At Skintopia skin isn’t the only thing we’re obsessed with.
We also place a huge focus on sustainability, ethical and cruelty free sourcing. This is reflected in our initiatives, our brands, and even our personal lives – as a team we live and breathe these values. Read below to learn more about our mission and what we are doing to promote positive environmental & social change.
Sustainable Salons
Skintopia is a proud Sustainable Salons partner. Sustainable Salons is a revolutionary resource recovery program designed to achieve zero waste, reduce our carbon footprint and implement sustainable work practices that benefit the local community.
Up to 95% of the resources used during your visit will diverted from landfill and sent for recycling thanks to our partnership with Sustainable Salons.
➹ Select disposable hygiene products used during your treatment are pulled apart and the materials are sent for repurposing
➹ For some items, there is no repurposing yet, however your visit supports vital research in the beauty and cosmetics industry to help find sustainable alternatives
➹ All the proceeds gained from recycling the salon’s metals will be donated to not-for-profit community based organisations that do a killer job helping humanity
➹ Plastic product bottles packaging and bags are recycled into outdoor furniture and kept out of our oceans
➹ Any left over chemicals will be recycled into water and used in construction/road works
➹ Empty glass vials, pipettes and treatment bottles are collected and recycled into new products
What does this mean for you?
Each time you visit one of our Sustainable Salons your service bill will include a small Sustainable Salon Fee of just $3 that support the salon to keep it’s commitment to sustainability without compromising the quality service we offer you.
Our Brands
We don’t just choose our brands because of their amazing products, but also for their values & ethos. Read below to hear what just some of the incredible businesses we work with are doing in these fields.
Dermalogica - Recycling Programme
DERMALOGICA CLOSES THE LOOP WITH A CONSUMER RECYCLING PROGRAMME
Understanding the impact of waste and taking time to clean out packaging and recycle it in the correct way can make a monumental difference to how our waste is used for good.
With more than 120 billion units of cosmetics packaging produced globally a year, many of which cannot be recycled in kerbside recycling, Dermalogica New Zealand is continuing their efforts to help reduce the amount of waste entering landfill.
From 1st July, empty Dermalogica products can be given a second life through the first nationwide consumer recycling partnership with social enterprise, Sustainable Salons.
Simply drop off any number of empty Dermalogica products into Skintopia (or any participating Dermalogica Skin Center) or courier a minimum of three to Dermalogica head office in Albany, Auckland, and feel assured that these will be recycled efficiently and effectively.
“We believe our waste is our responsibility, so it’s really important to us to minimise our environmental impact where we can,” says Natasha Bourke, CEO of Two Hundred Doors – the New Zealand distributors of Dermalogica and founders of Skintopia.
“Last year we launched Sustainable Salons in our Professional Skin Centres and at our head office, allowing us to recycle 95% of salon waste that would otherwise be destined for landfill.
“This year, we’re delighted to evolve this programme further, allowing our Dermalogica fans to take part and recycle their used products too.
“Powered by Sustainable Salons, who are highly reputable and transparent in their recycling process, everyone can feel assured about exactly where and what products will be diverted from landfill.”
Sustainable Salons will collect the empties, breakdown and separate into categories, and then recycle or repurpose into something new, like recycled spectacle frames. Not only do they provide employment opportunities for the differently-abled (over half their depot workers have a disability), but all the proceeds from sold recycling go to KiwiHarvest – a charity that feeds the vulnerable in the community.
Not only have Dermalogica started producing refillable products like the Daily Microfoliant refill, but they have also committed to reaching the below by 2025:
• Using 90% less virgin plastic in retail and professional packaging
• Using 95% sustainably sourced ingredients
• 100% of retail and professional packaging designed for recycling, reuse or biodegration.
Aleph - Re-Aleph Circular Initiative
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
From crowded shelves to cluttered makeup bags, the amount of products in the beauty industry is overwhelming – as is the amount of waste. Over a billion units of packaging are produced each year, of which most are destined for landfill.
Aleph challenge this take-make-dispose model by designing out waste in their products, packaging, formulas and business model.
By circling glass packaging back through the product loop, Aleph increase the number of times a single jar can be used and decrease the amount of materials needed to produce new jars.
Multi-functional products are designed to be used in a spectrum of ways, reducing the need for dozens of different products. We’ve simplified the number of products you need, without limiting the possibilities in your makeup routine.
No water, no filler for a highly concentrated, high-performing formula. Water is often used to increase volume which dilutes the product. Aleph products contain no water; they’re densely packed with nourishing ingredients.
Functional design makes the products and packaging easier to use, clean and recycle. Aleph have designed their products and packaging so that you can use the whole thing and leave nothing to waste. Plus, everything is travel-sized making it usable on-the-go.
Sustainable and durable materials that can be reused, recycled or composted. Aleph partner with ethical, sustainable suppliers to source only the most essential packaging components to deliver our products to you safely.
Reusable glass can be refilled, reducing single-use packaging and new materials entering the loop. Aleph have created a circular initiative to do just this! Help us in closing the loop by sending back your empties today.
