Annmarie Skin Care Sustainability Report: 2022

While every year we take steps to increase our sustainability level, 2022 was no exception. We spent time and energy across many different areas of our organization to be more sustainable—from our ingredient sourcing and starting to incorporate herbs grown from the owner’s land, to streamlining behind-the-scenes operations at our fulfillment warehouse so that we can reduce carbon emissions. We took every step we could to be better. In 2022, we worked hard to uphold our Annmarie Skin Care values at every angle. 

Before we dive into the Annmarie Skin Care specifics, let’s congratulate the clean beauty industry’s efforts for the huge federal legislation win in 2022. 

MoCRA 2022

The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) is the most significant expansion of FDA’s authority to regulate cosmetics since the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act was passed in 1938.

Interested in getting involved in safe beauty care advocacy? We’ve made it easy with this step-by-step guide!

Who is Annmarie Skin Care?

Since our inception, we’ve prided ourselves on providing our customers with unquestionably high quality, honest and effective products to support an organic and natural lifestyle.

We strive to live our values and practice sustainability throughout our business practices. Our Sustainability Report aims to share with our community the details of what exactly this looks like.

What practices make Annmarie Skin Care different?

Organic and wildcrafted ingredients:

We use organically grown ingredients in all our products, from farmers who use little to no pesticides and natural fertilizers to produce them. Growing organics and using them for our skin care is one of the most proactive ways for us to coexist with the environment, create a thriving ecosystem for all creatures and make your skin look beautiful—all at the same time.

There are times when we don’t use certified organic ingredients, but in these cases, this is either because we have found a source that is grown organically but not certified, or the ingredient has been wildcrafted.

Real, pure ingredients

If you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t be putting it on your skin. We don’t use any alcohols or toxic chemicals, harsh preservatives or synthetic fragrances in our products. Our skin deserves pure ingredients from clean and pristine sources.

All of our products are crafted in small batches and go through the most minimal amount of processing possible to ensure that the alive and activated ingredients are not jeopardized. We don’t just show you a list of ingredients of herbs from nature—we make sure that these ingredients are in their most true and activated form.

Transparency, truth in labeling

At Annmarie Skin Care, we believe in full transparency when it comes to the ingredients we put in our products. We feel everyone deserves the right to know exactly what they are putting on their skin so they can make an informed decision of whether or not they want to purchase a product. This shouldn’t be an anomaly, but as wild as it sounds, the more “clean” products make their debut on the market, the more we see brands laying out “key ingredients” or “top ingredients” and completely forgoing listing out their entire ingredient deck, which is another form of greenwashing you will not see from Annmarie Skin Care.

No GMOs

Genetically engineered crops are slowly polluting our land and ecosystem here in the United States, as well as around the world. We feel it is essential to take part in the movement to protect the food supply and plant and insect biodiversity for us and future generations by not supporting the use of any GMO crops in our products. 

Sometimes ingredient suppliers may try to sell us on the idea that the end product does not contain GMOs, but the source itself is from a genetically engineered crop. This is absolutely unacceptable to us for the mere sake that allowing this would be supporting the very system we are not aligned with. We choose ingredients that are sourced from pure crops and have an end result of a pure ingredient.

2022 Sustainability Report: Product

These statistics represent our efforts towards sustainability and ethical business practices when it comes to our products.

13,454,943.36: that’s about how many mL of toxin-free goodness our customers purchased last year

We sold over 13,454,943.36 mL of products last year. That means our customers have put 13,454,943.36 mL worth of pure, wild, energized, and botanically-infused skin care on their face and bodies, avoiding the harmful chemicals and toxic ingredients. 

168: that’s how many different chemicals a day you’ve kept off your body using our products

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the average US woman uses 12 personal care products and/or cosmetics a day, containing 168 different chemicals.

Furthermore, one of every five adults is potentially exposed every day to all of the top seven carcinogenic impurities common to personal care product ingredients—hydroquinone, ethylene dioxide, 1,4-dioxane, formaldehyde, nitrosamines, PAHs and acrylamide. The topmost common impurity ranked by the number of people exposed is hydroquinone, which is a potential contaminant in products used daily by 94 percent of all women and 69 percent of all men. (EWG)

If you stick to only our products (plus clean oral care and hair care products), you’re keeping an average of 168 chemicals a day off your body. Our clean, natural products have helped reduce thousands of individuals’ exposure to these chemicals, many of which can cause hormone disruption, skin irritation and a whole host of other issues.

