Skincare brand Emma Lewisham launched in 2019, making big waves in the global beauty industry. In two years it amassed an international celebrity following including actors Phoebe Tonkin and Margot Robbie and model Kate Fowler. Now the Auckland entrepreneur has announced its range of beauty products, in distinctive purple and pink bottles, is now “the world’s first carbon positive and 100 per cent circular designed beauty brand”, following 18 months of work to align with the United Nations 2015 Paris Agreement.
“While looking at the beauty industry critically I had a eureka moment where I could see how broken the current model was,” says Lewisham. “Brands took from the Earth, made something, then consumers threw it away – take, make, waste. So since our inception I have been determined to create a circular model of beauty, where we reuse what already exists, with an audacious goal to transform the beauty industry and bring about systemic change.”
Partnering with independent environmental certification agency Toitu Envirocare, Lewisham measured the carbon emissions emitted throughout its supply chain to put reduction plans in place and have the brand verified as carbon positive at all stages of production – from harvesting raw ingredients to transportation and packaging.
“The natural world can only absorb so much carbon, and at present, we are producing significantly more carbon than Mother Nature can absorb,” Lewisham tells Broadsheet. “Reducing carbon emissions is the only way that the beauty industry can hope to meet global climate targets.”
The brand has also invested in a 100 per cent circular product range, meaning every Emma Lewisham product can be refilled, reused and recycled. Its Supernatural Vitamin A Face Oil, for example, is available in its original 30-millilitre bottle, but also in a refill pouch, which Emma Lewisham claims reduces 61 per cent carbon impact instead of purchasing another new bottle. It may not be the first to do this, but it’s a big impact in an industry that currently produces 120 billion units of waste each year.
“Circularity is the pinnacle of sustainability,” says Lewisham. “It’s about eliminating waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use and regenerating our natural systems.”
In a bid to spark widespread change, Lewisham is releasing the blueprint for its circular-designed product packaging and carbon positive model to enable other beauty businesses to follow suit.
“By sharing our beauty blueprint we hope that other brands can capitalise on our innovation and investment to accelerate their transition to a circular and carbon positive model,” she says. “The problems we face are so much greater than the success of one business or brand, and if we are going to solve them, collaboration is key. With climate scientists estimating that we have less than 10 years left to prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis, we no longer have the luxury of time. I have a young daughter, and on a personal level I just cannot imagine not doing everything in my power to ensure that I am creating a better future for her.”
