SUSTAINABILITY
We wanted to include sustainable elements in our offer; a belief which meant not taking the easy, established route but rather developing products with true integrity.
In order to bring this vision to life, we chose carefully selected vegan ingredients free from silicones, sulphates, parabens, artificial colourants and mineral oils. Up to 95% of our ingredients come from a natural origin*, including coconut and jojoba oils, shea butter, sustainably sourced violet rice extract and biodegradable starch. For smooth hair, silicones have been replaced by plant-based ingredients – for example, by alkanes from rocket and coconut and sustainable guar. Owing to the special formula composition, some products do not even contain any specific replacement for silicones, with no compromise on performance.
*Based on ISO 16128
We are also proud to share that our research and development laboratories in Hamburg, Germany – where all our products are developed – have been awarded the My Green Lab certification. This recognition highlights our commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our lab spaces through sustainable practices.
We have also used sustainable guar with good biodegradability; a perfect example of our interest in selecting ingredients with a transparent value chain. Guar is best known as a caring ingredient, which improves the feel of the hair. Our choice of sustainable guar means we are able to achieve high performance, while also being mindful of our social responsibility.
Find out more about the Sustainable Guar Initiative here.
Together, our formula compositions with plant-based ingredients deliver no-compromise results. Our formulas do not contain microbeads or animal-derived ingredients and we do not test on animals. We are also very happy that all of our current vegan products are registered with the Vegan Society™!
Find out more about the Vegan Society™
Our ingredients merge the best of nature and science, using pure and simple formulas that are as natural as possible, without compromising on performance and application appeal. There are some ingredients that cannot be taken from nature or cannot be taken from nature unchanged.
Within Authentic Beauty Concept, our signature ingredients have been purified by ultrasound extraction and steam distillation, for pure, performing formulas. This is a very mild method of extracting natural ingredients: the plant ingredients are surrounded with ultrasound waves to open the plant cells and to gain the concentrated ingredient content. This gentle method thereby preserves their benefits. The concentrates are then distilled using steam without adding harsh chemicals to extract the true essence of the ingredients.
For our cosmetic products we have not carried out any tests on animals since the late 1980s, around 15 years before a respective EU ban came into effect in 2004. What is more, since March 2013, the cosmetics regulation prohibits the testing of cosmetics and cosmetic ingredients on animals in the EU.
Naturally, we respect, support, and comply with this statutory obligation for our Authentic Beauty Concept products.
In the past, our Authentic Beauty Concept products were certified by PETA, and we communicated this on our website. We have now decided to discontinue the use and communication of the PETA logo for the time being. This decision is based on the upcoming EU directive “Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition,” which will introduce stricter requirements for sustainability labels and logos. Until there is clarity on which logos will be permitted, we will therefore refrain from using the PETA logo. Please rest assured that our commitment to not test cosmetic products on animals, as required by the EU Cosmetic Regulation, remains unchanged. We are closely monitoring regulatory developments and will revisit our approach once the legal framework becomes clearer.
With or without logo, the following is clear: For our Authentic Beauty Concept products we even go beyond the legal EU requirements and commit ourselves – as in the past – not to do animal tests on our finished products even in countries where animal testing is still allowed. Furthermore, we do not bring any Authentic Beauty Concept products onto the market in countries where animal testing is still required by law. We therefore remain committed not to test our Authentic Beauty Concept products on animals anywhere in the world.
At the same time, we are also maintaining our commitment to the development of alternative test methods for the safety assessments of our products. For almost 40 years, we have been committed to the development and recognition of alternative methods in many different ways. We engage our own research expertise to develop alternative testing methods, for example within the context of Phenion, or in relevant research collaboration initiatives at national or international association level, such as Cosmetics Europe.
Read more on our commitment as a company and our dedication to develop alternative testing methods: No animal testing for our hair products.