Sustainability

The Power of B Corp: Why Beauty Kitchen Is Leading the Sustainable Beauty Revolution  B Corp-certified companies are shaping a fairer, more sustainable economy. Since 2017, Beauty Kitchen has proudly been part of this movement. In 2024, we achieved a record-breaking B Corp™ score of 174.7—the highest in Europe’s beauty industry—reflecting our dedication to people, the planet, and a circular economy.   What is a B Corp?   A B Corp (short for Benefit Corporation) is a company certified to meet rigorous standards for social and environmental impact. B Corps are committed to balancing profit with purpose, placing value on the well-being of workers, customers, suppliers, the community, and the environment. Becoming a B Corp means every part of Beauty Kitchen undergoes thorough assessments to ensure we’re leading the way in ethical and sustainable business practices.  Why B Corps matter?  Our B Corp status means you can trust that every Beauty Kitchen purchase supports fair environmental and social practices. Whether that means prioritising our employee’s financial security and wellness to making a positive impact on the communities in which we operate. B Corps are also assessed in terms of their environmental impact and sustainability.  Our B Corp Score  Since our initial certification in 2017 with a score of 89.3, we’ve been raising the bar for ourselves and the beauty industry. Our score jumped to 139.8 in 2020, and now, in 2024, we’re proud to be certified at 174.7! This isn’t just a number – it’s a measure of the positive impact we’ve made and the dedication we bring to building a sustainable beauty brand you can trust.  Here are just a few things we’ve done to achieve our score:  Ensuring we use the most sustainably sourced, efficacious ingredients  We’re proud to have pioneered the use of returnable packaging in our products, through our partnership with Reposit we’re on a mission to eliminate single use packaging waste  At Beauty Kitchen we are 100% cruelty free and Leaping Bunny Certified  We have achieved the ‘Zero Plastics Inside’ certification for all our products, meaning they are microplastic free  Beauty Kitchen is a female-led business and we are committed to following diversity & inclusion principles in the workplace  We commit 2% of sales (not profits) to charitable organisations  Our products are all made locally in the UK, reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to the local economy  Our products are Cradle-to-Cradle certified, meaning they are designed with circularity in mind, to be reused or recycled indefinitely  The B Corp Beauty Coalition  We’re also proud members of the B Corp Beauty Coalition, a global partnership of B Corp beauty brands working together to set new standards for the entire industry. Our founder Jo is a passionate advocate and speaker at numerous business and beauty forums, serving as Co-Chair of the Global B Corp Beauty Coalition as well as the Sustainable Beauty Coalition. By collaborating with other beauty brands worldwide we’re encouraging the whole industry to raise the bar and make sustainable beauty the norm.  With Beauty Kitchen, choosing beauty doesn’t have to compromise the planet. Join us in redefining the beauty industry—because every purchase and return brings us closer to a world where sustainable beauty is the new standard.  Written by the Beauty Kitchen Team  

We have been paving the way for circular product development since 2014 and have 32 of our products now been recognised with the prestigious Cradle to Cradle Certified® certification. Cradle to Cradle Certified® is the world's most advanced, science-based measure that recognises safer, more sustainable products made for the circular economy. To receive the certification, products are assessed for environmental and social performance across five critical sustainability categories: Material Health Logo: Ensuring that products are made using raw materials that are as safe as possible for humans and the environment. Material Reutilisation Logo: Ensuring that products remain in cycles of use and reuse to eliminate the concept of waste. Renewable Energy Logo: Ensuring that products are manufactured using renewable energy to reduce or eliminate the impact of climate changing greenhouse gases due to the manufacturing of our products. Water Stewardship Logo: Ensuring that water is recognised as a valuable resource, watersheds are protected, and clean water is available to people and all other organisms. Social Fairness Logo: Designing business operations that honour all people and natural systems affected by the manufacturing of our products. A product receives an achievement level in each category - Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum - with the lowest achievement level representing the product’s overall mark. Our Certification We understand that how we design and formulate our products today, shapes the world we will inhabit tomorrow. 32 of our products are recognised with the Cradle to Cradle Certified® certification across the silver, gold and platinum categories. We are currently the only beauty brand to have all products recognised with a Platinum certification in Social Fairness. Five In Ten Interview "We have always designed our products in a safe and circular way...when it comes to sustainability, we look at all aspects of our business and product design including packaging, formulation and supply chain" - Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen  

As a team, we are constantly inspired by the kindness we see from our customers and communities to give back for people and planet. Our Charitable Values We support sustainably minded partners and our local communities by giving and campaigning alongside them as much as we possibly can. All year, we donate 2% of sales (not profits) to charitable organisations and places of work that have needed our support, these are just a few of the ways we have helped: Founded in 1996 by HRH the Prince of Wales, In Kind Direct are a UK charity focused on distributing and providing access to donated consumer products to their network of charitable organisations. Since 2019, we have donated over £200K worth of product through In Kind Direct to help 869 charitable organisations that support a variety of projects including, education, youth care, emergency relief, schools and family welfare.   The Plastic Soup Foundation was founded in 2011, with a dedicated mission to share knowledge on and campaign against plastic pollution and microplastics. We are proud to be a Gold Business Angel for Plastic Soup Foundation meaning that we pursue an active policy to reduce the use of single use plastic and try to prevent leakage to the environment. We have partnered with Eco-Soap Bank, a non-profit organisation working to provide sufficient hygiene to remote regions of developing nations. So far, Eco Soap Bank have donated 9 million soaps to schools, health clinics and village communities as well as supplying handwashing training to over 3.5 million individuals. We have donated the equivalent of 3.5K soap bars so far! Earthly are another B Corp certified business, and we are working with them as part of their reforestation project located in Madagascar. The project focuses on combatting the impact that deforestation has had on Madagascar’s mangroves whilst lifting local communities out of permanent poverty by creating work. Over 75% of the world’s species is found in Madagascar, which is why it is so important to us to replace the mangroves and protect what is left. We have helped to plant 5K+ mangrove trees so far.     Social Impact Being a responsible business is part of our brand DNA and has been since we began. We only ever want to instil practices and policies that can have a positive influence on the world. Ethical Trading & Modern Slavery Slavery, whether in the form of servitude, forced labour or human trafficking, is not accepted in any part of our business. When reviewing and auditing the ethics of who we buy from and sell, we are measuring the social impact of our business right down to our supply chain, where we have introduced a supplier code of conduct duty to trade responsibly. A zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking is integral to us. To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values, we operate in line with principles of responsible sourcing, including paying employees at the prevailing minimum wage applicable within their relevant county of operations. Learn More Diversity & Inclusion We believe in Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion both in the workplace and supporting external causes who believe in the same principles. When looking internally at our own business and culture, we have and will further commit to following B Corp Diversity & Inclusion principles in the workplace - even more so as we continue to grow our small team. Externally, we are dedicated to reviewing and auditing the ethics of the people and businesses we work with to ensure that they share the same values that we implement ourselves. We must all be advocates for a regenerative and inclusive future.   Real Living Wage Beauty Kitchen are proud promote fairness, equality, opportunity and innovation in the workplace. This means we pledge to meet the core elements of paying the real Living Wage to our employees, not using Zero Hour Contracts in any way, and taking action to address the gap in pay between genders (known as the Gender Pay Gap).    