17: that’s how many third-party standards we’re upholding

We are currently MADE SAFE® and Leaping Bunny certified. Each of these certifications has a strict set of standards that companies must meet to maintain their certification, and we uphold these with pride.

MADE SAFE® screens ingredients against their Ingredient Database of known harmful chemicals, which is made up of thousands of chemicals found on scientifically authoritative lists from organizations and agencies around the world. They additionally examine ingredients for bioaccumulation, persistence and general and aquatic toxicity.

The MADE SAFE® seal literally means that a product is made with safe ingredients. There are 11 different categories of ingredients that Made Safe products are screened for. Check out those 11 ingredients here and read more about Made Safe here.

Leaping Bunny is the highest standard for cruelty-free products and ingredients. The Leaping Bunny logo is the only internationally recognized symbol guaranteeing consumers that no new animal tests were used in the development of any product displaying it.

The Leaping Bunny Standard consists of 6 criteria, known as The Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals. Read more about their standards here.

Some of the recognizable ingredients (substances) that you won’t recognize in our products are:

• Aluminum
• Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)
• Ethylene Glycol
• Fragrance
• Hydroquinone
• Mineral Oil (Paraffin Oil, Paraffin Wax, Petrolatum, Liquid Paraffinum)
• Nanoparticles
• Oxybenzone
• Parabens (Butylparaben, Benzylparaben, Ethylparaben, Methylparaben, Propylparaben)
• Polyethylene Glycol Compounds
• Phenoxyethanol
• Phthalates
• Siloxanes and Silanes (Silicon-Based Ingredients)
• Styrene
• Surfactants such as Alkyl benzene sulfonates (ABS), Ammonium Laureth Sulfate (ALES), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS), Cocoyl Sarcosine, Lauryl Sarcosine, Linear alkyl benzene sulfonates, Linear alkyl sodium sulfonates, Potassium Coco Hydrolyzed Collagen, Sodium Coco Sulfate (SCS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), TEA (Triethanolamine) Laureth Sulfate, TEA (Triethanolamine) Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
• Triclosan and Triclocarban

0: that’s how many pounds of pesticides we’ve used this year

That means our customers have avoided putting countless pounds of pesticides on their bodies by using our organic or wildcrafted skin care.

In 2012, the EPA reported that the US used 1,182 million pounds of pesticides in agriculture. This was the last time they put out a report of this nature. Because of a lack of information made available to consumers, it’s hard to tell exactly how many pounds of pesticides we’ve saved by only using organic and wildcrafted ingredients, but we can tell you it’s quite a bit.

2022 Sustainability Report: Packaging & Supply Chain

In 2022, we took some pretty significant steps that had a large impact across our organization in regard to reducing carbon emissions. 

2022 was the year we dove deep into streamlining our operations and overhauling logistics so that we could see a change from the very start of production all the way down to when our customer receives a product. 

Logistics & Operations

Box sizes may seem like a small detail but we assure you, it matters. By reducing the size of every single package that goes out (to actually be a more perfect fit for the number of products in an order) we are able to reduce weight, reduce wasted space, and in turn reduce the amount of emissions used to transport product from our facility to your doorstep. Also in regard to the package you receive. 

We also revised our purchasing order frequency with vendors and suppliers so that we are reducing the amount of shipments, thus reducing freight, packaging, and fuel for moving products from one facility to the next. 

Lastly, we made a few very key decisions in streamlining our operations with our shipping center so that we can ensure fewer errors and damages to your order and in turn, an overall decrease in the number of products that go to waste—eliminating the excess of carbon emissions due to error and not everyday operations.

Reducing Plastic

In 2022, we made two large changes in the product arena to reduce plastic where it counts. You may have noticed that if you ordered a larger-sized body or hair product, the pump came in a plastic sealable bag. With your support (and requests), we’ve been able to remove the plastic bag entirely so that we can move one step closer to eliminating all plastic. Second, we are now packaging our facial brushes in boxes, as opposed to plastic bags. With these two changes, in 2022, were able to eliminate 7,124 pieces of plastic in our products for the year. 

Taking a closer look at our efforts towards sustainability when it comes to our packaging and supply chain. 

