At the root of Cosmydor’s relaunch is a desire to do things the right way, which in the context of a cosmetics brand means simply creating products which are as good as possible for the skin, and for the environment.

In less than 2 years, we were able to develop a range of products and work on sourcing and processes which guarantee the highest standards with respect to natural raw materials, care for the environment (through our artisanal processes), and 100% biodegradability of our products.

But strangely enough, the manufacturing part of the business that we do not control – packaging – has proven to be much more challenging and has not yet met our expectations. An early decision was to avoid all plastic jars and bottles and use glass and aluminium instead. Glass and aluminium have their own flaws, especially in terms of carbon footprint, but this is something we can limit (e.g. use of refill systems) or compensate for. At least they do not pollute and kill animals and plants when they end up in the environment.

Our frustration has grown as it seems there is no solution whatsoever to get rid of some plastic elements, for instance pumps and caps. We have desperately been looking for metal, bamboo or wood replacements, as we genuinely hate these bits of our packaging, but have been entirely unsuccessful.

We then started to question why. Why isn’t there a market for non-polluting, non-plastic packaging parts? Why isn’t there a supplier somewhere who could make a living out of creating and manufacturing non-polluting, non-plastic pumps and caps?

We only found one answer to this question: because large cosmetics and pharmaceutical groups do not care. They are the ones with the financial firepower to change supply chains and force innovation.

But they don’t. They don’t because it would increase their production costs a tiny bit, it would decrease their sacrosanct margins by a few pence. The CFO would frown, there would be questions from shareholders. And no one would acknowledge this useful contribution, not even the “Corporate Social Responsibility” team.

No one but the planet itself, and future generations who may never experience a swim in the sea without a plastic pump floating by, or a walk in the countryside without kicking a plastic bottle.

Small brands cannot afford to change a whole supply chain. Their voice is limited.

Ultimately only you can help: please stop buying products - including water, fruit, vegetables and cosmetics - packaged in plastic.