Raw Natural Beauty has been a journey, especially coming down to finding ingredients to put make natural cosmetics. In this search I’ve come across the word “Sustainability” and it’s a loaded word to me. In the green category, you hear this word a lot, defined as “meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of tomorrow.” Sustainable products or ingredients go beyond just being pure and natural. How the ingredients are harvested counts too, and I made it one of my goals when creating Raw Natural Beauty to find ingredients that could help support the economic growth of the communities that they came from, and interpreting that into health and beauty.
Probably the ingredient that has received the most press is Moroccan Argan Oil, used in our Raw Color Lush Lash Pure Botanical Mascara and Raw Skincare. We purchase argan oil harvested by an all-women’s cooperative in Morocco’s Berber region, founded by a very inspiring women, Professor Zoubida Charouf, who is a natural beauty herself.
Flickr user: Mayu ;p
The Argan forest plays a critical role in the region as it supports over three million people (out of a total Moroccan population of just over 30 million), but it is in decline as a result of over-exploitation, soil erosion and desertification. Through this cooperative, a literacy program as well as a reforestation program has been put into place. This has resulted in dramatic improvements to the lives of the Moroccan women, who now have access to education programs and the responsibilities of operating a business. At the same time, the cooperative’s reforestation program has made a very positive impact on the socio-economics of the region, as it helps ensure that the Argan trees will be around to benefit the future.
Flicker User: Jeremy Couture
I think it’s interesting that the cooperative is 100% women operated. I saw the most inspiring documentary on microlending (loaning small amounts of money to the very poor to enable them to start their own business without the pressure of having to immediately pay the money back) and it was found that loaning money to women proved more successful. Not only were women generally more reliable when it came to paying back the loan, but they tended to use the profits from their business to send their children to school, promoting sustainable, socio-economic development through education and eliminating illiteracy. Girl Power!
Another unique sustainable ingredient we feature is the ultra-emollient Andiroba Oil, found in our Raw Skincare Andiroba Botanical Face Primer. Andiroba comes from the Marajo Island in the Amazon, which is totally surrounded by fresh water. The 200,000 people who live there are blessed with abundant fish during the ‘dry season’. But during the other half of the year, when the fish migrate elsewhere, the population suffers. This same ‘rainy season’ is also the cue for the Andiroba tree to deposit its water-born seeds. Large numbers of these seeds are carried downriver every year and deposited on the beaches. The Brazilian company Brasmazon saw an opportunity to turn them into an alternative income source and helped to establish a cooperative to collect the seeds and extract their oil for sale to the cosmetic industry. This cooperative was a finalist in 2007’s World Challenge, a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have made real difference through enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level.
But my favorite sustainable ingredient in the Raw Natural Beauty line is Ambiaty. This ingredient really is the best of both worlds – delivering unmatched skincare benefits (stimulating collagen production up to 230%!) while also helping to support the local communities in Madagascar. Ambiaty is harvested by only one supplier in Madagascar, and at only one time of year. Not only that, the collection of Ambiaty helps provide a regular income to families and villages who participate and contributes to the sustainable development of these communities through increased schooling of children, through the purchase of school supplies and the construction of new school rooms. While increasing anti-aging benefits, it’s also helping the community.
Flickr User: IFRC
In light of the horrific earthquake in Haiti, I want to say that I am so proud of my uncle who last week was part of a team of 79 doctors and nurse practitioners who brought 30,000 pounds of drugs and surgical equipment to Port-Au-Prince. He’s there for over two weeks, treating upwards of 100 patients a day. Sadly, local doctors have been unnecessarily amputating limbs, leaving thousands without the ability to work or support themselves for the rest of their lives. For the last 10 years my uncle has been actively trying to promote sustainable development in Haiti. As founder of the nonprofit organization Mission for Haiti’s Children, his team is committed to improving health care, education, and economic development. As part of the Mission’s work, a clinic was built in La Croix that now treats 25,000 patients a year. The organization has also built a maternity center, a school, and a grain mill, and helped to establish a fish farm, a rabbit farm, and a well-drilling program to help encourage self-sufficiency and end poverty.
This is obviously an example of someone making a really big impact, much like Professor Zoubida Charrouf in Morocco, but I love that we can all contribute to this type of positive change when we seek out products that use sustainable ingredients!
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