Sustainable Beauty

Augustinus Bader The Skin Infusion

Since its launch in 2018, German skincare line Augustinus Bader has quickly become known as a clean beauty standard-setter, merging careful botanical sourcing with research-backed efficacy aimed at skincell renewal. The brand shares the name of its founder, a Munich-based applied stem cell biologist and professor specialized in treating burn victims. Bader’s latest product, The Skin Infusion, builds upon its editor-loved creams and serum by addressing a key concern: the depletion of the skin barrier. In essence, The Skin Infusion is designed to regenerate the stripped down outermost layer of the skin through a vitamin D-charged rejuvenation system. Ingredients like sustainably-sourced avocado oil, nourishing evening primrose oil, and soothing pineapple extract enrich and reset a damaged skin barrier. Beet root extract, in particular, helps to enhance the skin’s absorption of vitamin D. Ethically-sourced botanicals combine with bioengineered clean actives. Also on the sustainability front: aluminum packaging centers circularity and minimal paper packaging is FSC-certified. It’s a skin-nourishing product that could—combined with a simple face wash, sunscreen, and cream—narrow a routine down to an essential few products. Use it for four weeks before a big event, after intensive travel, or during an especially stressful time. Given how common overuse of harsh active ingredients has become since the pandemic, The Skin Infusion may fast become Augustinus Bader’s new cult item.

Byredo Mojave Ghost Absolu de Parfum

Eleven years ago, Byredo launched Mojave Ghost, a woody, airy floral scent layering Jamaican naseberry, magnolia, violet, and cedarwood. The inspiration was the ghost flower of California’s Mojave Desert, a rare, spring-blooming floral that thrives quietly in the harshest and driest of environments. The scent has since become one of the Swedish line’s signatures, as recognizable as its clean design language and conceptual bent. In celebration of Mojave Ghost’s tenth birthday, Byredo creative director Ben Gorham reconsidered the fragrance’s original inspiration, diving back into that first rendering of resilience and fragility in nature through the introduction of new takes on the modern classic. First came a water-based, alcohol-free reimaging of Mojave Ghost, a softer on the skin, biodegradable formulation that cuts out synthetic fossil fuel ingredients. Then, in the winter, Gorham gave us a new category: Absolu. A more concentrated edition, Mojave Ghost Absolu brings intensity—and a fragrance that can be used over time—to an otherwise warm, subtle scent.

Hermès Orange Tonique, Ultraviolet, and Blue Electrique nail polishes and Orange Néon, Rouge Cinétique, and Rose Pop lipsticks

Hermès may be the perfect house to solve one of the beauty industry’s core lingering sustainability challenges: how to make reusable and refillable products desirable. While quite a few brands offer refillable models and services today (and have for some time), very few consumers actually use these systems. The French design house—which moved into cosmetics five years ago and has slowly been building out its offerings since—has brought a level of attention to design that may make even a simple lipstick collectable and thus—at last—reusable. To develop its makeup design language, Hermès turned to the house’s shoe and fine jewelry creative director, Pierre Hardy. The first results were colorblocked metal-cased refillable lipsticks, which upcycle the same recyclable metals used for the brand’s handbag hardware. The lipsticks themselves are made from natural ingredients with colors referencing slices from Hermès’s archive of nine hundred leather shades and seventy-five thousand silk swatches. Vibrant and color-popping with rich buttery formulations, these offerings are playful and statement making. Nail polishes, made in France with at least seventy-one percent of ingredients derived from natural origins, came soon after. Next up? A collection of dozens of graphic eye pencils, built for precision and in an artful, meant-to-be-seen design.

Bottega Veneta Déjà Minuit Eau de Parfum

When Bottega Veneta’s former creative director Matthieu Blazy set out to develop his first fragrance collection for the Vicenza-born house, he looked to the brand’s birthplace and its signature Intrecciato weave for inspiration. The Veneto region was long known as a trading capital—a rare destination for the blending of commerce and culture in the centuries before globalization. The new perfumes draw in vibrant ingredients from all over the world in an ode to the city, weaving them together in reference to the house’s iconic leather pattern. It’s a simple concept that in reality applies to almost every fragrance ever made; as in the case of Bottega’s apparel however, the magic is in the execution—or rather the craftsmanship. In this case, Blazy’s woven fragrances come to life in five scents made entirely from natural essences. There’s Colpo di Sole, which merges Moroccan sweet orange blossom absolute with French Angelica oil, and Acqua Sale, a union of woodsy Spanish rockrose with Macedonian juniper oil echoing salty sea spray. The uplifting Come with Me ties French orris butter with citrusy Italian bergamot, Alchemie weaves Somalian myrrh with Brazilian pink pepper, and Déjà Minuit is a warm blend of Madagascan geranium and Guatemalan cardamom meant for the hours after dark. The scents are rich and complex, with sexy, sumptuous touches lingering on the skin. The refillable Murano glass bottles, hand blown to accentuate the bubbles that are typically considered imperfections, are perhaps the most beautiful element of the thoughtful offerings. The bottles rest on circular green Verde Saint Denis marble stands, much like an element of Venetian architecture or the base of a sculpture. Wooden caps come in unique colors developed for each scent profile. These fragrances are meant to be kept as works of art rather than objects of consumption. The all-natural ingredients and materials (no plastic here) underline a built-to-last (then naturally disintegrate) ethos.

See this story and many more in print by ordering CERO 9 here.