Beauty With A Conscience

[Sharon Harris]

ConsciousBeauty at Ulta Beauty is our way of empowering you with transparency and choices. You'll be able to identify Clean Ingredients, Cruelty Free, Vegan, and Sustainable Packaging brands and products. It also highlights brands that Give Back to our communities and planet. Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty includes brands across Makeup, Skin Care, Hair Care, Body Care, Fragrance and Nail product categories in order to give our guests even more choices.

No. Cruelty Free and Vegan are sometimes used interchangeably, but the two terms are not the same. Cruelty Free means the products have not been tested on animals. Vegan indicates products are completely free of ingredients that are animal products, animal by-products and animal derivatives. A product can be either or both of these.

Vegan products are those that are completely free of ingredients that are animal products, animal by-products and animal derivatives. That includes but is not limited to ingredients such as honey, beeswax, lanolin, collagen, albumen, carmine, cholesterol and gelatin.

Through Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty, we're highlighting brands that have giving back at their core. They are committed to making a positive impact by providing ongoing financial support to environmental and/or social causes.

Our Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty Advisory Council brings expertise, insights and help drive Conscious Beauty forward. The Council brings together experts at the forefront of clean beauty, product development, packaging sustainability and brand leadership.

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At a time where news and social media resound with the stark impacts of climate change, and as someone deeply involved in shaping our urban surroundings, I've often questioned whether my professional efforts truly align with the urgent need for change.

As stewards of the environment, we landscape architects recognise that our present choices wield lasting influence on tomorrow's world. Our landscapes must not only inspire visually, while fulfilling their intended uses, but also stand as champions for planetary well-being. Yet, when confronted with the sobering reality of our planet's condition, I find myself pondering the relative value of visual appeal when it can often come at the expense of our environment. How do we navigate the complex challenge of balancing beauty, functionality, and sustainability in the design of our urban spaces?

Ulta on Tuesday announced the creation of Conscious Beauty, an initiative that will launch in the fall and certify beauty brands under five pillars: clean ingredients, cruelty free, vegan, sustainable packaging and positive impact.

The clean ingredients label will certify that a brand meets Ulta's "Made Without List," which consists of parabens, phthalates and other ingredients from over 25 chemical categories, according to a company press release.

As part of the sustainable packaging initiative, which highlights brands made with reduced, recyclable or refillable packaging, Ulta will pilot a "circular shopping experience" with Loop. The beauty retailer is also pledging that 50% of all packaging sold by 2025 will be recyclable, refillable, or made from recycled or bio-sourced materials.

In the midst of a pandemic that has threatened to put many things on the back burner, including sustainability initiatives, Ulta Beauty has announced a wide-ranging effort to hold itself accountable to more conscious practices.

The beauty retailer set its first sustainable packaging goals as part of the initiative, and partnered with various third parties for the certification process, including ClearForMe to verify brands have clean ingredients, and PETA, Leaping Bunny and Choose Cruelty-Free to help certify cruelty-free brands.

The company also established a Conscious Beauty Advisory Council to "ensure accountability and drive the initiative forward." Currently, the council includes CEO and co-founder of Loop, Tom Szaky, and co-founder and COO of Credo Beauty, Annie Jackson, among others. A partnership with Credo Beauty was announced by Ulta in June, and the clean beauty collection, dubbed the Credo Collection, will launch within the conscious beauty platform.

While all of the certifications are meant to help customers identify brands that share their values, it's the sustainable packaging initiative that Ulta itself is committing the most to. In addition to setting a 50% sustainable packaging goal, the retailer also plans to support the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, and will use How2Recycle instructions on its owned brand packaging and print materials.

Ulta is hitting on some of the biggest issues in the beauty space, and retail more broadly, with this launch. For years, the level of waste created by retail packaging has been scrutinized, and retailers have turned their focus to tackling that and other major sustainability issues, including making products with more sustainable materials and building up the circular economy. Loop is one of the companies at the forefront of sustainable packaging, partnering with companies like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Kroger in 2019 to test out refillable packaging solutions.

Clean and sustainable beauty initiatives have also grown to define the beauty space in recent years, with Sephora launching a Clean at Sephora category in 2018 and Neiman Marcus debuting an online shop centered around clean beauty products in 2019. Even big-box players like Walmart and Target have added brands to their assortment that focus on clean ingredients.

"As the beauty retail leader, we have the unique opportunity to inspire positive change in our industry," Dave Kimbell, president of Ulta Beauty, said in a statement. "With Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty, our focus is to educate, guide and simplify product choice and elevate those brands doing good for our world. This initiative helps our guests readily navigate our assortment through the lens of what matters most to them."

To be conscious is to be AWAKE. Beauty in all its forms is a special presence that touches us deeply. Conscious Beauty is the journey home to our true Beauty and to being the radiant, embodied presence we were meant to be.

When we begin to soften our self-judgment, to appreciate and accentuate our assets, we radiate beauty, wisdom, and power that does not diminish with age, life circumstance, or cultural expectations. This is the journey to conscious beauty.

In the time of Covid-19, our rituals of self-care have been dramatically altered. The nurturing salon experience of receiving undivided attention can be soul nourishing and provides a tangible sense of calm. For so many of us, we are deeply missing this. However, there is a way we can create self-affirming and healing rituals that melt away many of our stressors. We can begin this reclamation when we slow down, breathe and renew.

By combining my creativity, training and intuition, I have observed and benefited from the power of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) "Tapping" - an energy shifting method I use to diffuse stress and negative perceptions that block the experience of beauty and joy.

Professional Beauty Solutions is Australia's most respected and trusted distributor of professional beauty brands to beauty salons, spas and clinics across the country. Building our reputation over almost two decades, we source the world's most impressive and innovative beauty brands, and deliver them to our salon, spa and clinic partners, together with exceptional customer service, training and business education

Odacit was founded by Valerie Grandury, a cancer survivor who decided to reevaluate her beauty routine after her diagnosis. Her journey towards wellness led her to question the ingredients in her skincare products. In 2009, she launched Odacit, a brand driven by a simple yet powerful philosophy: the belief that skincare products should be as pure and as effective as possible. Odacit combines the best of science and nature to create products that deliver real results while being free from toxins, synthetic fragrances, and other potentially harmful ingredients.

For those who prioritize cruelty-free and vegan products, Odacit is a breath of fresh air. The brand is committed to never testing on animals, and all of their products are certified vegan. This means you can indulge in their luxurious skincare without compromising your values.

This post is not sponsored but may contain affiliate links from which we earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Nothing stated in this article should be used in place of professional medical advice. All opinions are our own.

Hello! I'm Dr. Melodie, CEO and Founder of LUV + CO. Thanks so much for stopping by! I've been in the color cosmetics industry for 23 years as an artist, educator, and brand/product developer. My Ph.D. is in International Beauty/Fashion Merchandising.

My skin story, as you can see above, is one of sensitivities, acne, environmental & stress damage and hyperpigmentation. I had to decide to overcome a hate relationship with my skin and learn how to LUV it. Color cosmetics in non-irritating formulas helped me conquer that hurdle.

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