224,596 sustainably produced inserts were printed last year

All product boxes were produced by wind power

94,000 SFI corrugated shipping boxes with sustainable packaging materials were shipped in 2022

2022 Sustainability Report: Company Practices

Featured Activities in 2022: We launched our first-ever product, featuring herbs grown by owners and founders, Annmarie and Kevin Gianni.

Moss Creek Farm, created and cultivated by Annmarie Skin Care’s co-founders Annmarie and Kevin Gianni, embodies the principles of Grow, Gather, Give. This small farm, rooted in the mission to connect with nature, the community, and sustainable practices, serves as the foundation for the Estate Blend Collection—a line of limited edition skin care products that epitomize the seed-to-skin experience. The Estate Blend Collection of hand grown and harvested herbs—comfrey, St. John’s wort, echinacea, chamomile, lavender, wild rose, plantain, feverfew, and calendula—is intended to offer protection for our skin, our hearts, and our being. 

The journey of Moss Creek Farm began in the summer of 2019 when Kevin and Annmarie found the ideal location in Western Connecticut. Over the years, they transformed the land into a sacred space, healing the soil and planting medicinal herbs for the Estate Blend Collection. The culmination of these efforts resulted in the launch of the first product, Annmarie Skin Care’s Divine Woman Elixir, in spring 2022. As the farm continues to evolve, the forthcoming products in this collection promise to deliver high-vibrational, effective clean beauty that encourages individuals to live courageously, creatively, and heart-centered—a testament to the farm’s commitment to a harmonious relationship with nature and skin care.

Check out more about Moss Creek Farm and what our future collaborations hold.

2022 Sustainability Report: Company Practices

Focusing on how we can encourage health and wellness, diversity amongst ideas, people, beliefs, and life approaches, constant growth, along with inclusion on every level is practiced in many ways through our day-to-day at Annmarie Skin Care.

The below represents our internal efforts towards a more human-centered, diverse, and sustainable workplace.

Sustainability at home

We encourage our team to practice sustainability in their everyday lives and send out monthly surveys asking them to let us know how they are participating in creating a more beautiful and sustainable world. A few of our favorites: 

“Involving my kids in the recycling process, getting back to reusable bags for everything, bringing a glove and container for litter when we go walking on our local trails (the kids point it out but I am never prepared!)”
– Rachel S.

“Volunteering in community/Yuba river citizen’s league garbage pickups. Wanting to make that an every Monday after work thing with my daughter when the season picks up and more out-of-town visitors are coming to the Yuba River in spring & summer.”
– Katie

“Would like to start a garden once I’m all settled in to grow herbs and veggies.”
– Chandra

Wellness Focus at Work

With our company Wellness Focus, we encourage our team to practice wellness and well-being in their everyday lives with group activities, speakers, calls, workshops, and resources. In 2022, we focused on Simplicity, Energy, and the Power of Intuition. A few of our favorite Wellness activities from 2022: 

• Added 3 minutes of Qigong to our weekly MMC (this practice of movement and breathing can improve energy and relaxation).
• Scheduled a Reiki and Qigong session together (this was part of our retreat)
• Read a book together on Feng Shui
• Hosted a speaker to guide us on the power of Intuition
• Read The Four Sacred Secrets: For Love and Prosperity, A Guide to Living in a Beautiful State for our Q4 internal bookclub

We allowed our team the opportunity to use a collective total of over 432 paid volunteer hours in 2022:

Giving back to our community is of the utmost importance to us, so each of our team members are allotted 24 hours of paid volunteer time a year.

We volunteered across several organizations, including Aspiranet, GreySave Greyhound Rescue, Turlock Christian School, Stray Cat Alliance, WNC Nature Center, Stephen’s House Day Care, South East Elementary, and local communities doing things like fostering cats, wrapping holiday gifts for those in need, hosting a neighborhood holiday food drive, and coaching a junior high softball team.

Quarterly Book Club

Every year we offer the team the opportunity to participate in our company-wide book club. In 2022, we featured:

• Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life
• Frequency
• Feng Shui Made Simple
• The Four Sacred Secrets: For Love and Prosperity, A Guide to Living in a Beautiful State

What’s next?

At Annmarie Skin Care, we are constantly evolving with the planet in mind and striving to increase our sustainable business practices. In 2023, we intend to push more awareness through education and information-based materials. Keep an eye out for all of the exciting ways we push sustainability in 2023.