You have to be Beautiful!

Cosmetics, toiletries and fragrance products play an important part in our lives. In Europe at least 5 billion units of cosmetics are sold each year using around 1.5 million tonnes of ingredients. And recent research by Globescan shows that 31% of people in the UK say they are interested in purchasing cosmetics carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark. Increasingly, people are keen to lead a Fairtrade lifestyle and expect sustainable attributes to be an inherent part of the products and services that they buy.The British public can both look and feel even better, as the Fairtrade Foundation announces the first beauty products to be Fairtrade certified. So if you enjoy being pampered, you now have the added on-pack assurance that a product contains Fairtrade certified ingredients that meet international Fairtrade standards.Fearne Cotton, TV presenter and long-standing Fairtrade supporter, says: I am really excited about this new opportunity to transform trade through the way I shop. Ive tried out several of the new beauty products for myself and love them. Not only are they great quality, but they make me feel good using them because I know that the farmers who grew the ingredients that went into them are now able to improve their lives.The new range means that 57 products from 5 companies including Neals Yard, Lush, Essential Care, Bubble & Balm and Boots now contain one or more Fairtrade certified ingredient, benefitting disadvantaged producers from countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Now producers of existing Fairtrade certified ingredients such as cocoa butter, shea nut butter and olive oil and also potential new ingredients, or their derivatives, can sell into the UK Fairtrade market. Products include 11 body butters, 3 sugar scrubs, 3 lip balms, 6 body washes, a face mask, a foot lotion, a range of shower/bath creams and gels and prices will range from 4 to around 25 per product.Through Fairtrade labelled beauty products, producers will benefit in three ways. 1. Producers will get the Fairtrade minimum price plus a bit extra to invest in community projects such as schools and healthcare. 2. The companies behind the products will have a partnership plan in place showing how they will additionally support producers to develop their businesses and communities. 3. Producers are now able to access the dynamic beauty market because minimum thresholds of Fairtrade ingredients have been set at levels which allow best selling volume lines of beauty products containing natural ingredients to be certified. This means more benefits back to the producers.But its not just women in Britain who can feel better about looking good. Buying beauty products containing Fairtrade ingredients also helps women like Ms Zio Salmata, a Fairtrade certified shea nut producer from landlocked Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. She is a member of the Union of Women Producers of Shea Products of Sissili and Ziro (UGPPK S/Z), a group representing 3000 women. The group was set up to improve the position of women involved in shea butter production, most of whom are illiterate, and reduce poverty in the villages. Traditional shea butter processing is done by village women who gather, boil and sun-dry the nuts before they are pounded and ground to a paste. The paste is mixed with water to separate the fat, which is then manually churned into creamy butter.Ms Salmata says: For me, Fairtrade means happiness and a bit extra. With the extra income from Fairtrade, members can now afford to pay school fees and buy medicines without relying on their husbands.