You already know that we are committed to ending single use plastic waste with our reusable zero waste skincare packaging. So how else can we help you find ways to reduce plastic use in the bathroom? This is where we can shine a light on the importance of natural and sustainable formulations - what’s on the inside counts just as much! Many beauty product formulations are made up of ingredients that contain microplastics, often as cheap fillers. Whilst we are enjoying our self-care routines or evening soaks in the bath, we are ultimately washing these plastic ingredients down our drains and into our water supplies, eventually harming marine life habitats with microplastic pollution. Aren’t Microplastics Banned in Cosmetics? Previously, brands would purposely add tiny plastic particles (microbeads) to products such as body scrubs and cleansers for an exfoliating effect. In 2018, these microbeads were banned in the UK (yay!) - however, over 500 microplastic filled ingredients can still legally be used in formulations.Looks can be deceiving as these ingredients can be synthetic liquids that feel smooth and silky in texture, and you would have no idea that there is plastic inside, but it’s estimated that the cosmetics industry uses 8,700 tonnes of microplastics each year. As of 2022, almost nine-in-ten (87%) products from major cosmetics brands contain microplastic ingredients. We are in the minority that use 100% microplastic free ingredients, and we want this to become the majority when it comes to beauty and beyond! Effective, Natural, SustainableThese are three words we stand by with all our products and their formulations. We believe in sustainably sourced and naturally derived ingredients that are scientifically proven to work. That’s why we never have and never will use plastic ingredients in any of our products. Whether it’s your favourite collagen boosting facial oil, your natural cream cleanser or even a hydrating moisturiser, you can be sure that ours are sustainable from the inside out - packaging included!  There’s an App for ThatWe are dedicated to sharing knowledge to prevent plastic pollution and microplastics use in the beauty industry and beyond.The informative app ‘Beat the Microbead’ has been launched by our friends at the Plastic Soup Foundation which allows you to self-scan products and identify more than 500 types of microplastics. We challenge you as part of Plastic Free July to try it out as one of your simple steps to a microplastic free skincare routine!You can download the app for free here or see below for the red flag list of microplastic ingredients! The Plastic Soup Foundation RED FLAG microplastic ingredients As we mentioned there are more than 500 known microplastic ingredients used in cosmetics, but here is a quick list of the ones that are most heavily used, so you can keep an eye out on your products’ ingredient list: Acrylates Copolymer Acrylates Crosspolymer Butylene Carbomer Dimethicone Ethylene Methacrylate Copolymer Methacrylate Crosspolymer Methyl Methacrylate Copolymer Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer Nylon Polyacrylamide Polyacrylate Polypropylene Polyurethane Polyvinyl Propylene Copolymer or Polypropylene PVP Styrene Copolymer Tetrafluoroethylene Vinyl Acetate Copolymer VP/VA Copolymer

We never have and never will test our products on animals, and we will do everything to support campaigns against animal testing within the beauty industry to help end this. The Leaping Bunny Programme The Leaping Bunny Programme by Cruelty Free International is regarded as the global gold standard for cruelty free. It was originally established in the 1990s by their international coalition of animal protection organisations, and the certification is the best indicator to showcase that a company has made a genuine commitment to never test on animals. A company must continually meet rigorous criteria which apply globally and extend over and above laws governing animal testing to maintain this certification. Beauty Kitchen is a 100% certified cruelty free business, and we can honestly say that we have never tested our products or ingredients on animals, have never commissioned animal testing for our products and we always ensure that our manufacturers and suppliers follow these same principles. All new ingredients are researched and reviewed deeply by our New Product Development Team before launch, and we strive to campaign against animal testing within the beauty industry to help end this. “Animals shouldn’t have to suffer for our beauty. We have always lived by cruelty free standards since the start of Beauty Kitchen, but I’m so proud to have this officially supported by The Leaping Bunny Programme’s gold standard so our customers have that reassurance too.” - Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen.

There’s no denying the impact that waste has on the environment, especially when 95% of packaging in the beauty industry is simply thrown away. So far we have saved over 4 million single use plastic bottles from going to landfill with our circular packaging programme in partnership with Reposit! How We’re Minimising Packaging Waste Since the very start of Beauty Kitchen, we’ve always created our products and packaging with cradle to cradle principles in mind. Put simply, this means we create our processes in a circular way where everything can either be reused or recycled and most importantly, not wasted or taken to landfill. Current Packaging That We Use: Every aspect of our products, including formulation and packaging, are tested against human health so they are 100% safe to use. Aluminium Bottles- 75% of aluminium that has been produced over the years is still in use today. It’s widely recycled but also a great material for reusing as part of our Reposit packaging programme. Bottle Pumps- Unlike most pumps, ours are fully recyclable. They can be broken down to be recycled but we created our "pump for life" to be reused time and time again. Rock Paper Labels- Our water-resistant labels are made from 80% limestone, as a natural waste product, with no bleach used to treat them. Label Ink -We only use vegetable derived inks to print our product information on our labels and cartons. Konjac sponge- This entire product is compostable. The sponge, the string handle and even the packaging, just pop it in your food waste or compost bin. Glass Bottles/Jars- These are all made using recycled glass which are suitable for home recycling, however we intend to reuse these as part of our Reposit packaging programme when you send them back to us. Pipettes- Our pipettes consist of three parts; the glass tube, a 100% recycled plastic collar and a rubber bulb. All three parts can easily be broken down and recycled or made into something new. Jar Lids- our lids are made from 100% recycled plastic and are widely recycled with home recycling. FSC Certified -Our paper packaging for our solid products and Vitamin Kitchen range are fully certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, meaning we comply with the highest social and environmental standards on the market for our paper packaging.       Canopy Pack4Good Campaign We are to be partnering with Canopy and supporting their Pack4Good campaign. Canopy is a not-for-profit forest conservation organisation that works with leading brands around the globe across a range of industries. Their Pack4Good initiative focuses on eliminating the use of Ancient and Endangered forest fibres in paper and paper packaging, whilst instead making use of lower impact materials such as pulp.   What we are Committing:   To help reduce pressure on forests and freshwater systems, as well as to reduce the carbon footprint of the paper and packaging we use, we will continue to lead the market by:  The use of innovative design, recycled fibre and by implementing zero waste processes throughout all areas of our business  Choosing paper packaging with high-recycled content, specifically reusing waste content  Encouraging our suppliers to continuously improve and expand the availability of recycled content  Maximising the overall recycled fibre content of our packaging  Sourcing packaging from alternative sustainable fibres when possible  Supporting research and development of commercial scale production of pulp, paper and packaging  You can read our full Canopy Pack4Good policy here.

