Winners Announced for the Blue Beauty Awards 2023
We are delighted to announce the distinguished winners of the 2023 Blue Beauty Awards, a celebration of groundbreaking projects, companies, and concepts that are reshaping the beauty industry while championing environmental stewardship and positive societal impact.
Blue Beauty, a movement that began at conscious beauty retailer, Beauty Heroes, is now a global, inclusive movement. Blue Beauty goes beyond clean and green, existing now as a platform to inspire, recognize and motivate beauty and personal care brands working to make a positive impact on the world through innovation, sustainability, transparency, and social responsibility. Pushing beyond green initiatives, Blue Beauty is centered on 7 pillars that companies can contribute back to the environment, promote responsible manufacturing, sourcing, and marketing of beauty and personal care products.
Over the last six months, Beauty Heroes and INNOCOS have invited entries across various categories, including Best Ingredient Innovation, Technology Disruptor, Packaging Innovation, and Environmental Impact. Today, we proudly present the winners, including the coveted title of Blue Beauty Brand of the Year.
Best Ingredient Innovation - Capsum Solar Water®
Runner up: Denttabs
" With over a quarter of our world facing water scarcity issues, their concept of creating cosmetic-grade water that doesn't compete with human needs is remarkable. Congratulations, Capsum, for inspiring us all." - Krupa Koestline, Founder, KKT Consultants, Blue Beauty Council Member + Judge
"Selecting a water source that doesn't compete with human needs was essential for our American manufacturing site. We chose Austin for its naturally salted water with a salinity level too high for human use and agriculture. Today, Solar Water® allows us to produce cosmetics that avoid hydric stress." - Sébastien Bardon, CEO, Capsum, Winner of Best Ingredient Innovation
Technology Disruptor – Bluebird
Runner up: The Good Face Project
“Technology has immense potential to enhance businesses and create positive impacts on people and the planet. Bluebird is revolutionizing the industry with their innovative platform that measures packaging impact - often the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and waste, particularly in relation to the product supplied - something relatively unique to beauty, where the contents is liquid gold! Well done Bluebird team - we are excited to see how you scale and so happy to collaborate with you to make beauty a force for good - one product at a time!” – Jessi Baker, Founder, Provenance, Blue Beauty Council Member and Judge .
"We're in business to democratize access to sustainability tools that drive meaningful business impact for beauty brands, and we're proud to accept the Blue Beauty Award for Technology Disruption in recognition of that effort."Jamie McCroskery
CEO, Bluebird
Packaging Innovation - Akt London
Runner up: Booni Doon
“It’s my honor to announce the Blue Beauty Packaging Award goes to AKT London, an innovative, plant-based deodorant brand, created by two theater performers in London’s West End, and formulated to meet the grueling physical demands of a stage performer. They could have simply developed a natural deodorant that worked, and they would have been successful. But they didn’t stop there. Baked into their ethos is a commitment to plastic-free packaging and sampling. Packaged in 100% aluminum tubes, 95% of which is PCR, AKT is committed to never using single-use plastic in its products or samples. The packaging is not only durable and convenient, but it is infinitely recyclable and plastic free, including the cap, which is also made from aluminum. Because the entirety of the packaging is made of the same material, it can be manufactured in one production step, reducing carbon emissions at the time of production. Their outer carton is made in the UK from FSC regulated cardboard with vegetable inks, and printed on a carbon neutral press.
“Like any great performance, there is a lot of effort that has gone into looking so effortless. It took the founders three years to launch their plastic-free sample tubes, the first in the industry. It has required high development costs and high minimum order quantities. But through ingenuity and determination, AKT London has proven that you can do the hard things the right way and be profitable.
Congratulations to AKT London, our 2023 Blue Beauty Award Winner for Best Packaging. “ Rachel Roberts Mattox, Brand Consultancy, Blue Beauty Council Member and Judge.
"This award means a lot to us, especially as we haven't even launched in the U.S. yet. Being recognized for our plastic-free efforts is rewarding. We're dedicated to innovation in the beauty industry, always choosing the path less traveled. Thank you for supporting a brand like AKT." - Andy Coxon, Co-Founder, Akt London, Winner of Packaging Innovation.
Positive Environmental Impact – Nohbo.
Runner up: OWAY, Denttabs, Captain Blankenship, One Love Organics
“We selected NOHBO as our Blue Beauty Award Winner for environmental impact because of the potential their innovations of hydrofills, drops and slips can have on the beauty and personal care space for years to come. We are already starting to see brands rapidly adopt and test their plastic and water free formats in the marketplace to gauge adoption. Drops are single-dose water-soluble pods that contain a water-free liquid base. When exposed to water, the membrane dissolves allowing cosmetic ingredients to be released. Hydrofoils are multi-dose water-soluble pods that contain an anhydrous hyper-concentrated base. When the Hydrofill is added to a bottle of water and shaken, a standard-sized personal care product is generated. Slips are sheets of biodegradable, water-soluble resin that has been embedded with cosmetic active ingredients. Slips melt away in seconds, and lather, condition, or cleanse extremely efficaciously. With a wide variety of applications, NOHBO opens the door to new, package free formats and inspires further innovation that can drastically reduce packaging and carbon footprint. The possibilities of how and who can use the NOHBO technology are endless. Congratulations to NOHBO, our 2023 Blue Beauty Award Winner for Environmental Impact.” Jeannie Jarnot, Founder and CEO, Beauty Heroes, Blue Beauty Council Member and Judge
Blue Beauty Brand of The Year - Cheekbone Beauty.
“We selected Cheekbone Beauty as our Blue Beauty Brand of the Year because of their holistic approach to creating products that are lighter on the planet. And when I say lighter, they are really, a lot lighter. Turning away from conventional beauty norms of investing in elaborate, heavy and multi-material packaging, Cheekbone embodies their traditional values of beauty, artistry, color, design and protection of nature. The Blueprint for Blue Beauty features 7 pillars: Ethical Ingredients, Supply Chain Transparency, Low Waste Packaging, Recycling Initiatives, Water & Biodiversity, Carbon Commitment and Social Impact. For a brand to tackle even one of these initiatives is commendable. But what is uniquely impressive about Cheekbone Beauty is how they have integrated nearly all of them into a thoughtful business model and brand strategy.
First and foremost, they adhere to the 7th Generation Principle which ensures that they leave enough not just for the next generation, but for the next seven generations. To that end, they have married advances in Western science with Indigenous wisdom to reduce reliance on natural resources and mitigate waste throughout their supply chain and with their packaging. This includes implementing refillable, recyclable, compostable, and biodegradable packaging solutions. As a mission driven company they are committed to supporting Indigenous youth by addressing the educational funding gap and creating a space in the beauty industry where they feel seen and represented. With their authentic and integrated approach, Cheekbone Beauty is an exemplar in Blue Beauty. – Blue Beauty Awards Judging Panel
“Cheekbone Beauty wins prestigious Blue Beauty Award, affirming our commitment to Indigenous values! As a brand rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being, we prioritize the protection and honor of all living things. Among the Anishinaabek People, who I belong to, water holds great significance as a source of life and women are revered as its guardians. This recognition means so much to us at Cheekbone Beauty.” Jenn Harper Founder, Cheekbone Beauty, winner of the Blue Beauty Brand of the Year 2023
For more information about the INNOCOS Summit and the Blue Beauty Awards, please visit https://www.innocosevents.com/blue-beauty-awards
For more information about Blue Beauty, please visit bluebeauty.com
For media inquiries, please contact: Iryna Kremin, Founder, INNOCOS. ikremin@innocosevents.com AND Jeannie Jarnot at media@bluebeauty.com
