In episode 272, Kestrel welcomes Angela Weinberg, the cofounder of Kolorete, to the show. A luxury color cosmetics brand, KOLORETE is focused on creating hydrating lipsticks made with organic ingredients.
“Lip balms and lip products are traditionally very underregulated. So, when we think of this organic, consumerism ecosystem and conversation, what do we usually think about? I think we usually think about food … it’s less common, less mainstream to think about how the lipstick that we apply to our lips or even the makeup we apply to our face — you know, our skin is an organ, and especially with lipstick, it’s connected to our mouth so we can really consume lipstick the same way we would consume our food.”
This week, we’re talking lipstick … that oh-so-fun tint so many of us don our lips with.
Taking a step back — you could say lipstick is popular. According to Allied Market Research, the lipstick market size was valued at $8.2 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach $12.5 billion by 2026.
But just like fashion – the beauty industry is largely unregulated, making it another prime space notorious for greenwashing its way into the “sustainability scene”.
This week’s guest is working to build a more thoughtful lipstick brand – it’s made of 98% organic ingredients, and she actually dreamed up the recipe in her own kitchen. But most lipsticks today aren’t that clean.
In a 2013 study done at UC Berkeley, 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores were tested. Through this research, they detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals, some of them being at levels that could raise potential health concerns.
Alarming? For sure. As this week’s guest points out, synthetic ingredients dominate conventional beauty product recipes. Can you guess one of the recurring synthetic ingredients in lip colors? Yup, it’s petroleum, AKA oil, again — petroleum fashion and petroleum beauty.
What can we watch for when we seek out beauty products? What can we do to advocate better options in the marketplace? What regulation is missing from the equation in the U.S. today? These are just a few of the questions we explore with Angela.
Quotes & links from the conversation:
"One of the things I wanted to bring to KOLORETE is that idea that quality matters — the quality of the ingredients, the quality of the manufacturing, the materials, the people, the messaging — and quality should be available at any price point and it should be very accessible.” -Angela
*Kestrel misspoke on the documentary she recently started watching — it was actually called Toxic Beauty
Kolorete’s Website >
Follow Kolorete on Instagram >
This week's episode is brought to you by Organic Basics is a carbon-neutral, Copenhagen-based brand creating underwear, activewear and everyday essentials. If you’re interested in checking them out, you can use code CONSCIOUS10 to get 10% off. FYI – I don't receive any commissions.
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S03 Episode 120 | THR3EFOLD, SOURCING ETHICAL FACTORIES + LOOKING BEYOND TRANSPARENCY
S03 Episode 119 | STATE OF FASHION + SEARCHING FOR THE NEW LUXURY
S03 Episode 118 | FIBERSHED + REGENERATIVE TEXTILE SYSTEMS
S03 Episode 117 | INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS + THE IDENTITY OF PRODUCTS
S03 Episode 116 | MARA HOFFMAN ROUND 2, AN UPDATE ON SUSTAINABILITY, GROWTH + EVOLUTION
S03 Episode 115 | OLORI + THE DIVINE RIGHT OF QUEENS
S03 Episode 114 | MODERN MACRAME
S03 Episode 113 | RESONANCE + CONNECTING ART WITH COMMERCE
S03 Episode 112 | NEO•THREAD, ONE-OF-A-KIND GEMS + COOL GIRLS CARE
S03 Episode 111 | ADITI MAYER, ADIMAY + REVOLUTION WASHING
S03 Episode 110 | BUY GOOD FEEL GOOD + ELEVATING ACCESS FOR SHOPPERS AND BRANDS
S03 Episode 109 | FINERY + MAKING USE OF THE WARDROBE YOU ALREADY HAVE
S03 Episode 108 | G-STAR RAW + THE MOST SUSTAINABLE JEANS EVER
S03 Episode 107 | SHOP GOOD + INTENTIONS FOR WELLNESS
S03 Episode 106 | CRAFTIVISTS + THE ART OF GENTLE PROTEST
S03 Episode 105 | THE CORDES FOUNDATION + SUPPLY CHAIN STORIES
S02 Episode 104 | WOOLN + GRANDMAS IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN
S02 Episode 103 | WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY + THE SOCIAL IMPACT ECONOMY
S02 Episode 102 | MELANIN & SUSTAINABLE STYLE + ETHICAL FASHION AS A PRIVILEGED WHITE GIRL THING
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