Update your Skincare for Spring in 5 Easy Steps The days are getting lighter, the weather is getting warmer, and just like your wardrobe, it’s time to switch up your skincare for spring. We’ve put together 5 simple steps and must-have products that will help you to achieve your best-ever glow-up. Step 1 – Opt for a Gentle Cleanser Cleansing is one of the most important first steps for any skincare routine no matter what the season. During winter we tend to use richer cleansers like a lotion or balm to hydrate the skin but for spring, we highly recommend using a gel formula like our Seahorse + Plankton Revitalising Gel Cleanser. This organic-blend lifts away makeup and impurities while delivering all the essential plant-powered nutrients your skin needs to restore balance. Plus, gel cleansers are better for reducing excess oil as temperatures start to rise. Step 2 – Exfoliate & Treat Cold winter weather can make your skin look dry and dull. Perk up your complexion with our Naked Konjac Sponge. This super-soft, plastic-free, natural sponge is infused with pollen to support skin brightness. For best results, use it with your cleanser to get rid of dead skin and to help decongest problem areas. Once your skin is feeling polished, go in with our award-winning Seahorse Plankton + 5 Minute Miracle Mask made with Kaolin Clay that is renowned for its detoxifying properties to help soothe and treat the skin while the blend of Microalgae stimulates collagen so skin looks renewed, hydrated and firmer. Step 3 – Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise In spring we want our moisturisers to make our skin look healthy, balanced, and incredibly glowy. One of the ingredients that help us to achieve this is Rose Oil. Loaded with vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals, rose is a highly beneficial ingredient that helps to brighten and even the skin tone while strengthening skin’s barrier and boosting moisture levels. That’s why we’ve added it to our Abyssinian Oil Hydra Boost Day Cream so you can enjoy a beautifully balanced complexion. Plus, it’s also infused with Abyssinian Oil and Magnolia so skin looks all the more luminous. Step 4 – Add a multi-tasking marvel to the mix As the days get lighter, we like to spend more time outdoors and if you’re going straight from desk to drinks, give yourself a pick-me-up with our all-purpose Abyssinian Oil Handbag Beauty Balm. This little pot works as a cleanser, eyebrow shaper, lip balm, and moisturiser so you can enjoy a fresh-faced look any time of the day and night. Step 5 – Prime & Protect As the days heat-up we like to wear less makeup and want to create a lit-from-within glow. That’s where our Raw Inventions Mineral Shield SPF30 Daily Primer comes into play. This all-natural primer creates a soft-focus finish under makeup and can be worn alone as an SPF over moisturisers giving you the protection it needs against pollution and impurities. The best bit… It's made from minerals that are kinder on skin and to the environment.

In 2017, we became the first high street sustainable beauty business in the UK to become a certified Beauty B Corp™, using our business as a force for good and cementing our efforts to put people and the planet before profit. We are now the highest scoring B Corp in the European beauty industry! What is B Corp? A B Corp is a business that believes in acting in a sustainable, transparent and responsible way. To become a B Corp, every part of Beauty Kitchen has been looked at through a microscope to make sure that we are meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance. We’ve always had these principles at our heart since the very start of Beauty Kitchen, we just have a globally recognised certification now to show that. Once a business becomes a B Corp, they are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. We are accelerating a shift in our industry to redefine success in business and build an inclusive and sustainable economy. Our B Corp Score Being a B Corp is about much more than ticking boxes and hitting scores. We want to prove to the world that business can be done differently - it’s the right thing to do. We became first B Corp certified in 2017, with an overall score of 89.3. A lot has changed since then and since recertifying in 2020 to a whopping 139.8! To maintain our B Corp certification and score, we will continue to document our positive impact and undergo re-certification every three years. These are just a few of the initiatives that helped us meet our current B Corp score: Reusable packaging Sustainably sourced ingredients Zero microplastics No animal testing Donating 2% of sales to charity Female led business Living wage employer Manufactured in the UK Creating jobs locally Best for the World Every year, B Lab (who carries out the certifications) recognises the B Corps that have achieved the highest verified scores in certain areas. We are proud to say that we achieved Best for the World Status for Community in 2021 and 2022. B Corp Beauty Coalition In 2022, we joined forces with 25 other leading B Corps across the globe to form the B Corp Beauty Coalition. Together, we aim to improve the sustainability standards of the whole beauty industry by - enabling collaboration and sharing better practices, educating customers, and influencing the beauty industry to inspire broader changes to improve the social and environmental footprint of the beauty industry.

We are proud to announce our official sponsorship with our friends at City to Sea for World Refill Day! The 16th of June marks a day to globally campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. As we always say, small changes make big impact and that includes your beauty routine.

Every March, B Lab and the global B Corp Community join together to celebrate what it means to be a B Corp and build awareness about the movement of people using business as a force for good. There are now over 600 B Corp certified business in the UK, all using their business as a force for good. We are SO excited to announce that we are not only the highest rated B Corp in the UK industry, but also the 5th highest scoring B Corp in the UK altogether! After becoming the first high street beauty business in the UK to become a certified B Corporation in 2017, we have now grown our score from 89.3 to 139.8 thanks to how we prioritise balancing purpose with profit. This includes our efforts in creating a sustainable future, and the progress we have made with our Return•Refill•Repeat programme and refill stations. By becoming B Corp certified, we are legally required to consider the impact of our decisions on our workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. The initiatives that have made a difference to our score include: No synthetic ingredients No microplastics (as certified by Plastic Soup Foundation) No animal testing (Leaping Bunny approved) Only using sustainably sourced natural ingredients ‘Beauty that Gives Back’ – for every sale, Beauty Kitchen donates 2% of sales revenue (instead of profit) to sustainable charity partners (e.g. Plastic Soup Foundation, The Seahorse Trust, In Kind Direct) Home-grown focus: products are manufactured in the UK, travel less and have a reduced carbon footprint, and help build a sustainable ecosystem by creating jobs in local communities A pioneering ‘Return, Refill, Repeat’ programme that enables customers to return any packaging that has the ‘Return•Refill•Repeat logo  “This is a big moment for us and the result of our team’s dedication to purposeful and sustainable business throughout the past four years, particularly during 2020. The important thing is that we keep focusing on how we can improve and continue to grow a sustainable community.” - Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen So, if you’ve been following us as a Beauty Kitchen customer you’ll know exactly what this recertification means to us and we hope we’ve been able to brighten up you week with our positive news! To find out more, head to the rankings methodology for B Corp here. What else is happening for B Corp month? We are so excited to be featured in Good News! Opening today, Good News is a pop up in the heart of central London, showcasing what is #BehindtheB and driving awareness on how to buy better. We’re delighted to be featured amongst other brands that, like us, have positive impact and continuous improvement at their core. If you’re in London, head down to 10A Rathbone Place, W1T 1HP to check it out for yourself. Good News is open until 31st March, Monday to Saturday between 10am and 6pm.

