Ethically Sourced Ingredients

Our carefully selected pure plant oils are chosen for their exceptional and proven ability to hydrate, nourish, repair, and protect the skin. As a business committed to sustainability and protecting our planet, it is vitally important to us that we use ingredients that have been sourced in a fair and ethical way. This means that every ingredient is researched to ensure that both the plant that produces it and the people who grow, harvest, and sell it are respected and able to thrive. The following describes what we are doing to ensure this:

1. We Support Fair Trade Initiatives

Fair trade advocates for better working conditions and improved terms of trade to empower farmers and workers in developing countries. By ensuring fair prices, fair wages, and humane working conditions people are empowered and the whole community benefits. This results in better education, health care and environmental sustainability.

We purchase ingredients for our skincare products from suppliers who support fair trade initiatives. The Ghanaian Shea butter we use in our Ultra-Rich Natural Night Cream is purchased from a collective whose mission is to help eradicate poverty through the empowerment of the rural women of Ghana. As the manufacturing process is traditional, requiring only basic equipment, the collective has been able to improve the lives of over 1000 women in rural Ghana.

The organic Argan oil we use in our Nourishing Natural Day Cream is sourced from a M oroccan company Marocavie, who support Charitable Organisations within the communities they work with and contribute to sustainable development of their country.

We use locally sourced finely ground Fairtrade coffee in our Espresso Facial Scrub and our Men’s Charcoal Coffee Face Scrub.

2. We Protect Endangered Species

The popularity of aromatherapy and natural beauty products in recent years has led to increased supply and demand for natural crops that have not been able to meet the needs of consumers. This has led to the over-exploitation of resources affecting the biodiversity of many species including essential and carrier oil-bearing plants. Examples include the Indian Sandalwood tree, native to Southern India and Southeast Asia, the oil of which has been used for centuries for its fragrant and medicinal qualities. In recent years, over-exploitation has led to it being listed as a critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. Similarly, the essential oil from the Atlas Cedarwood tree has been used extensively for its therapeutic and fragrance qualities. The tree is slow growing, taking decades or centuries to regrow, and is now also listed as an endangered species.

When a species is in imminent decline buyers look for substitutions, thus placing pressure on the new species. This unfortunately has happened recently with the Australian Sandalwood tree Santalum spicatum, hugely popular worldwide for the essential oil which is produced from it. The Australian Sandalwood Tree was assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2021 and is now listed as vulnerable.

It is of vital importance that brands create natural products with proven sustainability in mind to preserve plant species that would otherwise be driven to extinction. We need to consume more mindfully and find a balance with what is appropriate and when to use it. We need to ensure ethically sourced ingredients becomes the accepted norm.

At Scenturie we thoroughly research all our ingredients to ensure they are safe, sustainable, and produced from renewable raw materials. The essential oils we choose to use in our skincare products are sustainable and rated as stable and of ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List. For example we choose to use Virginian Cedarwood essential oil in our Rejuvenating Natural Hand Cream because it is sustainable and is listed as being of ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List, as are the Black Spruce and Kanuka essential oils we use in our Men’s Hydrating Face Cleanser.

3. We Utilise Upcycled Ingredients

Upcycled ingredients are byproducts from another process that would have ended up as waste but instead are reused. For example, upcycling allows the dried seeds left over from the pressing of fruit to be made into nutrient-rich oils. We have chosen to use upcycled apple seed oil in our new Regenerate Natural Eye Cream, which is created from the waste material left over from apple juice manufacturing.

Upcycling lowers our impact on the environment by reducing the natural resources necessary to grow plants, limiting the over-harvesting of plants, and reducing overall waste. It helps put the surplus of leftover materials from other processes to good use, as well as helping to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases, such as methane, which occur with natural decomposition. We are keen to explore the use of upcycled ingredients much more as we expand our skincare range.

Click HERE to read our article: Upcycled Ingredients for Sustainable Skincare.