Dear Eco-Warrior.
I see you. I am you.
My eco-warrior journey started when I decided enough was enough.
I was living in Australia during the worst bushfire season the country had ever seen. Though I lived in the city away from the fires, the effects were impossible to ignore. A dark hazy cloud enveloped the city everyday to the point where the sun looked like a far away orange dot in the sky and it was hard to breathe when you went outside. So many homes & wildlife were destroyed during that time and I’ll never forget the images of the devastation. Images of homes burned to the ground, people huddled together on beaches & boats to escape the blaze, and threatened species losing more of their dwindling habitats. Seeing all of this up close and personal was the final straw and I knew I had to stop pretending it was someone else's problem and make it my own. So, I started volunteering as an environmental activist and began pursuing a low-waste lifestyle.
As I’m sure you know, going zero waste in a society that is deeply entrenched with convenient single-use products is tough. But I was excited to do my part and start making low-waste swaps. Being a skincare lover, that’s naturally the area I looked to first for a great low-waste swap. What I found was extremely disappointing. Most of the brands I found were doing nothing but greenwashing in terms of their sustainability practices. Hawking “recyclable” single-use containers and using ingredients that destroy natural ecosystems just isn’t eco-friendly no matter how green your brand image is. The other brands I found that were doing refills & had good sustainability practices made shitty products. As an avid skincare junkie, I just don’t want to wipe a bar of soap on my face for lotion or use something that smells like a hippie’s garden. I love skincare and I want my products to be clean, effective, luxurious, pretty to look at and....not harming the planet. Is that too much to ask? For the beauty industry, apparently it is.
So, at that point I felt I had two choices: to give up and continue using the skincare brands I loved or try to start making my own. I went with the latter and signed up for a skincare making course. At the beginning I only really intended on making products for myself but after a while I realized if I was having this eco-issue with my favorite skincare brands, others must be having the same problem. So, in 2019 I began working on Glotanicals and launched the first product at the end of 2020.
My goal with Glotanicals is two-fold: to provide skincare lovers with awesome products they love to use but that don’t harm the planet & to inspire our community to take action for the planet. You don’t have to be perfectly zero-waste, you don’t have to be a scientist or an expert, you just have to care. I truly believe all of us can do our part & raise our voices to make the change our planet so desperately needs and I hope that by making a simple swap with your skincare routine, you’ll be revitalized and inspired to do more.
Wishing you beauty & love,
Kat
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