Vegan beauty brands that are taking action in response to Black Lives Matter

This post is about how white-owned brands are stepping up after some self-reflection as part of the massive Black Lives Matter movement. That isn’t to say that these brands are perfect, just that they’re taking steps to do better. If you’re looking for Black owned vegan beauty brands to support please head to this post. To learn more about what I’m doing here on Vegan Beauty Girl, check out my Diversity Pledge and my Let’s Talk About Race video.

BYBI

BYBI used their platform to encourage their customers to engage by donating, signing petitions and raising awareness. They also shared the handles of Black content creators and encouraged their followers to not only follow, but to also respect boundaries.

Donations

BYBI took the time to thoroughly research which charities they’d be making a donation to and finalised on these:

• UBELE, bereavement support for BAME families affected by Covid-19. 
• United Families & Friends Campaign, a support network for families who have been affected by police and prison deaths. 
• Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, tackling inequality in all its forms with a focus helping young people. 
• Belly Mujinga’s & Trevor Belle’s GoFundMe. 

They have also committed to making monthly contributions to Black Lives Matter as they understand that this is not a trend but that this is an ongoing fight.

Internal Action

As a business, we are committed to an anti-racism agenda and will be taking time to address our own privilege as a company and individuals, and how structurally, we can continue to support and empower our black colleagues, friends and customers as well as using our platform to amplify their voices and educate others.

We pledge to make this an ongoing conversation both internally and externally, addressing inequality, unconscious bias, overt & covert racism across our public platforms regularly. We recognise that we must do more to be actively anti-racist. When we talk about sustainability, we will continue to ensure that this is inclusive and intersectional.

https://bybi.com/blogs/journal/black-lives-matter-our-pledge

Really impressed with BYBI’s response to the BLM movement. I”m not at all surprised, particularly when their last Susty Summit shone the light on inclusive and intersectional sustainability. You can read their full pledge here.

Lush

A little later than many would have liked, Lush released their Black Lives Matter statement on 10th June 2020. It addresses the action they plan to take as well as a reflection on their current company structure – including board team with no Black members. You can read their full statement here.

Actions + Donations

In a statement on the 10th June, Lush announced that ‘Directors and senior management are consulting daily with Black and POC colleagues from across the business, to have the necessary, frank conversations – to listen and to learn.‘ [source]

Lush have formed three working groups that are led by Black colleagues: 

• Principles to guide the business (what does true inclusivity look and feel like?).
• 100 day action plan– a commitment to be shared both internally and externally, with updates on the actions Lush are intending to take within the next 100 days and report against this to check progress is being made. Lush aim to be ready with this and able to share the plan before the end of June.
• An awareness and fundraising campaign – Lush have started work on inventing a product where the entire sales value of which (minus the sales tax that has to go to the government) will become a fund for Black led groups active on these issues. Lush are currently consulting on which charity to support, with preference going to grassroots groups working on the root causes of structural racism.  Lush are also looking to use their website and shop windows in a campaigning and educational role, either in the short or longer term.

EMPLOYEE DIVERSITY

When asked to publish their diversity and inclusivity statistics Lush had this to say;

As a brand we are being asked to publish our diversity and inclusion statistics. At this time we do not have this information but we are working on it. Whilst we do not currently have company wide figures, we can say that Lush is a family owned business based in Dorset, England, with a small Board which has no Black members.

https://uk.lush.com/article/black-lives-matter, 10th June

Glossier

Arguably one of the best responses to the Black Lives Matter movement was Glossier announcing that they were investing $500K in the form of grants to Black-owned beauty businesses.  Submissions for their grant initiative is open through to 3rd July 2020. It’s open to Black beauty entrepreneurs based in the U.S. – more information can be found here.

Their statement also confirmed that they would be making donations;

We will be donating $500K across organizations focused on combating racial injustice: Black Lives Matter, The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, The Equal Justice Initiative, The Marsha P. Johnson Institute and We The Protesters.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1K4rLpQq9/

Please note Glossier are a cruelty-free brand but not all of their products are vegan.

UpCircle

Not every brand is big enough to give $50k grants or donations and that’s okay. Mostly, customers just want to see that the brands they’re supporting care about Black lives. That the white people behind the brand understand white privilege and are actively taking part in anti-racist work.

UpCircle, a small sustainable skincare brand founded by a brother-sister duo, have taken a personal approach to their company policy. Racism is broad, it leaches into every area of life. Co-founder Will became a dad last year and recent events have made him reflect on the role parents play in systematic racism. This is why their actions focus on raising the next generation:

Actions + donations

• Donating a selection of relevant books to schools and libraries across the UK. This includes children’s books with black protagonists, by black authors, on topics related to race or black history.
• £1 for each UpCircle Hand Wash sold goes on to support a monthly charity. For July, they will donate to The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. The Trust was founded to tackle inequality in all forms.

You can read their blog post in full here.

Pai Skincare

I spoke about Pai in my Let’s Talk About Race video and explained why they haven’t been doing enough. It’s really encouraging to see them acknowledge that they need to do better, put forward action points and welcome their customers to hold them accountable.

Their plans for improvement include:

• Publish and permanently host their staff diversity breakdown on their website
• Launch a Diversity & Inclusivity Panel to ensure a range of voices and opinions are heard to inform business wide change
• Establish a long term charitable partnership with a BAME Women’s charity chosen by Pai staff
• Promote diversity on social and do more to champion black content creators

You can find more information here.

Love Vegan Beauty?

Keep up to date with the latest vegan beauty news by signing up to my monthly newsletter. You can also follow me on Instagram @veganbeautygirl or subscribe over on YouTube. In the meantime, check out some of my other posts:

• Are Vegan Foundations Diverse?
• Your Guide to Reef Safe SPF
• Let’s Talk About Race
• Lush Slap Stick Foundation Review
• My Diversity Pledge