Futurenatural: Organic Beauty

It always amazes me when people who are otherwise vigilant about their health — eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep — are completely clueless about the detrimental effects of chemicals in beauty products. We care so much about what we put in our bodies – we should also care what we put on it! Enter Futurenatural, hailed as a new kind of “Sephora” for the conscious set — an online store that aims to “provide people of all ages, gender and race with luxurious, modern, well-designed, effective alternatives to conventional beauty products, and to enrich the planet in the process.”

Founder — and self-confessed organic glamazon — Emma Pezzack grew up on an organic farm in Australia, then moved to New Zealand, where sustainability thinking is very much a part of daily life. She’s trained as a makeup artist and also worked on the sales and marketing side for companies such as Max Factor, (now Smashbox), Schwarzkopf and Revlon. She’s been involved in everything from fashion magazines, TV commercials and print advertising through to packaging. Currently, besides running Futurenatural, she is Beauty Director for Coco Eco Magazine as well as Editor-in-Chief of her own Organic Beauty View Blog.

“Being a makeup artist and having responsibility for applying makeup to literally hundreds of women’s faces, I became increasingly alarmed and uncomfortable with the levels and occurence of toxic chemicals in our personal care products — no less because I used them on myself and others on a daily basis and have worked with these products all my life.”

Two years ago she started Futurenatural, after searching far and wide for the best natural and organic beauty brands (not all products are 100% organic or natural). Goodlifer faves Kahina Giving Beauty and Suki are both available on the site. Although the beauty industry is starting to wake up to increasing consumer awareness and demand for natural and safe ingredients, there is a long way to go.

Natural makeup: 100% Pure Fruit-Pigmented Gel Eyeliner and mascara & Sukicolor Luscious Lips Berry Cream Trio.

Pezzack knows her company isn’t perfect, but believes that doing something is better than doing nothing, and that it is important to support companies that are, in fact, making an effort to eliminate toxic ingredients and processes from their products. “Our passionate endeavour is to only represent brands that have no petroleum derivatives, no parabens, no synthetic colors or fragrances, dibutyl pthalate, sodium lauryl sulphate, formaldehyde, or any other known harmful ingredients, and absolutely none of the products are tested on animals. Really, simply, what you’ll find here is the best organic, biodynamic, natural, wild-harvested and artisan brands in the world.”

John Masters Organics and Nature Girl – natural hair products from the site.

Pezzack does not want to preach, instead she provides full disclosure of all ingredients, an onsite glossary, and the fantastic stories behind the brands so you can make up your own mind about what you’re comfortable using on your skin — and what you’re not. As always, it is up to us, the consumers, to educate ourselves about the beauty products we use. When you know that your regular hand soap brand contains formaldehyde, you’ll have a hard time not thinking about making a switch. That’s when we need to thank people like Emma Pezzack and companies like Futurenatural for giving us truly beautiful options.