How We Highlight Sustainability

With a renewed focus on the environment, sustainability is currently a buzzy word in the beauty industry. Sustainability, at its most basic, is the effort to sustain our natural resources and environment. It’s a two-pronged approach of choosing ingredients and raw materials without depleting them, as well as minimizing waste and impact. We’re proud to have made it a core value of our brand since the very beginning. 

We recognized more than 20 years ago that beauty and sustainability go hand-in-hand, which is why our tagline is “Beauty + Sustainability.” We operate our business understanding that beauty means taking care not only of yourself, but of your world and what you love as well. For that reason, sustainability inspires all of our policies and projects, including product formulation and design, company ethics, and salon education. And we interpret it in a number of ways: it prioritizes a positive impact on the environment, doesn’t compromise the quality or quantity of natural ingredients, lends itself to intuition and creation, and ensures transparency. 

One overarching way we stay sustainable is with our commitment to renewable energy and our offsetting of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e). Considering that the world’s energy consumption is expected to grow 40% over the next two decades—far surpassing the earth’s capacity to renew them—a cleaner alternative is vital. Plus, emissions come with carbon energy consumption, which pollute the air and impact our collective health on a regular basis. For that reason, we’ve used renewable electric energy from natural sources (such as sun, water, wind, and soil) to supply our plants and offices since 2006.

Our products are similarly kind to the planet. We implemented a Zero Impact® policy for our Essential Haircare, SU, OI, and More Inside product lines, which means the production of their packaging is carbon neutral. To offset the emissions generated, we contribute to the creation and protection of forests in Italy, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. And for all of our packaging, we keep three goals in mind: to use as little raw materials as possible, to use recyclable or bio-based materials, and to optimize logistics to avoid waste. 

We also support sustainable ingredients by nurturing and highlighting those at risk of extinction. With the help of Slow Food Presidia, we’ve been able to source ingredients from small family farms in Italy and feature them in our formulas, where they offer a range of benefits for hair. Biodegradable ingredients also play a big role in our formulas—as rather than create waste, they simply return to the earth. We opt for naturally-derived ingredients wherever possible, too. To qualify as naturally-derived, 100% of the molecule must come from a plant, non-petroleum mineral, water, or some other natural source (so long as it’s obtained through a “clean” chemical reaction).

photo by @arcadiabham

It goes beyond us, as we hold Davines salons to the same standards as our products. Our Zero Environmental Impact campaign encourages stylists to offset emissions from their daily work activities and creating zero-impact salons. First established in Italy, the program is now in Norway, Spain, and Portugal. And, in an effort to create even more eco-friendly salons, we encourage stylists to adopt habits and changes to make their spaces a little greener. 

Our goal through these efforts is to preserve the precious resources we have while delivering the effective, luxurious hair formulations and styling services you love. And by supporting Davines, you’re doing your part for the planet, too. 

by Deanna Pai