That's the mission of their Co-Founder Oriele Frank in her role as Chief Product and Sustainability Officer at the L’Occitane owned brand. 

With a vision for Elemis to become the number one British premium skincare brand in the world, but also the best British skincare brand for the world, Frank recognises the widening awareness among the public of broader ethical and accountability issues.

As Frank tells Cosmetics Business, “Climate change is the biggest threat we are facing on this planet, and the only way that’s going to slow down is if we reduce our carbon emissions, our waste, and get people thinking in a different way. Every single part of the brand is being picked to pieces. Do we really need it? Can we remove it? What can we do better?”

Addressing the impact on the planet of everything from the formulations up, Elemis, via their sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate, have already pledged to:

  • Change all packaging over the next few years, aiming to use only fully recyclable or reusable materials
  • Evolve the eco-design of their formulations to bring cutting-edge ingredients that are both safe and effective
  • Achieve a 90% reduction in carbon emissions over the next decade (kick-started by a move of all gas and electricity at their distribution centre and offices to green, renewable energy)
  • Become B-Corp certified
  • Become carbon net-zero by 2030

But this is bigger than Elemis, or even the wider L’Occitane Group.

Part of their mission is to urge brands across the beauty industry to work collaboratively, and as a community, to influence long term, meaningful change. Frank’s role on the steering committee of the Sustainable Beauty Coalition (SBC), a panel of experts and brand owners formed by the British Beauty Council in 2020, ensures their presence is felt across the industry and beyond.

Jayn Sterland, chair of the SBC and Managing Director of Weleda UK, emphasises that the formation of the coalition was about beauty brands coming together to share best practice and be part of the solution, as opposed to being in direct competition with each other in the pursuit of sales.

Sustainability aside, the Elemis approach makes good long-term business sense.

Why? Because while you may be hard pressed to find a company that doesn’t assert its devotion to the planet in some shape of form, in the case of sustainability, integrity matters. As does a show, don’t tell approach. 

A 2020 survey carried out by social impact consultancy DoSomething reported that 75% of Gen Z respondents (those born between 1997-2012) said they wanted to see that brands were ensuring employee and consumer safety. And that, ‘If [brands] are not authentic, Gen Z will be the first to raise a red flag.’ As Forbes states, ‘The pandemic didn’t start the sustainability revolution, but it has put it into hyperdrive, and Gen Z is in the driver’s seat.’

In other words, it’s no longer acceptable to make token efforts and superficial changes for the sake of splashing environmental buzzwords across your marketing, and Gen Z are ready to call out offenders.

Oh, and don’t underestimate their spending power. According to Business Insider, Gen Z made up approximately 40% of global consumers in 2020 which is only set to increase. In addition, Forbes reports that 93% of parents admit that their Gen Z offspring influence their household spending.

Beauty brands, take note.

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