Leftovers? We love them. So, the big day is nearly here! You’ve got everything sorted, Christmas dinner is prepped, the gifts are under the tree…now you can really relax. Go on, brew a tea, have a sit down and chill out properly because we’ve pulled together all the last-minute tips you’ll ever need to be more sustainable this Christmas day, so you don’t have to have to worry about it. Christmas Lights The UK throws away around 500 tonnes of Christmas lights each year…try and repair them before disposing, but we love using fairy lights all year round to be honest to create a cosy atmosphere. Hanging them round your living room or bedroom windows, or even pop them in some empty glass bottles for rustic looking DIY home accessories. Festive Leftovers Christmas dinner is arguably THE highlight the day, right? We spend the entirety of December deciding what the main meal will be, what we’re having for dessert, telling somewhat funny but heart-warming cracker jokes round the table to the family…and often piling our plates way too high. It’s easily done, and yeah per household there will be a few veggies here and there to pop in the compost bin but including everyone into that scenario soon adds up. In the UK, each Christmas, we collectively end up throwing 11.3 million potatoes, 7.1million pigs in blankets, 740K Christmas puds, 263K turkey’s and enough gravy to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool. So we challenge you to think twice before throwing away those perfect leftovers! We challenged our own team to come up with their top tips on how they spice up their leftovers, and these are the results: Brussel Sprout Bubble & Squeak - packed full of essential vitamins! Chop them up with some onions, mix into some leftover mash potato & fry off in little patty sized cakes for a tasty side dish Roasted Veggies Soup - roasted or boiled, however your leftover veg comes, whizz them up with some vegetable stock and voila…a delicious, rich soup OR fry them off in some spices for warming pasta or curry dish Salted Maple Nutty Breakfast Toppers – sprinkle leftover nuts and dry fruit onto a baking sheet, slather on some maple syrup and a dash of sea salt…and bake in the oven! Add a teeny bit of chilli flakes for a more savoury snack with a kick Double Roasted Tatties - add chopped onions, a pinch of thyme and a drizzle of olive oil and crisp up in the oven. Just like double fried chips, but better Christmas Pudding - the good news is that Christmas pud is great for freezing crumbling it up into some fresh custard/vegan almond custard ready to be frozen into ice cream DIY Wax Wrap So you need to store your leftovers! We pulled together an easy tutorial of how to create your own zero waste wrap which the whole family can get involved in. The best thing, is that you can reuse the wrap time & time again. Find out how to create here.   Excess Wrapping If you’re lucky enough to receive any of our Beauty Kitchen gifts for Christmas, then you may have received our Reusable Cotton Gift Bag or Tin with your treats! We created these with reuse in mind so you could use them again & again. It would be our dream, but obviously not all your gifts will be from Beauty Kitchen (imagine though!). So what do you do with all the leftover wrapping paper? Get creative! Creating some decorative bunting or streamers, either for now or to pack away to decorate with next Christmas, is something everyone can join in with. Here’s our favourite DIY tutorials. https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ideas/gifting/12-ways-to-use-leftover-wrapping-paper Some other quick ideas include, creating origami figures, wrapping plain notebooks to personalise them, shredding it into confetti or parcel filler! Recycling tip: the ‘Scrunch Test’ will give you a hint to whether your wrapping paper can go in your general recycling bin. If you scrunch the paper into a ball and it stays, odds are it can be recycled if the plastic tape is removed, whereas if it springs back then it can't be. Trees for Life The star of the show! If your preference for Christmas trees is of the artificial variety, great, you can pop it away for next year…and the year after that, and so on. Reuse at its finest. Yes, getting out the ladders and shifting around the loft requires effort to store them away, don’t let us discount that, but with real Christmas trees - it generally requires the effort to leave the house. If you’re tree can’t be replanted, try to visit your local waste centre as most have arranged drop-off points for real trees, where they can be shredded and reused as wood chippings in parks for example. Re-Gifting Received a present that you are completely grateful for, but it’s just not your taste? Re-gift it! Pass the present on to someone you know will get more use out of it than you rather than demote it to the back of your cupboards. Gifting to charity is also a lovely option to consider too, there are plenty of places to donate your gifts - even by the checkouts at your local supermarket.

We are proud to joining Business Declares, the fast-growing network of businesses who acknowledge the Climate and Ecological Emergency. Our mission is to create the most effective, natural and sustainable beauty products in the world and we are excited to add our voice to Business Declares and their collective and resounding call for change and an urgent acceleration of climate action. Business Declares works to raise awareness across the business sector of the imperative to accelerate action to address climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice.

The stats surrounding plastics in the beauty industry are not pretty, but we must educate ourselves and change our ways to begin opting for alternatives that we can choose over single use plastics.As our Founder Jo says, we ultimately need to "become a part of the solution to plastic pollution!" What’s So Bad About Plastic? Plastic revolutionised every industry from beauty, electric, food and so on by providing a cheap material that would last infinitely. That radical element of plastic however is now its own downfall! To put it into context, every piece of plastic ever made still exists. Recycling is a great solution, yet the infrastructure isn’t quite right to fully dispose of plastics properly. It’s a system governed by market demand, price determinations and local regulations. More than 600 million tons of plastic will be produced on Earth by 2025 (that’s only 4 years away!) and recycling systems are unable to collect that amount. In reality, only 9% of plastic is recycled globally, 40% is dumped in a controlled manner, 14% is burnt in a controlled manner and 32% ends up in the environment. It’s What’s Inside that Counts TooAlmost all major beauty brands still add microscopic plastic particles or even liquid plastics to their cosmetic products - often used as cheap fillers. It's estimated that the cosmetics industry uses 8,700 tonnes of microplastics in a year through formulations. Through our showers, baths and sinks, microplastics in our everyday products (laundry detergent, skincare and so much more) flow into sewage systems, slip through the filters in water treatment plants and reach our rivers and oceans. Once there, they become a part of the plastic soup. The plastic breaks down further and further. Marine animals mistake these microplastics for food. These particles end up on our plates because we are part of the food chain…it’s a vicious cycle. If we continue to use and produce plastic at the same rate that we do now, there will be more plastic in the ocean tonne for tonne than fish by 2050. On land, the soil on which crops grow is 4 to 23 times more polluted with microplastics than the ocean… So, What's the Answer? It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom; we just need to alter our approach with packaging and ingredients and put more emphasis on the Reduce and Reuse part of the equation! It’s why we created our Return•Refill•Repeat programme, where we wash and reuse our packaging and in turn, create less packaging waste. We also campaign with Plastic Soup Foundation to discourage the use of microplastic ingredients within the industry. Our products are of course 100% microplastic free and Zero Plastic Inside certified! Education is Key! It’s not always easy to work out whether your products contain microplastics. Some products that appear to be ‘clean’ do not contain sustainable ingredients. There’s now a free to download app ‘Beat the Microbead’ by the Plastic Soup Foundation that can do all the hard work for you. See more in our last blog here but essentially, this digital tool uses machine learning software to detect more than 500 different microplastics from a products ingredient list. You can also support sustainable businesses by looking out for the ‘Zero Plastic Inside’ logo to see which products are 100% microplastic free (like ours!). “When it comes to plastic free and sustainable beauty, we need to think about the product in its entirety. This means that the environmental impact of a products ingredients as well as its packaging must be considered. It’s not enough to stick a ‘recyclable’ logo onto a product but not consider the thousands of microplastics inside that are just as damaging to the environment.” - Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen. It's time to start a new plastic free #ReuseRevolution - we would love to hear about the steps you are taking towards a more sustainable lifestyle!

