PEOPLE AND PLANET
OUR MISSION
Achieving our company mission, to be the most trusted beauty retailer in the world, takes more than just selling insanely good beauty products. We want the people who work for, partner with, and buy from Cult Beauty to trust that we are committed to making Beauty a more sustainable and transparent industry, and investing in the UK's most innovative, creative and diverse communities.
"While on our mission to be a place of beauty excellence, we want to minimise the impact of this consumption too. Never wanting to do the bare minimum, we want to build innovative initiatives that speak to our customers' values and needs and inspire more sustainable choices that our competitors in turn want to reproduce, creating a virtuous cycle that benefits all."
Alexia Inge, Co-founder of Cult Beauty
WHERE WE ARE
In 2021, we began working with experts to develop a strategy and action plan for the areas where we believe we can create meaningful change. We’re at the beginning of our journey, and there is a lot to be done. Below are some of the actions that we’ve already taken on our journey…
CULT CONSCIOUS
WHAT IS CULT CONSCIOUS?
In 2020, 81% of customers said transparency is “important” or “extremely important” when shopping* while 83% were more likely to trust a product's sustainability claim if it is verified by a third party**. Enter: Cult Conscious. Powered by Provenance, a software solution that uses blockchain technology to log impact claims, this growing programme spotlights products with clear and independently investigated (and then confirmed) Proof Points — that cover a range of social and environmental issues. In short, it allows our customers to shop consciously with confidence, according to their values.
*Source: Capgemini, Consumer Products & Retail (2020)
**Source: Compare Ethics, Knowledge is Power Report (2020)
A UNIVERSAL STANDARD
As part of the goal of creating a universal standard for fact-checking brand claims across the beauty industry as a whole, Cult Beauty actively encourages new and existing brands to work with Provenance. As of May 2022, 115 are brands featured within Cult Conscious, and we're in the process of becoming number 116! Cult Beauty will soon have the following Proof Points: Female Founded, Recyclable Packaging, Donates to Charity, Widely Recyclable Packaging, Partly Recycled Packaging and FSC. What's more, we're constantly striving to set minimum transparency standards for every brand that we sell.
INDEPENDENT BRANDS
INDEPENDENT BRAND CHAMPIONS
"Back in 2008, I co-founded Cult Beauty for the love of discovering the hottest underground beauty brands. Incubating the indie stars of the future became our speciality, in fact, the majority of our brands are independently owned where we work closely with the founders. I’m proud to say we have helped hundreds of small business entrepreneurs build their beauty brands over the years, a huge percentage of them are female-identifying too."
Alexia Inge, Co-founder of Cult Beauty
OUR SUPPORT
We shine a spotlight on independent brands via marketing initiatives, like our annual dedicated Skindie Brands campaign, to help customers discover new favourites.
PACKAGING
Our customers tell us that recycled and recyclable Cult Beauty packaging is non-negotiable, and also want us to reduce our plastic footprint. We’ve made big strides in the last few years and intend to do more. Right now, here’s what to know about our packaging:
• All customer order boxes are made from 100% widely recyclable materials and have a minimum of 50% recycled content
• Void paper is 100% recycled and 100% recyclable
• We've rolled out paperless invoices to all the countries that permit it, and we aim to do more in this space as the solutions become available
Watch this space for our soon-to-be-confirmed packaging Proof Points...
CHARITABLE PARTNERSHIPS
BEAUTY BANKS
In August 2020, Cult Beauty began a charity partnership with Beauty Banks in a bid to help the many struggling to find their feet in the aftermath of the pandemic. Beauty Banks was founded with one simple mission: to make hygiene poverty history. Everybody deserves to have access to everyday essentials like toothpaste, shampoo and sanitary products without stigma or judgement, and the charity has been raising money and providing supplies to those in need since 2018. We donated £15 from the sale of every Cult Beauty Advent Calendar 2020 (15,000 in total) to Beauty Banks and as a result, over 200 boxes of toiletries were created and distributed among 130+ charities in the run-up to Christmas. We recognise that our support of Beauty Banks’ life-changing work is now more important than ever — which is why we’ll be donating a minimum of £60,000 to the organisation in 2022.
BEAUTY BACKED TRUST
In 2021, we donated £40,000 from sales of our Advent Calendar to the Beauty Backed Trust. It was initially created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to support the beauty sector— which in 2018, contributed £27.2 billion to the UK economy through consumer spending alone, as well as supporting almost 600,000 jobs according to a report commissioned by the British Beauty Council. The Trust now provides a means of support to beauty professionals through grants, mentorships, and masterclasses, helping elevate and evolve the industry post-pandemic and beyond.
FIND OUT MORE
LADY GARDEN FOUNDATION
In March 2019, we launched our industry-leading Vulvalution campaign which aimed to break the taboo and start vital conversations around all things sexual health, pleasure and wellness. In addition to raising awareness of gynaecological cancers, 10% of net profits from our Sexual Pleasure and Wellness category went to the Lady Garden Foundation (£120,000) until March 2021.
FIND OUT MORE-085536.png)
KEY WORKERS
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re working with Blue Light Card to offer an ongoing discount to the emergency services, NHS, social care sector, and armed forces. We also worked with influencers on a competition for key workers struggling with PPE-related skin concerns, which saw 120 winners receive a personal consultation with Cult Concierge along with a complimentary skin care haul.
-085719.png)
EMPLOYEE FUNDRAISING & VOLUNTEERING
Our dedicated Social and Charity Committee co-ordinate all employee-led fundraising and volunteering activity. In 2021, employees raised £42,000 for Mind. In 2022, the team voted to support three charities through team fundraising that are particularly close to our hearts: Refuge, St Mungos and Young Lives vs Cancer. Each employee now has the option to book a 'charity day', one day a year to give back to a charity of their choice.
INTERNAL ACTIONS
In order to help lay strong foundations for the rest of our People and Planet aims, we've implemented the following internal initiatives:
RENEWABLE ENERGY
The energy at our head office is 100% renewable, backed by REGO (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin) certificates that guarantee our energy use is matched by renewable power generation. We'll have the Proof Point to back it up soon! Our distribution centre operations now sit centrally under THG with all emissions offset annually. Click {here} for more information on our group sustainability policy.
MENTAL WELLBEING
Launched in support of our Mental Wellbeing Policy, we trained up employee volunteers to become Mental Health First Aiders who act as a point of contact and reassurance for employees who may be experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. Additionally, employees are entitled to an annual Wellbeing Day on top of their usual holiday allowance. We endeavour to foster a safe working environment for all employees to feel valued and heard. To act on this, we created an employee led and run committee, lovingly dubbed the CULTure Collective. This sub-team acts as a vital voice and formal flow of communication between departments and Senior Leadership.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
In the wake of the watershed moments of 2020 — the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of the police gave rise to worldwide Black Lives Matter protests — it was clear that everyone, everywhere needed to be doing more to further inclusivity and education. We know that we have a long way to go and a lot to learn in this space but we are wholly committed to this journey, across every aspect of our business: our people, our customer, our brands and our products. From ensuring that who we showcase on our site and the language across all Cult Beauty touchpoints is reflective of the world to stocking inclusive brands and products — be it make up with universal shade ranges or texture and curl type-specific hair care — we want to curate a world of beauty for everyone. We also understand that having a truly diverse and inclusive business starts with our people so we have reviewed our recruitment policies to support inclusive and non-bias hiring protocols.
MODERN SLAVERY
Cult Beauty is committed to improving our practice to combat slavery and human trafficking. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we strive to act ethically and with integrity in all of our business dealings and relationships to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains. Find out more about our modern slavery policy here.
-034238.jpg)