A Chat About Conscious Consumerism With Indie Lee

Here at Beautylish, we’re always celebrating women, but especially this month! In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve already chatted with UMA Founder Shrankhla Holecek, Lit Cosmetics Founder Jodie Perks, Danessa Myricks, and Sonia G.

Now we’re excited to share our convo with skincare pioneer Indie Lee. After her own health struggles, she founded a natural skincare brand based on the principles of empowerment, education and healthy living. An advocate for “conscious consumerism”, Lee gave us her take on transparency and creating change in the beauty industry.

There seems to be a rise in the conscious consumer—are people really becoming more aware of the products they’re using or is it more of a fad?

Clean skincare or conscious consumerism is not a fad or trend. I truly believe it’s the new standard. Specifically, within our space, I believe the beauty industry is headed to a place where clean skincare isn’t ‘clean skincare’—it is just ‘skincare’. Consumers are looking for transparency across all industries, which is pushing companies to do the right thing and become more transparent.

What do you believe has caused this shift in the beauty industry?

I think it’s twofold. There are brands that want to create change within the U.S. beauty industry. A lot of these brand founders either experienced a health scare like me or were frustrated consumers themselves who couldn’t find what they were looking for, so they created it. Consumers, in general, are also becoming more educated on ingredients and are actively researching the ingredients in their personal care products. I believe the increasing desire to be the healthiest version of ourselves coupled with the demand for more transparency is driving this shift in the industry.

How can we continue to encourage curiosity and awareness among consumers?

By being ongoing sources of education, knowledge and empowerment. An educated consumer is an empowered consumer. How do consumers get that information? From their own research and from brands they can trust. Our brand is so much bigger than putting products on a shelf. We want to create change.

On the flip side, how can consumers demand greater transparency from brands?

As we’ve seen, change in legislation is an important but slow process. The change we can create right now is through our purchasing power. Choosing to support brands that are transparent about their practices allows us to vote with our dollars. By doing this, other companies will follow suit, because that will be the standard that consumers demand.

Which female founder inspires you? And why?

It’s hard to choose just one! The clean beauty space is made up of predominantly female founders and it is such a supportive community. When one of us rises, we all rise. The community I’ve found was something I was not expecting and has been one of my favorite parts of this journey. I’ve become close friends with many of the women who supported the brand early on, and I believe we continue to inspire each other every day.

Any advice to other female founders and entrepreneurs that are just starting out?

Always believe in yourself and what you are creating. There will be ups and downs, but don’t let a few closed doors derail you from following your dreams. Being an entrepreneur calls for a lot of late nights and long hours. But, if you love what you do, those difficult moments will evolve into rewarding lessons. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Knowing what you don’t know and asking others to help is a superpower.

Biggest beauty trend prediction for 2020?

Even more demand for transparency and integrity for both conventional and clean brands. We’re already seeing that through sustainability efforts across the personal care space. It will continue to evolve further into an overall authentic, conscious approach to our production as brands as well as our consumption as consumers.

Check out Indie Lee’s line of natural skincare, and come back for more inspiring conversations with your favorite founders throughout the month of March!