Here at Beauty Kitchen we believe in doing all we can for both people and our planet, it's part of what makes us a B Corp certified business. We already give 2% of sales (not profits!) to charities close to our heart such as Plastic Soup Foundation, The Seahorse Trust and In Kind Direct to name a few but we wanted to take this one step further and get you involved too. Planting Trees with Earthly We have partnered with Earthly, another B Corp certified business, on their reforestation project located in Madagascar. This specific project focusses on combatting the impact that deforestation has had on Madagascar’s mangroves whilst lifting local communities out of permanent poverty by creating work.   Madagascar has experienced deforestation on a massive scale and over 75% of the world’s species found there are not found in anywhere else in the world, making it even more important to replace the mangroves and protect what is left. We’re incredibly excited to be a part of this project which has been running since 2007. So far to date, it has already: Planted over 334 million trees Created 3.3 million days of work for local communities From a planet point of view, mangroves are hugely important for the climate crisis because estimates suggest that they are 4 times more powerful at capturing and storing carbon than mature tropical forests. How can you become a part of the project? We’ve made it incredibly easy for you to contribute! For every Beauty Kitchen order over £10, we will plant a mangrove tree in Madagascar on your behalf.   Providing Hygiene Across the Globe with Eco-Soap Bank Another great organisation we have partnered with is Eco-Soap Bank, a non-profit organisation working to provide sufficient hygiene to remote regions of developing nations. Lack of access to soap remains a critical factor in fighting the spread of preventable diseases worldwide. In some areas of the developing world, only 1% of households have soap for handwashing. So Eco-Soap Bank take and recycle waste soap (think of all the partially used soap bars in hotels around the world), sanitise, remould and distribute them where it is needed most in the developing world.   Another strong mission is to provide education on the importance of handwashing. Soap and water has been shown to reduce the presence of harmful bacteria by 92%, a simple technique that is often overlooked. Since 2014, Eco-Soap Bank has achieved the following: Donated over 9 million soaps to schools, health clinics & village communities Supplying soap and handwashing training to over 3.5 million individuals Worked with over 1220 hotel partners Created 16 recycling hubs in 10 developing countries Employing 154 disadvantaged women in the process  How can I become involved? We have committed to donate the equivalent cost of 1 soap bar to Eco-Soap Bank with every order you place over £10! We are excited to see how we can help the team to continue to expand the programme and reach more and more of the developing world. We are on a mission to create the most effective, natural, and sustainable beauty products in the world. This means giving back in any way we can for both People and Planet, and we can’t wait for you to be a part of our new journey with Earthly and Eco-Soap Bank.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. 2020 for me has been a year of realisation, transformation, vulnerability, and acceptance across a multitude of topics. Especially social impact and equity, and even more specifically in relation to the Black Lives Matter movement and the unfortunate passing of George Floyd, and many others. This has been a year to refresh and reflect and change permanently for the better. A year ago, I released an open letter to you all with the main aim of highlighting systematic racism and getting us all to open our eyes to the subject and to start a conversation. At Beauty Kitchen, we have always been active in supporting a diverse culture and a range of causes through our B Corp status, with charitable donations and pro-bono work since 2014, but we rarely talked about them. Until now. “We cannot credibly build an inclusive economic system without addressing the fundamental injustice, inequity, and violence that disproportionately affects Black people and other People of Color. It is our duty as a business community, and B Corps as leaders, to be accountable to tackle racism.” – Anthea Kelsick, B Corp. Reflecting on the previous year has opened my eyes to what more Beauty Kitchen can do with our voice. I understand that we have a continuous commitment to use business as a force for good, protecting the environment and the community for the sake of people and planet. It is important for us to work to a sustainable future to positively impact the environment, people, and our health collectively. Our mission is to eliminate single use plastic from our society before it eliminates us. But none of our efforts matter if we are not inclusive in our journey. The state of the planet is one that affects everyone and everything. In June, we, alongside B Lab UK and the B Corp community, rallied to support the racial justice movement. More than 100 B Corps met virtually for the first of these uncomfortable but much needed conversations. We recognised that most of the B Corp community sit in a structurally privileged position – but as a progressive movement for economic change, we listened (and are still listening) to the range of voices from our community to learn and make progress. We still aren’t experts in the subject, but we want to use our voice to amplify a zero-tolerance approach to racism and encourage positive social impact through every industry. Over the past year, the entire Beauty Kitchen team have been listening, learning, and of course acting. Not just in the workplace as we continue to grow, but also in our personal lives. We have been and will always: Look internally at our own business and culture Donate to charities that need our support the most Review & audit the ethics of who we buy from and sell Review & audit the ethics of the people and businesses we work with Our next steps: When looking internally at our own business and culture, we have and will further commit to following B Corp Diversity & Inclusion principles in the workplace - even more so as we continue to grow our small team. We currently donate 2% of all sales (not profits) to charities that support a broad range of missions including within community groups, childcare, family welfare, disability, health/medical, homelessness, elderly and of course sustainability and environmental. Moving forward, we are committing to dedicating at least 10% of our donations to charities that specifically support justice, equity, diversity & inclusion*. When reviewing and auditing the ethics of who we buy from and sell, we are measuring the social impact of our business right down to our supply chain, where we have introduced a supplier code of conduct duty to trade responsibly. We will continue to review and audit the ethics of the people and businesses we work with to ensure that they share the same values that we implement. In my eyes discrimination and social justice are not compatible. Social fairness and it’s impact is a principle I put above all else on our mission and vision with Beauty Kitchen. Fairness has many different facets, however. To begin this journey of a more inclusive way of thinking, it’s important to establish the difference between Equality and Equity within a society. Equality is when the exact same amount of resource or opportunity is given to someone. Equity on the other hand, is about recognising the circumstance that someone is in and allocating resources and opportunities to ensure that someone can still reach an equal outcome. Social Impact in relation to Beauty Kitchen to me is designing production processes and operations that have a positive impact on all people and natural systems, that are influenced by the creation, use, dismissal, and reuse of our product. It is about making a positive difference in the lives of employees and local communities. I believe that we have a responsibility to create space for conversations that can lead to meaningful collective action – not as experts in anti-racism, but as advocates for a regenerative and inclusive future. At Beauty Kitchen, we are always listening, learning and will continue to act. The earlier we all open our eyes, the earlier we can accept our flaws and the earlier we can transform our way of thinking. We all have a voice, and it is always the right time to use it. We encourage you to listen, learn and act to encourage a positive world for us all and to eliminate racism as a part of this journey. Small changes make a BIG IMPACT. Thank you, Jo x *So Far Beauty Kitchen Donations Have Benefited the following charities to support diversity and inclusion: Uganda – directly supporting 3 community projects Bradford District Community Empowerment Network Muslim Council of Britain Charitable Foundation Black Arts Alliance Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre Trust Pakistani Resource Centre Action For Refugees In Lewisham Agency for Culture and Change Management Inspired Rise Community Action Bengali Workers Association Iraqi Welfare Association Central Africa's Rights & AIDS (CARA) Society