Aleph partner with Glass Packaging Forum, who manage the accredited GPF Product Stewardship Scheme.
Join our journey in closing the loop and save packaging from becoming single-use. You play a role in creating sustainable change – get started with us.
Abel Odor
we care.
At Abel we believe we are the generation of businesses and consumers who have the power to turn the tables on the global climate crisis. But we need to act now. Below is a list of (just some of the) things we care about and what we are doing.
100% plant derived
Every single ingredient, in every one of our perfumes, started its life as a plant, and is readily biodegradable back into our ecosystem. Our fragrances are made entirely of essential oils, extracts and plant derived scent molecules in a base of organically certified, food grade grain alcohol. That’s it. We believe in full transparency and as such, you can read our full ingredients and origins list for each fragrance here and more on lack of transparency in the fragrance industry here.
We choose natural ingredients for their olfactory beauty and their therapeutic, mood enhancing qualities. Alongside these positive reasons for choosing natural plant derived ingredients are tangible reasons we don’t use synthetic fragrance molecules derived from fossil fuels – a nonrenewable resource that pollutes water and air, as well as having links to several health concerns. You can read more on this choice here.
vegan & cruelty free
We do not do any animals testing, all our products are vegan and cruelty free and we are currently undergoing the certification process.
ethical sourcing
Our major supplier Symrise has a focus on sustainability and ethical sourcing. Some of the community driven projects they manage include minimum wages, health insurance, training and biodiversity projects. These are particularly active in areas where there have traditionally been problems, such as Vanilla sourcing from Madagascar. Where possible we source fair trade and organically certified ingredients (these are denoted as such on the ingredients lists).
1% for the planet
We donate 1% of our total revenue to carefully selected nonprofit organisations through the 1% for the planet network. Our contribution goes towards grassroots nonprofits that are doing meaningful, impactful work that aligns with Abel’s ethos.
For example: 1% of all White Vetiver fragrance sales will go to supporting SOIL Haiti’s important work improving sanitation and using waste as compost in the community from which our vetiver oil is sourced. For NURTURE, a fragrance for new and expecting mothers, we support African based Solar Sisters who provide essential services and training to enable women entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses in their own communities.
Mary's Meals
Mary’s Meals is a charity with a simple aim –to provide a nutritious daily meal, in a place of education, for children in the world’s poorest communities. It’s a cause we believe in 100% and are proud that for every bottle and discovery set sold online, we donate one meal to a child in need with Mary’s Meals.
100% micro plastic free
All our fragrances are proudly certified Micro Plastic free with Plastic Soup foundation.
FSC compostable packaging
If you don’t want to use your beautiful Abel boxes for another purpose, you can place the entire box in paper recycling, or home compost. FSC certified paper comes from regenerative forests sympathetic to indigenous sacred sites where the forest owner is required to employ local workers, provide training, safety equipment and a proper salary.
plant dyes & inks
Chemical dyes pollute waters (and thus our food chains) and pose health threats to the people who work around them. It’s estimated that a staggering 70% of rivers in China are contaminated by wastewater – from the textile industry alone. We use only Vegetable Dyes and Soy Ink in our packaging. These natural alternatives are less toxic throughout the supply chain, from the factories and people working in them to the recycling or composting of your used packaging at home where plant derived natural inks and dyes are readily biodegradable.
bakelite, not plastic
Our perfume caps for the Vita Odor collection are made of a bakelite thermoset resin which is not derived from petroleum. Instead it is created from a combination of natural gas and plant-based cellulose (32%) derived from wood grown in sustainable managed FSC forests.
low carbon shipping
60% of our European online orders are shipped Carbon Neutral and we are working towards 100% Carbon Neutral shipping worldwide by 2022. Alongside this we favour the much less carbon intensive sea freight over airfreight as much as possible for all components and stages of the production and fulfilment process.
trying & (sometimes) failing
In 2019 we introduced a biodegradable cellophane to our line in our effort to eliminate plastic from our packaging. Much to our regret, the quality of the cellophane didn’t hold up and we had to remove it from circulation. You can read more about this journey here. Long may we continue to try and fail in order to take steps forward.
Smile Makers
Promoting positive social change and shifting mindsets is just as important to us as looking after our animals and our environment. One of our core values is openness and we believe in keeping an open mind in all things we approach!
When we added Smile Makers to our collection we were incredibly proud to be starting up a whole new conversation with our clients, friends and families, & bringing female sexual wellness out into the open.
Smile Makers are on a mission to normalise the perception of female sexuality by creating a global movement - empowering women, creating high quality products designed FOR women & delivering sexual wellness education all over the world.
Read more about Smile Makers here!
How can you get involved?
When you visit us at Skintopia for a treatment or shop with us online you are already supporting small businesses who are working to make a difference in todays world. You can now return your empty Dermalogica & Aleph products to us and we will recycle them on your behalf, so you can feel good about doing good! xx
