Happy Earth Day, folks! Here at Function of Beauty, we consider Earth Day to be every day, because as a brand, we’re constantly looking for ways to cut down our carbon footprint and be kinder to the planet. It’s not simple nor easy, and we’re not pretending to be perfect (we’re all a work in progress here), but we can promise that we’re 100 percent committed to growing and improving when it comes to our sustainability efforts. sustainability has always been a core part of our business and our founding story — in fact, our co-founder and CEO, Zahir Dossa, actually got his PhD in sustainable development at MIT. It’s been a part of our brand mission from the very beginning.
Here, find a brief breakdown of our sustainability efforts thus far — including what makes our customization model inherently more sustainable than traditional frameworks.
What makes custom more sustainable?
First, we’ll hit you with a not-so-fun-fact: According to research by Vaseline, women waste over $200,000 worth of beauty products in their lifetime, only using a mere 10 percent of the products they buy. This means the rest (i.e. billions of products) end up in landfills, which is obviously not ideal for the environment. By offering customized formulas that are backed by data and catered specifically to your unique needs, we remove the guesswork of trying to find products that work, which in turn reduces the number of products you buy. Our formulas are also designed to address multiple different issues, allowing you to do more with less. Moreover, we allow you to select your size and subscription cadence so you’re using up every bottle to the last drop and avoiding product pile up.
What makes our packaging sustainable?
As part of our brand mission to become more eco-conscious, we transitioned our boxes last year to recyclable kraft packaging made with 30% post-consumer recycled materials and ensured our bottles and jars are all 100% recyclable. Moreover, our packaging supplier is SFI-certified (SFI = Sustainable Forestry Initiative) to guarantee sustainable forestry practices. Because happier forests means a happier planet.
Furthermore, because we give customers the option to opt-out and reuse pumps from their first order, we’ve managed to save over a whopping 250,000 pumps to date, as well as 11,000 sq feet of plastic wrap daily with our removal of all shrink wrap from our factory processes.
What makes our ingredients not only safe and effective, but sustainable?
For starters: Natural doesn’t always mean better, that’s why we use a blend of both natural and lab-made synthetic ingredients. A prime example? One bottle of Chanel No. 5 uses twelve Pégomas roses, according to reporting by The New Yorker. And that’s just one bottle.
It’s also worth noting that we’re members of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), which means we’re committed to using sustainable palm oil and improving the palm oil supply chain as a whole. This membership comes with a commitment to always continue improving from an ingredient sustainability stance, which is what we’re all about. Oh, and did we mention we’re 100% vegan, too? And PETA Certified to boot.
With that said, we’re constantly evaluating and screening our ingredients to ensure you get only the best of the best — not only from an efficacy standpoint, but from an eco-friendly standpoint as well. Because we understand that sustainability is just as important to you as it is to us.
The bottom line?
We’re aware there’s no perfect sustainable solution, but just like our business, it’s about continuous optimization and improvement — the willingness and drive to learn, grow, and get better year after year.