Our Founder, Jo talks about the difference between organic & sustainable beauty and how the beauty industry is changing. Over the last decade, I’ve noticed a huge shift in the beauty industry and I guess, all industries if I really think about it. Most of us will have seen the word ‘organic’ on everything from shampoo bottles to a bag of carrots and it’s something that’s often associated with natural products and high quality. On the other side, the common perception is that anything organic is going to be expensive and out of reach - some people just feel they can’t afford to switch to organic. The Sustainables range. From an ingredient perspective, sustainability is about efficient use of resources, however it's also about being carbon positive or carbon neutral which means that when you are creating or growing an ingredient or product, it will have a positive carbon impact, rather than a negative carbon impact on the planet. For me, sustainability is where the natural and scientific worlds come together. Plant advanced technologies have developed a process to "milk" plants in order to obtain extracts without damaging the plants themselves, which means you can harvest them several times and also in a small amount of space (it happens in a greenhouse where you can have shelves of plants). Technically, this can’t be classed as organic, but it is the most sustainable way. Seahorse Plankton+ range is grown in a photobioreactor (or a big greenhouse to you and me), why? Because we don’t want to take these ingredients from the endangered seahorse population. Instead, we grow our microalgae in big algae baths. This is a carbon positive ingredient as when algae is made, it absorbs sunlight and co2, releasing oxygen. This chemical process releases energy, which we sell back to the electricity grid. Our microalgae can never be classed as an organic ingredient due to the way its grown – however it is the most sustainable way to make these ingredients. Sustainability doesn’t just start and end with ingredients: It means looking at every single element of that product’s journey, from the very first resource to someone’s bathroom cabinet - that’s the difference between between organic and sustainable. Return•Refill•Repeat programme where customers can return their packaging back to us and we wash and reuse for the next batch. Luckily, in the last few years, people are starting to think more about reusing things - my poor coffee cup is battered and bruised I’ve had it for so long, but nowadays, I don’t get the weird looks I used to - it’s becoming the norm now, which I love!

What Does it Mean to be a Better Employer? “Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.” – B Lab. So now you know a little more about B Corp from our last blog, we wanted to delve a little deeper into our own principles! Each week throughout B Corp Month, we will be highlighting each category that we get assessed on as a business which we are legally required to maintain forever more. This week, it’s about our workers. All B Corps, not just us, consider our employees in all business decisions, no matter what challenges they face (yes 2020, we are talking about you!). From employee ownership to innovative hiring practices and flexible work policies and committing to writing better contracts, we are leading the way in building better business. As the saying goes “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”, and this applies to every aspect of our business too including internally from our Beauty Kitchen HQ team, through to our supplies and down to our growers. How do B Corps Measure Impact – Workers As part of the B Corp community, we work towards reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high-quality jobs with dignity and purpose so we can build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. "The Workers Impact Area evaluates the company's contribution to its employees' financial, physical, professional, and social wellbeing. Companies are assessed based on financial security for their workers; the health, wellness, and safety of their employees; employee satisfaction; workforce development efforts and available career growth opportunities." - B Lab. Women In Business B Corps are 68% more likely to have a majority in women workers, and this certainly applies to our female led business! Seeing as International Women’s Day is round the corner this is something to shout about. On another note, Jo is an Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland who aim to strengthening the Scottish economy by creating an environment where women-led businesses can flourish and grow. If you are a woman in business, Jo has some advice for you! “We all have to start somewhere, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Start your business, get your product or service out there, fail fast, fail cheaply, get feedback…and move on.”Supporting the Local Community75% of B Corps are more likely to hire workers from chronically underemployed populations and collectively, B Corps have hired more than 16,000 workers that traditionally have high barriers to employment.Beauty Kitchen is based in a small town called Wishaw which is not one of Scotland’s most wealthy parts of the country. One of our long-term goals to bring more jobs and business to the town and the majority of our employers have been hired locally! A Question for Jo…What do you Love about Working for a B Corp? “I started Beauty Kitchen to use business as a force for good with an equal weighting on the community, the environment and profit in every decision we make. I always thought there was a better way to do business where everyone who touches the business gains something positive from it. B Corp gives the framework and the community to understand how to do this every day, and at Beauty Kitchen you know you are part of something that is truly trying to make the world a better place through business!” Jo Chidley, Founder This is what a few others from the Beauty Kitchen team had to say when we asked this same question! “There’s hundreds of reasons! Beauty Kitchen balances purpose and profit constantly to create change for the better. Giving back is more important than profit for the business and this has influenced my own lifestyle and choices!” Patryk - Sales “The company aligns with my own personal morals.” Kyle - Operations “I love that we pledge to use our business to do good things and to leave the world in a better place than it was before.” Lisa – Office Manager “I love that we are always looking to the future, and how this future will be in a much better place when we all balance our actions with positive purpose. Everyone involved in Beauty Kitchen can be proud to say that they are creating positive change in some way. It’s all about collaboration.” Amy – Marketing No matter what comes our way, we will always have B Corp values at the core of everything we do - stay tuned for more info throughout B Corp Month!

