Sustainability is the ability to prevent depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance. When a brand uses raw, natural ingredients to produce, reduces waste, encourages recycling, reduces energy consumption, to name a few, you can say it is promoting sustainability.
An Ethical brand, however, is one that establishes the difference between right and wrong, and maintains its moral values. Some examples of ethical practices are: using fair-pay policy in a brand’s supply chain, producing cruelty-free products, ensuring no child labor is involved in manufacturing etc.
When African beauty brands are mentioned, the words ‘Sustainable’ & ‘Ethical’ aren’t typically in the mix. What do these words even mean? Well, we’re here to enlighten you by showcasing some awesome African beauty brands making great strides:
1. R&R LUXURY
R&R Luxury is a 100% natural, plant based skincare brand that uses Shea Butter as its key ingredient. R&R’s core values include ethical sourcing, nature preservation and job creation.
They take pride in being one of the few companies to source, manufacture, sell and export in Africa. R&R practices ethical sourcing by getting raw materials from the rural northern women of Ghana. In return, R&R invests in the rural communities of these women through their charity project, Women of the Savannah Development Project.
2. NOKWARE
Nokware is a Ghanaian skincare brand that was born in 2017 out of a desire to share a generation old recipe with the world. Nokware’s goal is to promote the use of African herbs, plants, and oils, sourced from local women’s cooperatives through fair pricing and a zero exploitation policy.
The notable thing about Nokware products is their packaging; the use of calabashes, bamboo, and raffia is very impressive. The purpose behind this is to create zero waste by repurposing items that would have contributed to landfill. Their goal is to completely remove plastic from their packaging in the long run.
3. ARAMI
Arami is an all natural multi-purpose skincare brand authentically made in Africa to ensure ingredient integrity and product efficacy. Arami’s products are free from toxic ingredients such as sulfates, parabens, silicones and also offer fragrance free variants of their products. They believe in simplicity and aim to inspire the public to focus on non-toxic beauty.
In an effort to become more sustainable, Arami runs a recycling program to reduce plastic waste as “they care about what goes into the environment”. They also partnered with waste management experts to repurpose their plastics, cartons, and paper bags. Their community involvement is also admirable as they focus on mental health care, medical care and provision of critical basic needs because they believe in wellness of the mind, body, soul.
4. MALÉE
Malée is a South African luxury fragrance and body care brand that is inspired by the rich landscapes, alluring scents and ancient wisdom of Africa. The concept of conscious luxury is one that Malée holds dear, as their products are 100% natural, sustainably sourced, locally produced, cruelty free and free from known toxic ingredients. Their products also have a minimalist recyclable packaging with no microplastics.
As a way to give back, Malée provides financial assistance to help educate and mentor students from disadvantaged communities.
5. ORIKI
Oriki’s ‘farm-to-skin’ retail brand has a range of botanically based personal grooming products produced in Africa. According to the founder, Oriki products are “inspired by nature and crowned with opulence”, as the Yoruba word Oriki means “your crown/your origin”. The amazing quality of this brand is that the client’s skin confidence and pride is the main focus, while showcasing Africa’s ancient and rich botanicals to the world.
Let us know what you think about sustainable beauty in Africa, and what brands you’re willing to try.
