There’s never been a better time to stop and think about how we can do better and be better as a people, as a society, and as collective members of this beautiful planet we inhabit together. Why? Because the need for social and environmental sustainability has never been more urgent, including members in the beauty community.
In school, we all learned about Charles Darwin and the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory of evolution. Many entrepreneurs and companies ascribe to that basis of corporate natural selection, doing everything they can to prove their ‘fitness,’ striving to beat the competition and grow their bottom lines even at the expense of other people and the environment. In the beauty industry, we’ve seen this play out. Be first to market! More-better-faster! Get them hooked! With every passing day, the glut of products and seductive measures to get consumers to buy more than they need has fueled our economy to the point of unwellness and planetary demise. Fortunately, we are all waking up to the impact of these practices on social and economic unsustainability, and things are starting to change. The era of the supermodel is ancient history. Body positivity reigns. Black lives matter. Mindfulness is becoming good business. All these are very important, courageous changes that are moving us as a society in the right direction.
Not many people know that even Darwin himself discredited the ‘survival of the fittest’ notion, arguing more favorably for cooperation over competitiveness as the real means to long term survival. Traits like altruism, empathy, and kindness have been empirically proven as fundamental for catalyzing sustainability and flourishment. Compassion and collaboration have been proven critical to overcome the selfish mindset that has long created inequality, injustice, and intolerance toward other humans and destructiveness toward our ecosystems.
For that reason, I decided to found The Human Beauty Movement (The HBM). Recently certified as a B Corporation, The HBM is a mission-driven public benefit company whose purpose is to foster radical inclusion, compassion and wellness in the beauty industry and beyond.
- Rather than leading people to believe they need a product to be more beautiful, The HBM reminds all humans that they are already beautiful and whole, just as they are.
- Rather than serving shareholders and putting the bottom line first, The HBM puts people and the planet first.
- Rather than feeding obsessions, addictions and ruthlessness, the HBM inspires self-love, human kindness, mind-body-soul integrative wellness and trust.
The HBM’s first brand is called Humanist Beauty. With an ‘all skins welcome’ approach to inclusivity, Humanist Beauty honors all humans regardless of race, age, gender, belief or ability. The intention behind this brand is to spread more goodness – from the love we have for humanity, to the wisdom infused into our formulations, to the mindfulness of our packaging choices, to the integrity of our supply chain, to the respect we have for our earth. Central and unique to Humanist Beauty is the extent of its accessibility and quality of design. All touchpoints are crafted to channel positive energy, balance and self-love.
The first product introduced under Humanist Beauty is the Herban Wisdom™ Facial Oil, replete with full-spectrum whole hemp CBD, adaptogenic herb sacha inchi, bio-identical jojoba and squalane, plus a multitude of nutrient-dense plant antioxidants, probiotics and moisturizing extracts. Inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and ancient anointing rituals, Herban Wisdom supports stress-alleviating self-care rituals and holistic wellness practices. Not only is the Facial Oil hand-crafted with 100% natural, organic, wild-harvested, and fair trade botanicals, it is 100% vegan, certified Leaping Bunny cruelty-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, preservative-free and packaged to minimize reliance on plastic.
Learn more about Humanist Beauty by visiting HumanistBeauty.com.
