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Fair Trade and Fabulous

Sustainable and fairly sourced ingredients can work wonders on your skin.
Vanessa Campisi
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istockphoto.com/eefauscanWe all crave smooth, glowing skin—and, by extension, the beneficial oils and natural plant extracts that can help us achieve this youthful look. But most of nature’s miracle ingredients don’t come from Canada: shea butter and argan oil are from Africa, ojon oil from Central American rainforests, and shikakai is a South Asian specialty.

While some of these sought-after ingredients are the economic lifeline of the communities that produce them, they are sometimes at the centre of unsafe and exploitative trading practices. For Canadian consumers, we can lessen our impact by choosing skincare products with fairly traded ingredients. This helps support producer communities by ensuring workers are paid a fair price and work in safe and healthy conditions. It also encourages building community work co-operatives, and applying more environmentally friendly practices which will contribute to improving overall sustainability.

Click NEXT>> to discover some of the top fair trade skincare products on the market.

Image courtesy istockphoto.com/eefauscan

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Comments

If you're referring to AH listed below, I was actually one the many who requested that the diaper ointment and other mom and baby products not be in glass. The glass jars were always being played with and I thought it was safer to have in different packaging. Just my two cents.
Submitted by Becca (guest) on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 11:53.
Products packaged in plastic can not be classified as sustainable. Yes, Canadian companies would be great to see. I rarely see this on Green Living. Is there a reason for this?
Submitted by Teri (guest) on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 08:51.
If you want to support Canadian companies, there are a number of more local, independent ones that offer products with shea butter, and custom products to suit you. The products are created with organic and fair trade ingredients. Check out http://www.cocoonapothecary.com and http://www.aromatichealth.ca.
Submitted by Becca (guest) on Sat, 04/03/2010 - 23:35.
Luckily for me, I live in a predominantly Carribean and African neighborhood, where you can buy Shea butter in hunks wrapped in plastic wrap for $5.00. It's pulled off the bulk shea and molded by hand...I keep mine in ajn old tea tin and it works magic on dry skin.
Submitted by Kate (guest) on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 10:59.
I also recommend KARIDERM's certified organic and fair trade shea butter (120 ml - about 20 $). It is made in Canada from pure & unrefined shea butter that was processed by a coop of women producers in Africa. I have tried several brands of shea butter since I have dry, sensitive skin and this one really does wonders. Also the company has set up a social fund to handle healthcare issues for African women and I like the idea of giving back to the people who helped solve my skin products with a truly organic product. See more details at www.kariderm.com.
Submitted by Anna (guest) on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 17:49.

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