This month is Plastic Free July which was the perfect time for us to launch an exclusive collection with Selfridges as part of their Project Earth commitment to sustainability.

We also talk to Ben from SBTRCT an amazing plastic free soap brand, and he has kindly offered you all a discount to try his fantastic products. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy!

Lots of love Ailis xx

Selfridges have recently launched their Project Earth campaign which is a bold sustainability strategy and sets out their vision to reinvent retail and change the way we shop and how we do business.

Built on three themes – transitioning to more sustainable materials, exploring new business models and challenging mindsets. Naturally, we felt that this was the perfect fit for Pott, as this aligns perfectly with our key brand values and desire to make the world more sustainable.

We're so grateful to be working with such a driving force for change within the retail industry!

What was the trigger for your initial idea for SBTRCT? What was your inspiration?

I have worked in skincare for many years and have always cared about the environment. Over the years it seemed more and more ironic to me that an industry created to cleanse and care was actually making our planet a dirty place and having such a disastrous impact on our planet. I wanted to help clean things up.

For me the beauty industry faces three key environmental challenges…

Plastic pollution (over 120 billion units of packaging a year)

Water scarcity (up to 70% of traditional creams and lotions can be water)

Over reliance on palm oil (strongly linked with deforestation and climate change)

The desire to create the highest performing expert skincare products with the lowest environmental impact is what brought me to developing solid state products that were waterless & palm oil & plastic free. 

What were the biggest challenges you faced as a sustainability led start up?

Product efficacy and skincare expertise have always been at the heart of everything we do and so the biggest challenge was getting the formulations right. 

We will never compromise on performance and if that means not launching a product, or delaying it’s launch while we get it right, then that’s what we do.

 Our “leave on” products have probably been the trickiest. Our desire to create award-winning products with proven ingredients such as Squalane, Vitamin C and Retinoids has driven our innovation and taken time, but ultimately it has been incredibly worthwhile. 

We now boast the world’s first solid plastic free Vitamin C Serum in our Vitamin C Booster and the world’s first solid plastic free retinoid in our Rejuvenating Night Balm. The results are incredible and this is something I’m really proud of.

How do you ensure that sustainability continues to be at the heart of your business and what I'd your biggest challenge in ensuring that this continues to be the case?

This all comes down to our commitment to our mission which is to create the highest performing skincare with the lowest environmental impact.

We’ve come a long way in achieving this during our short time in market, but of course there is always more to do.

Our recent B Corp Accreditation also helps ensure that we stay on this path. B Corps are companies that are verified by B Lab (the not-for-profit behind the B Corp movement), as having met the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Getting this accreditation is just the beginning though. It has involved amending our governance documents so at to protect our social and environmental purpose and making it clear to all our stakeholders that the company has chosen to pursue important social and environmental goals alongside our commitment to profit. 

What activity have you been running over Plastic Free July?

Plastic Free July is an incredibly important event in our calendar. It enables us to really shout about the beauty industry’s contribution to the plastic problem. Every year our industry is responsible for producing over 120 billion units of plastic packaging - much of that’s isn’t recycled and instead will end up in landfill or worse still in our oceans.

Mini travel-size toiletries are a particularly burning issue at this time of year - too small to be recycled and scarily high in numbers.

To shine a light on this we’ve collaborated with activist illustrator Jasmine Hortop who has produced a unique illustration for us urging consumers to “Take a Mini Break” from travel toiletries. 

It’s such an important message and we’re encouraging people to make the switch to solid skincare with a 20% off month long deal on our Discovery Sets (RRP £16.00). There are a choice of two sets, our award-winning Gentle Foaming Cleanser with Moisturising Facial Balm and our Gentle Foaming Cleanser with Makeup Melt. They’re the ideal way to dip your toe into the world of solid plastic free skincare and they’re also great for travel. It really is no brainer.

And if you like what you try in the Discovery Sets, then we’ve also set up a 20% discount on the rest of the range especially for Pott Candles customers. Just use the code POTT20 at checkout on our site.*

What are your future aspirations for SBTRCT?

The more we grow, the more we can do to help reduce the beauty industry’s disastrous impact on the environment. We’ve got a lot of conversations going on with key beauty retailers who are really starting to see the benefits of expert solid formulations and recognise that their customers want something that’s better and plastic free.

We also have a number of new products lined up for launch later this year and next.

It’s a very exciting time.

The Launch Of Sea Salt & Coconut!