Fair Trade Beauty From Bangladesh & India
October is National Fair Trade Month, and it’s the perfect time to raise awareness about this movement in our global economy, spread the word about who and where our beauty products come from, and also encourage consumers to buy from businesses that are committed to fair trade.
Fair trade encompasses 10 main principles of doing businesses and all of them are trending in the beauty industry including sustainability, gender equity, and transparency with supply chains and ingredient formulations.
Ethically sourced and fair trade certified beauty products from around the globe deserve their time in the spotlight, and this week we are featuring Fair Trade Beauty brands from India.
700 Rivers - Bangladesh
700 Rivers soaps are hand-crafted by Bangladeshi artisans that have escaped human trafficking and are now steadily employed with dignified work.
By creating all-natural, eco-friendly products that employ women across the world who are guaranteed fair, living wages for their work, a safe work environment, and are treated with dignity and respect, 700 Rivers is using the beauty industry as a vehicle for social change.
700 Rivers partners with Sacred Mark Enterprise through Prokritee, an enterprise in Bangladesh that provides alternative employment to former sex workers because the best way to fight trafficking and poverty is through meaningful jobs and employment.
700 Rivers also helps these women to access mental health counseling. Says Cathy Gomes, founder of 700 Rivers, “We employ our artisans with fair, living wages, a safe work environment, and dignified work - many of which are experiencing all this for the first time in their lives.”
700 Rivers’ hand-crafted soap also celebrates the rich and diverse ingredients local to South Asia that tell the beautiful story of Bangladesh such as clove, cinnamon, orange, turmeric, lemon and lavender.
Aroha Oils - Himalayas
Aroha Oils is clean, pure and potent skincare sourced directly from partnering farms in Uttarakhand & Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas. They believe in a farm to bottle philosophy and a transparent supply chain. Seventy percent of their ingredients are farmed and processed by the brave women in northern India. They strongly believe in fair trade practices and pay 25-35% higher prices for their work as they want to see a palpable change in the life of these women and their children.
By working with small tribal groups in the remote villages, Aroha Oils gives a fair share of trade towards these communities’ unflinching efforts day in and day out. Fair trade is imbibed in the brand. Also, ten percent of their profits go toward educating girls and uplifting the tribal women in Uttarakhand. From empowering local women through employment, to donating profits to child education to planting thousands of trees every year, Aroha Oils strives to give back to society in every way possible.