March marks the month of B Corp, and while most of you will be fully aware of this already, we thought we’d give you all a bit more detail on what it means to us! There are over 2,500 B Corp certified businesses globally (just look out for the logo on packaging), and we were so proud to become the first certified high street UK beauty business back in 2017! What is B Corp? Put simply, certified B Corporations aim to choose people over profit - and we believe that as a business we have a responsibility to use our voice as a force for good! It’s also about being committed to acting in a sustainable and transparent way while meeting the highest environmental and social standards. By becoming B Corp certified, we are legally required to consider the impact of our decisions on our workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. How to Become a B Corp There are 3 hugely important steps that a business has to go through to become a B Corp. Firstly, you have to genuinely believe in the movement and ethos that surrounds B Corp. By that, we mean your business should believe in making money while doing good, and you should have clear, specific social or environmental goals to achieve. Secondly, you need to undergo a thorough B Corp assessment which allows you to benchmark your social and environmental performance against other companies. By doing this, you will get access to a B Impact Report, which includes a ‘B Score’ that rates your company’s performance as a social enterprise. A business needs to score at least 80 points out of the maximum 200 to be eligible for B Corp certification. Finally, but arguably most importantly…you need to maintain your hard work! To maintain a B Corp status, you need to get re-certified every few years to ensure that your performance is still matching B Corp values. We are in the process of undergoing recertification so stay tuned! Our B Corp Score You can see our overall score here of 139.8! There’s many reasons why we gained B Corp certification, and here’s a few of them… Beauty that gives back - we donate 2% of our sales (not profits) back to charities that are close to our hearts, such as Plastic Soup Foundation and The Seahorse Trust. We decided to give away a percentage of sales instead of profits because it means no matter what, we’ll always be giving something back. Beauty without Beasts – absolutely none of our products contain synthetic ingredients or microplastics and we only ever use sustainably-sourced and natural ingredients. All our products are cruelty free too! British Beauty - we develop all our products here in the UK for two reasons. Firstly, so the products travel less as they are made locally so have a much lower carbon footprint. Secondly, it was important to Jo & Stuart (our Founder & Co-Founder…also husband & wife) to play our part in building a more sustainable ecosystem by creating jobs in local communities. “I always thought there was a better way to do business where everyone who touches the business gains something positive from it. B Corp gives the framework and the community to understand how to do this every day, and at Beauty Kitchen you know you are part of something that is truly trying to make the world a better place through business!” - Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen We have our score…now what? Well the idea of the B Corp score is that it acts as a benchmark to maintain and improve upon this. Our aim now is to reach a higher score (which we are in the process of doing right now!) so that we can constantly improve and become the best version of ourselves. We never claim to be perfect, but we want to at least try. Stay tuned for more, as we will be highlighting and celebrating other incredible B Corps throughout B Corp Month!  

TV presenter, eco blogger, mum of one and author of the incredibly motivating and beautifully illustrated ‘Six Weeks to Zero Waste: A simple plan for life’ – Kate is here to ease you into a more conscious and mindful lifestyle! Read on for some insightful tips on sustainable beauty, how to live a more zero waste lifestyle (yes even in London, and with a newborn!), and some sneaky previews into Kate’s new book…   Beauty Kitchen: - What does ‘zero waste’ mean to you? Kate Arnell: For me, the term zero waste is something to work towards but currently it’s impossible to actually produce ZERO waste. It means, refusing what I do not need, reducing what I do need, reusing and repairing before buying new and only recycling as a last resort. It’s a lifestyle and it’s not about being perfect, but it is about taking steps to get close to “zero”. BK: Was there a specific moment or event that sparked your interest in a zero waste lifestyle, or has it always been ingrained in you? Kate: I think I’m naturally interested in topics such as being kinder to the environment, soil health, choosing organic etc. so when I discovered that I didn’t HAVE to contribute towards our growing waste problem I felt empowered and it really aligned with my values. The specific moment that changed everything was my husband bringing home one of the free newspapers they give out on the tube in London, and he pointed out an article about a family of four in California who produce one jar of trash annually. I just thought “wow, how is that even possible?!” And they didn’t look like a crunchy hippy family either! Almost overnight I decided to start embracing reusable alternatives, refilling where possible and saying “no, thanks” to freebies. BK: How has your sustainable routine changed since giving birth to gorgeous little Arthur and how important is to pass on your planet friendly choices to him? Kate: Well, we certainly create a little more waste than we did, but for the most part it’s been about discovering what reusable and eco-friendly options there are for everything baby-related. Whilst I usually buy second-hand where possible, having limited time with a newborn in the early days meant I prioritised buying sustainable and non-toxic new options instead. I believe in supporting brands who are making a positive change so feel it’s often a good thing to buy new in some cases. I also really struggled with breastfeeding in the first month (I got there in the end, but my goodness it was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced!) so ordered everything from nipple shields to breast pumps. There was definitely some panic-ordering happening in the early weeks. And now, we’re introducing solids and trying baby-led weaning which has meant there’s a lot more food waste these days. But I know it’s all just a phase and I’m fine about it.Arthur has only ever worn one disposable nappy which the hospital put on him straight after the birth and I didn’t have the energy to instruct my husband where I’d packed the reusables and how to put them on! We love using reusable nappies and wipes (I chose a brand called Babee Green which is made from organic cotton and hemp with wool soaker outers). We do about 3 extra washes a week for the nappies which actually isn’t a lot. Kate: His clothing is either second-hand or from sustainable brands such as Frugi, Dilling, Little Green Radicals, Engel, Piccalilly, he has second-hand wooden toys and his non-toxic playmat is entirely plastic-free and made from tree-foam and cork by Little Earth Baby. His mattresses and bedding are made from organic wool and cotton by Naturalmat and I managed to find the nappy changing table, wooden highchair and co-sleeping crib all on eBay!  My hope is that the way we’re living will just be his “normal”. I’m extremely aware that the future generations need to understand and appreciate our natural environment and treat it with respect, so starting that early is super important. I want to lead by example and hopefully he won’t think I’m too weird or embarrassing - although perhaps that’s inevitable! Ha! BK: You recently launched your book “Six Weeks to Zero Waste: A simple plan for life” – We love the title – and appreciate that transitioning into a zero waste lifestyle can be difficult, so this is perfect. Without giving too much away, please tell us a little bit about it! Kate: I have a lot of friends and family members who are really keen to start making changes to work towards zero waste but they either felt overwhelmed by the idea and didn’t know where to start so my brother actually suggested breaking it down into week-by-week tasks/suggestions so that it feel more manageable. And so, Six Weeks To Zero Waste was born! But, as I say very early on in the book, whether it takes six weeks, six months or six years, every swap counts and it’s really about figuring out what realistically works for your own lifestyle and budget. I simply provide various options and you can pick and choose what you like.I also wanted to show how zero waste can work in situ, so the second part of the book gives examples of what to do for events, at work, when travelling, etc. Finally, there’s a recipe section at the back featuring some of my favourite simple food, cleaning products and beauty recipes. I’m actually terrible at DIY-ing my own products so I’ve kept it super simple and am very much in favour of supporting brands who make amazing products and offering refills (like Beauty Kitchen!). BK: Of course, we have to ask you about sustainable beauty! Do you tend to gravitate towards natural and organic products whilst keeping zero waste in mind? You’ve also tried a few things of ours too – do you have any favourites? Kate: Finding zero waste beauty products has actually been the most challenging part of a zero waste lifestyle. I found it fairly easy to find loose or refills for food and cleaning products but personal care and beauty items have certainly been a challenge but I feel that brands are finally starting to realise that there’s huge potential to offer refills or plastic-free and reusable alternatives. Shampoo and conditioner was super tough to find and I found that most shampoo bars really didn’t work very well on my hair so I was thrilled to find that you have included them in your The Sustainables range. I love them!Personally, I like to choose brands that use organic ingredients too, as I like knowing that the production of those ingredients has helped to protect wildlife and work with nature, not against is.Make-up is still a bit of a tricky one, so for the time being I have reduced what I use and looked for multi-purpose products that come in easy to recycle metal or glass containers. I’m hoping that refillable and organic make-up will become more mainstream soon! BK: Do you find it easy to live a zero waste lifestyle living in London? Speaking of London, we don’t suppose you’ve had the chance to check out our refill machine yet in Covent Garden? Kate: Oooh, I didn’t know you had a refill machine in Covent Garden! I must check it out! That’s a little day out for me and Arthur sorted (lucky chap!)I think I’m super lucky to be living in London when it comes to living a zero waste lifestyle. There are SO MANY new zero waste bulk refill stores opening up almost on a weekly basis now which has been really exciting to see and there are so many places to buy loose fruits and vegetables from - London has a great network of farmers’ markets that pop up every weekend. I think whilst a city can be a huge cause of waste thanks to our convenience-led culture and busy schedules, I also feel it’s somewhere that drives change. BK: You’re of course a city gal living in London, but would you say you’re an outdoors person and enjoy being in nature?Kate: Oh man, I love being in the woods! I secretly dream of owning a log cabin in the woods one day so I can escape to it for the summer or hunker down for a few weeks in the winter months. But yes, I’ve always lived in the city. I grew up in Portsmouth and then moved to London fourteen years ago but we’re lucky to have family based in Cornwall, so we often go there for a few weeks several times a year. I would love to do some foraging courses and learn more about our native species. I’m definitely keen to explore more of the UK this year and of course, visit Scotland again! It’s just so beautiful and wild. BK: We’re also big advocates of being mindful of yourself as well as the planet. What are your favourite ways to relax and forget about the hustle and bustles of life? Kate: Oooh, good question! Well, before a baby (when I had more time), I loved getting an organic massage at Neal’s Yard and I tried some meditation sessions at Re:Mind studio too - but honestly, even just enjoying a hot cup of tea, a walk in the park or relaxing by a fire with a book work just as well for me. Right now, a cup of tea (and slice of cake if I’m lucky) are all I seem to have time for but I make them a priority each day.  To celebrate the launch of Kate’s new book, we’ve teamed up to give you the chance of winning it along with a bundle of our bath and body products from The Sustainables range! Follow Kate’s zero waste life by staying stay tuned on her Instagram or blog. If you fancy reading “Six Weeks to Zero Waste: A simple plan for like” for yourself, you can support and visit your local book shop – or purchase online here!

