Grass-Roots Glamour: Beauty Companies Go Green

Over the past few years, many beauty companies have taken initiatives to “green” their products and practices. Here are three companies that are truly setting the standard for a more sustainable future in the beauty-scape.

YES TO CARROTS Yes To Seed Fund

Yes To Carrots is a lifestyle skin care company that cares about what you eat as well as what you put on your face. They established The Seed Fund, a non-profit arm that gives schools the financial opportunity and resources to encourage sustainable, healthy lifestyles for their students. They believe that educating children about their food in a fun, interactive environment will instill healthy and lasting lifestyle choices. What better way to learn about nutrition than gardening?

We caught up with Yes To Carrots co-founder, Ido Leffler, zipping through the Whole Foods Noe Valley parking lot on his citrus-colored cruiser. The Yes To team was celebrating Earth Day by giving samples to shoppers and creating kiddie gardening stations. “We’re having such a good time,” Ido said as he handed me a pack of seeds to plant on my own garden (our little carrot plant is happily settled in Beautylish HQ), “It’s so great to see small children planting and seeing the process up close—we’re all about interaction and fun!”

PANGEA ORGANICS  Plantable Skin Care Packaging

Pangea Organics has been in the high-end natural market for a few years, and we can’t get enough of their ingenious plantable packaging—the seeds are embedded within the biodegradable molded pulp case. The coolest part? The boxes are designed without any chemical adhesives or glue—talk about eco-origami! I bought their Pyrenees Lavender Bar Soap a few years back and still maintain the mini Azalea plant that was once a mere taupe pulp wrapper. Pangea has cultivated a authentically green brand with a cool, apothecary aesthetic, innovative formulations, and a sustainable vision for their product life-cycle.

CARGO Plant Love Compostable Makeup

We still can’t get enough of CARGO’s 2007 launch of PlantLove™, an eco-friendly line that’s committed to sustainable packaging and ingredients. PlantLove™ now includes  13 compostable products in the line made from corn. The outside packaging is plantable, just like their Pangea counterparts! We’re impressed by the formula—you won’t find any petroleum-based ingredients in these cosmetic superstars.