Sustainability continues to evolve in the beauty and wellness industry by taking a lead with ‘natural oils’ that offer the MOST value with the least impact on our environment.
Jill Rowe, co-founderCultivate Apothecary at Stonegate Farm, an efficacious skincare & wellness line where she and her partner, Matthew Benson, literally cultivate the soil, seeds, flowers and fruit from their farm that is used to formulate and create their products. In fact, they grow about 80% of all ingredients used across all their products. She is a great ‘voice’ to share how business’ today set out to choose the most sustainable “oils” when creating a brand.
She says, “The major impetus for even creating our skincare & wellness brand was because of our farm’s decades long experience & practices around small-scale sustainable farming. When it comes to their products, sustainability does not only refer to the way ingredients are sourced or how the product is produced, but also to the materials used during its pre and post production phrase. This sustainable “inside and out” holistic approach is an essential part of Cultivate Apothecary’s philosophy.
About natural oils
Sustainability is a key tenet throughout. Jill comments:
When approaching the creation of our oils, we deeply researched which botanicals were the most efficacious for your inner and outer wellness and work mostly with those, so that we can have control over every aspect of the product from seed to serum. Our next circle was our carrier oils and essential oils. What can we purchase that is natively grown within the US? We try to stay as low carbon footprint as we can, and step outside the US for very, very few ingredients.
Developing a line with the most sustainable oils in mind is incredibly important to Jill. Their customer is at the heart of their business, and trust and expect them to produce products that treat the Earth with kindness.
Environmentally friendly products that treat the Earth with kindness.
When choosing oils, it comes down to researching what are the most efficacious botanicals. For Jill’s line, she found that there were a handful that were Rock Star performers and chose those to grow. “We grow a fruit called Aronia Melanocarpa (common name: Chokeberry), it is the highest antioxidant fruit in the world. This fruit is a main component in each of our three botanical masks, as well as our first ingestible tincture, Be Well.” Other well-known fruits and plants grown and used in the line is Quince, which soothes irritated skin conditions and is high in Vitamin C,plus many more like Comfrey, Yarrow, Lady’s Mantle, and Echinacea.
Another important aspect is a ‘less than more’ approach to ingredients. “I didn’t want to be a brand that put 45 ingredients in a 30 ml. bottle. I wanted to put less than 12, in a 50 ml. bottle. The results speak for themselves.” These proprietary formulas, selected from the most sustainable oils, puts them on a whole new level, where no one can even compete. The productsin the line are truly ‘one of a kind’.
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