Happy Earth Month!
Earth Day, which falls on April 22 every year, is an annual global event that honors the birth of the modern environmental movement. The weeks leading up to Earth Day are excellent opportunities to organize and mobilize around environmental change and learn more about the impact we as humans make on our planet. Environmental activism can look like civic engagement as well as participation in sustainable practices such as conscious consumption. Skincare is not often the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about what one can do for the planet—but it has always been top of mind at Youth To The People. The formulation philosophy of Youth To The People is built upon honoring the earth—and producing 100% vegan formulas is a choice that YTTP makes to protect animals, the planet, and your skin.
As YTTP Marketing Manager and Inclusion + Community Strategist Quani Burnett explains, vegan formulas do not contain animal products or byproducts. Though this formulation eliminates common skincare ingredients like honey, beeswax, lanolin, and collagen, make no mistake: vegan skincare is just as efficacious.
“At YTTP, we believe in superfoods and science,” says Burnett. “Our PRO-GRADE VEGAN™ formulas are designed to perform well. Just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it’s less powerful or less substantial than non-vegan products.”
From a foundational perspective, it was important that YTTP’s products reach high-performance professional standards due to the founding family’s legacy of innovative skincare. That innovation lives on in the production of clean, cruelty-free, and PRO-GRADE VEGAN™ formulas that allow for an efficient, unique dual impact.
“From a formulation side, when you go vegan, cruelty-free, and clean, the goal is that it’s good for your skin and good for the planet—and also super effective,” shares YTTP co-founder Joe Cloyes. “We want stuff that is active, makes a difference in your skin, and makes your skin healthier. Making these formulas as safe and effective as possible is really our goal. That can take more time, it can be a little bit more expensive, it can sometimes limit us in figuring out how to make our next products because the ways they’re historically made (and the ingredients involved) are just not ingredients that we will use… but it’s a fun challenge.”
A challenge well worth it: reducing the overall use of animal byproducts within all of YTTP’s consumer goods helps to reduce carbon emissions long term.
Plus, never testing on animals is an in-house promise as well as an effort made by YTTP’s manufacturers and vendors.
“We try to trickle down the entire process to make sure that animal testing is not performed anywhere,” adds Burnett.
This dedication to conscious sourcing lives at the heart of the YTTP Pillar: “One World to Protect.” There is power in our choices — no matter how small they may seem. With vegan skincare, we can have a direct impact on how the earth replenishes and sustains itself and directly contribute to its protection. Isn’t that exciting?
“If you're going to choose to live a more sustainable, environmentally conscious lifestyle, I think you should look at everything that you do from your food to your travel to your beauty routine,” says Cloyes. “Beauty is a part of everybody’s lives. Because everyone is using beauty products, it's important that they're making choices that are safe for them and safe for the planet. What's great is so many brands are totally adopting changes. The consumer behavior will drive continued rapid change because the more change they demand, the more brands will adjust. If we can all demand and push for change and really be conscious about it, it'll make a big difference.”
Written by Kaitlyn McNab for Youth To The People
