the beauty industry – a challenge of transparency and biodiversity

The question is: how can those in the cosmetics world become part of the upcoming circular economy? The answer lies within biodiversity and its protection. Beauty products derive from natural ingredients that have been extracted from plants. Companies are dealing directly with raw materials, components of earth.

Andrea d’Avack, President of Fondation Chanel & Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at Chanel claims that preserving not only hotspots of biodiversity but as well as craftsmanship, through the Métiers d’Art, is the corporation’s ode to the future. These. The corporation’s chosen attitude towards farming natural raw materials is described as and . According to d’Avack, in all of Chanel’s endeavors, whether it be from acquiring textile fibers, metals or the ingredients for their cosmetic products: knowledge is the key to the future. . This partnership with local suppliers is where Chanel has ensured innovation in their plant-sourcing approach for cosmetic products. The act of preserving biodiversity is a statement in itself by Chanel that . Nicola Fuzzati – Ingredients Innovation and Development Director for Chanel Research affirms this statement even further, . Fuzzati – a key member of the Chanel corporation to speak to regarding biodiversity – is a plant scientist and researcher, adding his scientific expertise and perspective to the corporation. He affirms that through working with local partners, the respect of the specific local characteristics — of not only the specific environment, but also the culture — is able to be best preserved. In such a way, it transforms into an implementation of an agro-ecology approach. . The Maison’s precise methods of flora cultivation and mastery of plant extraction is embedded in continuous learning. The creation of both active and functional ingredients comes from studying the different elements of each plant chosen before cultivating. An example of this can be seen through the creation of their first active ingredient in 2005: using ripe vanilla pods and from then on, it was clear to the team that every component of the vanilla plant was valuable. Chanel continues to extract the plant from top to bottom, even using the vanilla seeds as an exfoliating agent for the scrub. No element of a single plant is to be overlooked.