brand’s founder who offered to refill customers’ bottles back in 1976, The Body Shop aims to extend this in-store sustainability activity globally, ambitiously rolling out 500 refill stations across 500 stores this year, and another 300 stores in 2022.
Now, you can take home your favourite shower gel, shampoo or hand washes in refillable aluminium bottles. When they get empty, simply rinse and bring back to the store for a refill. The Body Shop estimates that if every customer makes this simple switch, it can help save over 25 tonnes of plastic every year.
2. Bring your empties back
Not sure what to do with your empty The Body Shop bottles, tubs or tubes? Drop them off at any The Body Shop store and give them a new lease of life with the brand’s Return, Recycle and Repeat scheme. What started out as a Bring Back Our Bottle (BBOB) campaign in 1993, is now a global initiative with the aim of launching this programme in 800 stores in 14 countries by the end of 2021.
3. Bring your own bag
As part of its “Kick The Bag” campaign, The Body Shop Singapore will donate $0.10 to fund WWF Singapore sustainability projects, such as engaging businesses to reduce plastic consumption in Singapore and in the region, for every carrier you say no to for your product purchases.
Locally, the Return, Recycle and Repeat scheme is available in all The Body Shop stores, while the brand’s first-ever refill station in Singapore is available at The Body Shop Ion Activist Workshop store (#B3-66 Ion Orchard).
For more information, visit any The Body Shop store or its official flagship stores on Lazada and Shopee.
Text: Vanessa Chia/HerWorld