We focus a lot of our research on new actives. Since we strongly focus on the skin microbiome, we use several key ingredients to shift the skin microbiome.
The list of ingredients that Esse will not use is too long to list. We look at the production process behind each ingredient as well as its effect on the skin and its microbiome. We’re audited by Ecocert to COSMOS standards for organic cosmetics, but we impose our own standards over and above these. As an example, Ecocert allow the use of sulphated foaming agents like sodium lauryl sulphate, but we will not use these because we have an internal standard against sulphated surfactants.
We are also Vegan friendly; we support vegan product development practices and are accredited by The Vegan Society. The Vegan Trademark is the authentic standard worldwide for products free from animal ingredients and animal testing. We will always endeavor to use animal free ingredients in our formulations and under no circumstances will we support the unethical practice of animal testing on our products or their ingredients. Our vegan fans will always be kept informed regarding any animal ingredients that we feel we are unable to avoid in producing the most effective and ethical products we can. It is rarely necessary but in the event that a plant-based alternative is not available we will, as always, be scrupulous about the integrity of our suppliers. In these rare instances, we will only use a by-product and only consider it provided no harm comes to the animal in processing it. Esse always prioritises the health of humans, their skin and the environment when choosing ingredients.
Where possible, we prefer to use wild-harvested plant material for our extracts. We have found in many instances that these extracts are more effective than extracts from domesticated plants. Esse follows Fair Trade principles and this means all plant-sourced ingredients are harvested sustainably and harvesters receive fair remuneration according to Fair Trade standards.