The sustainable and “clean” beauty category continues to grow, as the importance of environmentally responsible products—and companies—has never been more important. To learn more about the sustainable beauty and business movement, we spoke with one of the leaders: Credo Beauty.
CEO Dawn Dobras joined us to discuss the Credo Beauty model and philosophy on sustainability and clean beauty.
Afterpay: As the name suggests, Credo Beauty has a firm commitment to change the beauty industry for the better. Tell us a bit more about your mission and philosophy about changing “business-as-usual.”
Dawn Dobras: Our name—Credo—is reflective of the belief that there is a better way to look beautiful with both style and substance. It’s a belief in a holistic vision for what beauty is: looking good and feeling good. Credo’s mission from the start is to change the way people think about the products they use every day. It is why Credo exists and the reason we started this company. And since Credo is a platform for clean beauty, our goal is amassing what we believe are the best brands the space has to offer. So not only did the product have to fill a white space in the store, it had to work, smell good, have a passionate founder behind it and comply with our restricted substance list called The Dirty List™.
AP: The Credo Clean Standard is your framework for doing business. This encapsulates your approach to sustainability, ethics, sourcing, and safety. How does the Standard guide your long-term vision and day-to-day decision making?
DD: At Credo, “clean” has a strong, clear meaning. Clean is not just a synonym for “natural” or merely a short "free of" list of chemicals. It is these and much more. Clean is comprised of these elements, all seen overlapping on our "What is Clean" infographic:
- Sourcing (e.g. certified organic, or natural, or synthetic)
- Safety
- Sustainability
- Ethics
- Transparency
AP: Transparency is another key tenet, and one that is increasingly expected by consumers. Why is it so important to be transparent in your operations and communications, especially in the beauty industry?
DD: Credo is a value-based company and transparency is one of our four values, so we apply it in everything we do. We speak the truth, both with our peers and our customers. We value honesty and kindness in every conversation, and we always aim to educate and inform (but not preach) about the benefits of Clean Beauty.
AP: Credo is known for The Dirty List™, a list of 2700 ingredients Credo will not use in its products. Tell us about how this came to be, and how your business is spurring other beauty brands to follow suit.
DD: We were inspired to start Credo because there was a fresh, new generation of indie brands that needed a retail platform to showcase their products that aligned with their values. These entrepreneurs and founders were passionate about beauty but also conscious and informed about the harmful ingredients that exist in most conventional products—it was the catalyst for Credo. The Dirty List is a robust list of ingredients which, due to safety and/or sustainability concerns cannot be used as ingredients in any of the products we carry.
"Clean beauty is not a trend, it is a way of life. A movement."
Today, we go much further than a list of banned/restricted ingredients to ensure we are offering the cleanest products on the market. We are determined to push the industry in a better direction through our Credo Clean Standard and is a comprehensive agreement with every brand we carry. It’s a roadmap for ingredient sourcing, manufacturing and backing-up marketing claims.
AP: Another way Credo is moving the beauty industry forward is with your Clean Beauty Council. Tell us about the Council’s genesis, and some of the progress you’ve made to transform the industry.
DD: The Clean Beauty Council is a group of experts and advisors who have been propelling the industry forward. Our Council is made up of seasoned veterans of the clean beauty movement with decades of experience between them. A PhD skin pharmacologist, a makeup artist focused on natural, holistic beauty, a founder of the organic certification movement, an aromatherapist and teacher, a public health advocate and market-mover—these are the current Council members we're fortunate to work with.
We leverage the Council through unique event experiences, usually including brand founders and our expert staff. We also host larger, hallmark educational events called Mission in Action events with different members of our Council depending on the theme of the discussion. We also have access to more specific experts through the networks of our council members based on the initiatives we are working on and seek guidance on.
Stay tuned for Part II of our conversation with Dawn, running next week on the Afterpay Retailer Blog.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
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