Studies show that Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z consumers are all willing to pay more for products that are ethically made and better for the environment. While in theory, that study might be accurate, what I think is actually true, is that consumers will pay more for products that are marketed to be ethically made and better for the environment. It’s hard to determine if a company is doing the hard work, which by the way – does cost more in the real world. True carbon offsets, fair wages, health insurance, sustainably sourced ingredients – all of it – does cost more. But believe me, I talk to brands all day, every day, and things aren’t always what they seem on a website. It’s a part of why I started Beauty Heroes to begin with. Persuading consumers to pay more for a product because it’s better for the environment – when in fact it isn’t – has a name; it’s called blue-washing, or more commonly – green washing. It’s a strategy to convince us to pay more money for products that align with our values.
If you are the type of person who wants to support companies working to constructively re-shape the beauty, personal care and wellness space, then you are probably the type of consumer that does their homework before making a purchase. And that homework takes time. Two months ago, we announced the launch of a new platform that integrates with our website, Provenance, and it easily offers transparency and visibility into a brands values and efforts. Brands work with Provenance verify any claims they make about their business, which are stored as ‘proof points’ on a blockchain, accessible and traceable by those who are interested. These proof points can be pertinent to the entire company, or they can be pertinent to a specific product they make.
For example, a proof point like a company being a Certified B Corp would be a company specific proof point – look at the top of the brand page for Innersense Organic Beauty to find this proof point. Click on it to read what being B Corp Certified means and how long that proof point is valid, along with other informative details.
An example of product specific proof points can be found on the page for our Hero product Pai Lightwork Rosehip Cleansing Oil. On this page, you will see three proof points for this product: Cosmos-Organic, Leaping Bunny Cruelty-Free and Vegan. Click on any of these proof points to go deeper into what each of them mean and how they were verified.
We don’t think shopping for products that are good for you and better for the planet should be hard, or stressful. We already do a lot of the work for you at Beauty Heroes, vetting brands to meet our ingredient standard. At the same time, we also talk to them about what is important to them and how they are using their companies to create a better industry. We work with amazing brands, and we love telling their blue beauty stories. Provenance brings their values to life right on their brand and product pages, so they are easy to find, automatically updated and visible as you shop.
Incidentally, one of the things I like about Provenance is that it is very affordable for brands. The last thing I would want to see is brands that could not participate because it is cost prohibitive to do so. Or redirect funds going to important environmental or social impact causes to a platform that just ‘shows it off’. We wanted to make sure any brand, big or small could afford to work with Provenance.
This month, we are excited to share that the next round of brands that have or will soon be launching with their Provenance Proof Points:
As you shop at Beauty Heroes (and other retailers and brand websites), we encourage you to interact with the Provenance integration and understand what initiatives your dollars ultimately support, for real.
