Care for the earth as you take care of yourself
SELF-CARE isn’t selfish, and especially not when one uses products that not only benefit the self but the planet.
Beauty Bar recently turned the spotlight on skincare products by Burt’s Bees. Founded in 1984, Burt’s Bees espouses beauty by community with nature. “They were sort of hippies during their time. They were very close to Mother Nature. They would keep talking about beekeeping, community involvement, recycling, repurposing, giving back — very early on,” said Reena Rosario, Merchandise Group Manager of Stores Specialists, Inc. about Burt’s Bees founders Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby during a press conference last week.
Both founders were urban exiles: Mr. Shavitz had been a Manhattan photographer, while Ms. Quimby had been raised in the East Coast before moving to study in San Francisco. Mr. Shavitz left the city to move to rural Maine, where he kept bees. After meeting Ms. Quimby (after her own move to Maine), they began a relationship, and sold candles, then cosmetics, made out of the beeswax from Mr. Shavitz’ beehives (which were simply labeled “Burt’s Bees” then). The two had separated by the 1990s, and Mr. Shavitz was bought out by Ms. Quimby. The company eventually came to be owned by Clorox in 2007. Still, a lasting memory of its founder can still be found: it is Mr. Shavitz’s face that graces some of their labels up to this day. Mr. Shavitz died in 2015.
“Even before the buzzword ‘conscious beauty’ came about, conscious beauty is something that’s been embedded in the values of our own brand,” said Daye de los Reyes, Brand Manager of Burt’s Bees for Southeast Asia. According to her, the brand is hinged on four things: ingredients from nature (the lip balms are still made of beeswax), responsible sourcing, recyclable packaging, and no animal testing. Most of its lip balms and lip shimmers are cellophane-free. Overall, it uses 52% post-consumer recycled plastics in its packaging as part of its sustainability efforts.
These lip balms, in different flavors and tints, are especially favored by Dr. Jenny Diaz, dermatologist and founder of Skin 101, who was a guest on the press conference, joining via Zoom. She also favors their toners and cleansers. “They can be used on any skin type,” she said.
Other products highlighted during the launch, aside from the lip balms, include the Overnight Intensive Lip Treatment with 100% natural emollients, waxes, and oils that work into the lips as one sleeps. It restores and repairs lips with a ceramide-rich formula that supports the skin’s barrier.
Ms. Diaz also made a case for the importance of skincare during a stressful pandemic: “The skin can actually act as a check-engine light for our internal health.” According to her, diseases like diabetes can express itself as skin dryness, while some rashes can be linked to liver or kidney disease. “When skin looks good, we also tend to feel better about ourselves,” she said. “Self-care, in many multicenter studies, have been shown to have a direct correlation between skincare routines.
“Pampering the skin regularly triggers a cascade of mood-boosting chemicals in our brain,” she said. — J.L. Garcia