As the first beauty brand in the UK to receive B Corp status, it has always been our mission to choose people over profit – and in this case seahorses over profit! In our last blog we mentioned everything relating to our Seahorse Plankton+ range, and we also let you know a little bit about The Seahorse Trust. We think they deserve more than a mention, so here’s a whole heap of info on them and how we help the Trust to ensure the safety and conservation of seahorses. Why help Seahorses? I doubt we need to convince you much on why these sweet little creatures are so valuable...but here goes: Seahorses have excellent eyesight and their eyes can work independently on either side of their head - this means they can look forwards and backwards at the same time! There are about 54 species of seahorses worldwide, and possibly as many sub-species Seahorses pair for life - they meet first thing in the morning to reinforce their bonding with an elaborate courtship display Females have a territory of about 100sqm metres and males have an overlapping territory of about 0.5sqm – lets hear it for the girls! The seahorse is the only creature where the male has a true reversed pregnancy Baby seahorses are known as fry - less than one in a thousand will survive long enough to become an adult due to predators Seahorses can change colour very quickly and match any surroundings in which it finds itself - they have even been known to turn bright red to match floating debris They rely on their dorsal fins to swim - beating at 30-70 times per second to propel it along!   The Threats they Face We know what you’re thinking – why on earth would anyone bring harm to a seahorse? Well, they are under threat worldwide for three main reasons. Firstly, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade takes in excess of up to 150 million seahorses a year from the wild or through illegal, trading and these are used for all types of medicine. The Curio Trade (those seemingly 'innocent' mementos from seaside visits) takes approximately one million seahorses from the wild. Along with shells and starfish; they are deliberately taken from the sea and left to die in the boiling sun. They are then sold as souvenirs, a sad and sorrowful reminder of once beautiful creatures. The pet trade takes an estimated one million seahorses from the wild and It is thought that less than 1,000 survive more than six weeks.   What does the Seahorse Trust Do? The Seahorse Trust was set up in 1999 to preserve and conserve the natural world, especially the marine environment and of course seahorses. They work in partnership through a Seahorse Alliance with many other organisations and people from all over the world - it is this unique partnership that allows The Seahorse Trust to achieve so much in the conservation of seahorses and their environment for the future! They are also responsible for overseeing and working in partnership with several research and conservation projects around the world too. These include surveying for seahorses, behavioural studies, captive breeding and nutritional work. Most recently, they have worked in partnership with the Professional Diving Schools Association (PDSA) and Nature Trust Malta (NTM) to set up a seahorse research project to understand more about 2 species of seahorses found in the clear Maltese Mediterranean waters. These projects are then shared with researchers and students around the world, to spread awareness. Hear about all the previous and ongoing research projects here!   How Beauty Kitchen Help We donate 2% off all our sales (not just profits) to charities that are close to our hearts - including Plastic Soup Foundation, In Kind Direct and of course The Seahorse Trust. With our bit of help The Seahorse Trust have let us know some incredible things they’ve achieved so far with our Seahorse Plankton+ range. For example, we’ve helped turn some places such as Studland Bay into protected areas for the seahorses! This range is 100% cruelty free and vegan as we grow our own plant-based microalgae in bioreactors so we never have to take any from the sea, or the seahorses themselves (find out more about this range here).   Win a Seahorse Adoption Pack To celebrate the work that The Seahorse Trust do, we are giving you the chance to win a few Beauty Kitchen Seahorse Plankton+ goodies along with your very own seahorse! A gorgeous bright yellow Spiny Seahorse (see below), this cutie was found in Studland Bay in Dorset when she was 1-1 and a half years old. She’s an important one this gal as she’s allowed The Seahorse Trust to learn more about her species, and put forward Studland Bay as a Marine Conservation Zone! Head to our socials to enter, all you have to do is make a name suggestion for her, and we’ll pick the best one!   You can get involved to help protect these beautiful creatures through direct donations, becoming a member, or even adopting a seahorse! We are so proud to support this incredible organisation - to find out more about The Seahorse Trust visit their website here.