Organic Monitor recently announced the winners of its 2014 Sustainable Beauty Awards. The awards give recognition to organisations “pushing the boundaries of sustainability in the beauty industry”.

 Sustainability Pioneer

Cruelty Free International is the winner for its global campaign to end animal-testing methods for cosmetic and personal care products. The organisation was instrumental in pushing for the EU ban, and is now campaigning for legislative change in China, Brazil, the US, and other countries.

Cruelty Free International

Neal’s Yard Remedies is runner-up for its sustainable sourcing projects and carbon neutral retailing. All its concept stores are certified carbon neutral.

Finalists for this award category were Asia Plantation Capital and Surya Brasil.

 Sustainability Leadership

Aveda is winner of the sustainability leadership award. Since its formation in 1978, the American firm has pioneered many sustainability projects, involving raw materials, production, packaging, renewable energy, waste management an
d CSR.

Runner-up is Whole Foods Market. Apart from its various green initiatives, the natural & organic food retailer receives recognition for its body care standards, which have encouraged many brands to ‘clean up’ their formulations.

Other finalists were Jurlique International and Yves Rocher.

About 140 international executives attended the Sustainable Beauty Awards reception at the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées on 24th November. From about 100 entries, winners and runner-ups were selected per award category.

 Sustainable Packaging

The French company Laboratoires Nuxe is the winner. It has used eco-design approach to reduce the weight of its Nuxe face care jars by 75%, giving significant reductions in energy use, resources, as well as lowering its environmental footprint.

Surya Brasil is runner-up for using green plastics in its Sapien Women range.

Finalists in this award category were Organic Essence and Pangea Organics.

 Sustainable Ingredient

AAK is the winner with Lipex SheaLight, which replaces silicones or synthetic esters in personal care formulations. Since it is produced from shea oil, the functional material has both environmental and social impacts.

Mibelle Biochemistry is runner-up with PhytoCellTec nunatak. The anti-ageing active is sourced from an ‘ice age plant’ by sustainable processing methods.

Finalists were Induchem with Biogomm’age, and Berkem with saponins extracted from Opilia celtidifolia leaves.

 Green Formulations

Two Australian cosmetic brands topped this award category. Abaché Organics (Greenlab Organics) is in first place with its range of professional organic hair care products. Zk’in by Pure & Green Organics is runner-up.

Finalists were Erbaviva and Less is More (LIM Cosmetics).

 Sustainability Lifetime Achievement

The late Horst Rechelbacher, founder of Aveda and Intelligent Nutrients, received the first Sustainability Lifetime Achievement Award. Receiving the award at the reception, Kieran Stordalen, his wife and business partner commented: “this is a great tribute to Horst’s passion to make positive change”. Widely recognised as a sustainability visionary, Horst Rechelbacher passed away in February this year.