We often get asked about our rescued food ingredients, how we source our by-products responsibly, why we manufacture where we do, and what it's like to try to and innovate in the beauty industry, so we wanted to share a little bit more about our sustainable skincare here with you...
Why we source in Italy and manufacture in the UK
We source our rescued food ingredients from established organic food manufacturing in Italy, and manufacture our skincare in West Sussex, UK. Why Italy we hear you ask?
1. Established food-to-skincare infrastructure
Italy has long-standing, large scale tomato, olive and citrus production industries in place. These systems allows us to responsibly rescue organic by-products in large quantities and transform them into high performance skincare-grade ingredients.
In the UK, food production systems are currently less set up for food-to-skincare at scale, particularly for the ingredients we use. By sourcing ingredients where both the growing conditions and processing capabilities are already established, we reduce waste, ensure ingredient consistency, and maintain the highest formulation standards without compromising our values.
2. Ingredient quality and efficacy
With its abundant sunshine, warmer temperatures and mineral-rich soils, the Mediterranean climate naturally encourages plants such as olives, tomatoes and citrus fruit to thrive and produce protective compounds and antioxidants. These are the very compounds valued in skincare for supporting healthy, resilient-looking skin. While we want to create a sustainable skincare that looks after both skin and the planet, we also want to ensure that product efficacy is at the top of our list.
What does our rescued food really look like? (ingredient by ingredient)
Mandarin Water
When organic Mediterranean mandarins are cold-pressed for juice, the antioxidant-rich water is separated from the fruit concentrate. That water is traditionally reused within food systems or processed further but it’s also rich in antioxidants and vitamin C.
We rescue this mandarin water as a replacement for freshly sourced water in our formulations, meaning we don’t use “new” water where we don’t need to. The result is a deeply hydrating, antioxidant-rich elixir that supports the skin's ability to absorb hydration leaving it radiant, glowing and nourished!
Tomato Skins
We rescue tomato skins from the world renowned Italian tomato industry, a by-product of tomato sauce and ketchup production. Conventionally, these leftover may have been used for animal feed, composting or energy generation - all valid and necessary uses but we believe their full potential most definitely lies in skincare
Tomatoes and their skins are naturally rich in lycopene a type of antioxidant that is incredibly effective at helping to defend the skin against environmental stressors, supporting a brighter, more radiant complexion.
We partner with fermentation specialists to ferment these skins using friendly microorganisms, gently breaking down the plant fibers to unlock these skin loving compounds. The result is a cosmetic-grade powerful skin active that's brilliant for your skin.
Breakfast Oat Stalks
Oat stalks are typically returned to fields, composted, or used as low-value biomass. Instead, we take oat stalks leftover from the organic Italian breakfast oat industry and ferment them before they go into our skin-loving products.
This unique fermentation process increases the natural antioxidant and amino acid content of the oat plant, helping to reduce inflammation and balance the skin’s microbiota – think of it like gut health for your skin! The result is an ingredient that actively works to reduce breakouts, balance, hydrate and prevent dry skin and is a magical combo for sensitive and eczema-prone skin.
Olive Oil
We use by-products from the organic Italian olive oil industry (the OG’s of OO) to create our super smooth moisturiser. We rescued the olive pomace sometimes known as a cake, which is essentially all the crushed and pressed olives, olive stones, stalks and leaves after olive oil pressing. The pomace is a prized ingredients and can be used as a biofuel for industrial heating or for animal feed but it's also unbelievable for your skin.
Olives are notoriously packed with beneficial properties and have been used for thousands of years to hydrate and enhance the complexion. We use a touch of chemistry to process the pomace and extract a super nourishing ingredient that’s very similar to the texture of the skin - this is magic that helps your skin fully absorb our products for bright, healthy, beautiful skin all day long.
So… Is This Food Actually “Waste”?
Not exactly, and that’s important.
Our rescued food ingredients are a waste by-product of the food production process and manufacturing process.
Following this process, these by-products may be thrown away, and they can and do have alternative uses, such as animal feed, agriculture or energy. But what they don’t typically have is a route into more considerable products where they have real value - such as skincare.
Our founder Danielle has worked in the beauty industry for over 15 years and has seen first-hand the unsustainable levels of waste. So we went on a mission to challenge the beauty industry and probe that things can be done in a better way. The aim isn’t to claim ownership over waste but to innovate and inspire through;
· Finding beauty and value in food waste
· Diversifying how these precious resources can be used
· Reducing pressure on virgin cosmetic ingredients
· Challenge the industries reliance on newly extracted resources
This is not about removing materials from essential systems. It’s about creating additional value streams and specifically within an industry that has historically generated significant waste of its own.
Why Beauty Needs to Innovate at Scale
Finding truly sustainable solutions can be tricky and isn’t always straightforward, often you solve one problem, only to be confronted by another. Progress often comes from curiosity, experimentation and willingness to rethink how things have always been done.
If the beauty industry wants to reduce its environmental footprint in an impactful way, innovation has to happen at scale and that often means working with existing food systems, not around them and finding smarter, more responsible ways to turn what already exists into something valuable.
That’s where we came in!
We’re focused on reducing waste within the beauty industry itself - using innovation to create better systems, better ingredients and a more thoughtful future for skincare and the beauty industry as a whole.
Looking Ahead: Supporting UK Innovation
We are always looking for ways to innovate and do things in a better way. As our skincare range and processes evolve, we're actively working with UK-based farmers and food manufacturers to support innovation within the British food systems.
Because the future of beauty isn’t about pretending waste doesn’t exist, it’s about building smarter systems that know exactly what to do with it. As we like to say, the future of beauty is here, and it’s made from food waste!
