How we do sustainability, always

It's no secret that we're a proud all-natural, vegan brand (and we'll shout it to anyone who will listen) that wants to spread not only good vibes but body positivity and self-confidence. 

What you might not know, is that we take this whole 'saving-the-planet' type thing very seriously. We know global warming is a thing, so it's up to us to ensure this beautiful, big blue and green planet is in ours lives for a lot longer than we will be. After all, Mother Earth is very graciously letting us live in her house and throw the occasional party or two while she's away and the least we can do is make sure there's no plastic cups strewn all over the backyard when she gets home. 

As a brand, we pride ourselves on a lot of things and our morals and values when it comes to what we're creating, how we're packaging it, and who we refuse to hurt along the way is right up there. 

2020 saw a lot of the devastation we've caused to the environment disappear for the duration of the time we (and the rest of the world) were in lockdown due to the coronavirus (what a time).  

While we weren't happy to lose most of last year, what made us even slightly okay with the whole situation is knowing that the environment was flourishing with a 500% decrease in sewage and industrial offcuts in rivers, less pollution resulting in better air quality, undisturbed wildlife who were able to reclaim their natural habitats without fear of us ruining it and reduced carbon emissions. 

While that's a step in the right direction, it's not a solution as every single person on this planet wants to get back to their normal lives, but we recognise that we can do better not only for ourselves, but for the environment and the animals who live here with us. 

How are we doin' our bit you may ask? Well, we're so glad you bought it up. 

paw-sitively good skincare 

always cruelty free

First of all, our love for furry creatures goes way beyond our love for most humans, like let's just get that out of the way so there's no confusion later on. 

So it makes total sense for us to be cruelty free from the get-go. We don't believe in animal testing period. Not for beauty, not for fashion, not for sport, and not for anything else you can think of. 

For this reason we are a proudly certified cruelty free company by Choose Cruelty Free Limited (claps hands and shouts in excitement).  

But the furry goodness doesn't stop there. 

In order to help out our four-legged friends, we even donate 5% of our profits to Melbourne based, no-kill animal shelter, Save-A-Dog-Scheme. 

"Wow! Who are they and where does the money go?" - you, right now. 

Saving hundreds of dogs and cats from being killed every year. SADS believes in a no-kill philosophy, all animals that come into SADS care are given a second chance at life. Donations to Save-A-Dog Scheme help with general and veterinary care of all including sick, injured animals so they can live out their natural lifespan, find peace and love, and allow them to be adopted into the right forever home. 

Like other charities, SADS relies on donations in order to remain open. Most of the money we donate goes to the general care of the animals and to the maintenance of the organisation itself, with one of the highest expenses being professional treatment for the animals (we all know how expensive vet bills are). 

We feel incredibly lucky to partner with them to ensure we're giving every furry creature that walks through those doors a second chance at a better life (tbh, it kind of makes us teary thinking about it). 

very vegan

Did you know that in Australia, every second, 15 animals die just so that we can eat them? Probably not because we didn't know either until we looked into it. 

How about, if the entire world went vegan, it could save roughly 8 million human lives by the year 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds and avoid climate damages of up to $1.5 trillion? 

Shocking, hey? 

That’s why we are passionate about so much more than healthy skin.

We aren’t advocates just because it’s ‘on trend’, our love for animals and their rights runs through the very core of this brand as they hold a very special place in our director, Patrizia's heart. 

Growing up with heaps and heaps of fur babies (livin' the absolute dream life), she hates the thought of neglecting or hurting our four-legged friends and for her, being vegan and creating a vegan skincare brand means she feels like she's doin' her bit to help prevent the exploitation of animals. 

Her awareness of the effect us humans are having on the planet made it super easy for butt naked to follow in her animal lovin' footsteps; being committed to actively sourcing high-quality alternatives to animal ingredients found in other products and promising to only test our skincare on human butts (not literally). 

sustainability 

We all know the planet should be happy and not stressed in the same way we all know that you only need a little spoonful of Vegemite on toast and a whole damn tin-full of milo in your milk. 

With our aim being to create and grow a sustainable skincare brand with more thoughtfulness, transparency and accountability, we've put in place a bunch of eco-friendly practices to ensure the environment stays as healthy as it can. 

ingredients 

The word 'crap' in relation to ingredients is not even in our repertoire here at BN HQ and that we means we only use natural stuff so as not to harm the beautiful planet we're living on. 

Not only do we not use Palm Oil due to the social, environmental and ethical implications caused by the palm oil industry (more on that later), but we opt for natural ingredients for a tonne of other reasons including:

- they won't pollute our beautiful ecosystems with all of their dangerous chemicals, ensuring fish can go about their normal behaviour, with their lives and unchanged and their bodies unharmed.  

- they won't damage our reefs, as ingredients will chemicals in them can actually strip the coral of its nutrients and bring harm to the animals that call the reef their home. 

- we stay away from microbeads (plastic beads used in some exfoliators) because of the potential for them to end up in our waterways where Nemo or Crush may swallow them. 

- we choose to use natural ingredients because we care about the planet and all of the furry animals who live in it. Plant-based ingredients help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the stages of growing and production. Plantarians for the win! 

 Oh and you also won't find these baddies in any ingredient list on our products: 

- synthetic colours, silicones, parabens, microbeads, P.E.G.s, Sulfates, G.M.O.'s, Mineral oils, petrolatum or chemical U.V. filters.

And that's a promise with a capital P. 

shipping + dispatch 

We use biodegradable + compostable post satchels when we're shipping out our products. These are made from plants and produced from wind and renewable energy. How cool is that?!?

They have a low carbon footprint, and in better news, can be composted at home, so you don't have to worry about throwing them out! So, like, wind farms for the win(d) are we right? Your compost worms will make themselves right at home (if you have any). 

We're also all about reducing our waste so we actually reuse every single box or piece of cardboard that arrives at our warehouse to pack your goodies in! You know what this means? Yep, none of the packaging that we receive goes to waste. Just the way we like it. 

If your order doesn't quit fit into the box we're packing it in and needs a little extra help to arrive to you safely then we use bio-fill which is made from Australia corn and potato starch. When submerged in water, bio-fill completely dissolves so you can dispose of it easily without harming the environment. 

packaging + printing 

lip care range

We no longer use any plastics when it comes to our lip care range. Instead, we've opted for aluminium tins ad biodegradable tamper-evident shrink seals made from  Viskrings/Celons. 

It sounds confusing so bare with us.

This material is made from extruded cellulose, meaning the main ingredient in these bands is wood pulp sourced from renewable sources! That's pretty cool if we do say so ourselves.

The seals are also bio-degradable and home compostable so you compost 'em down without having to throw them out. Woo!

face mask labels

We've recently switched to using Bagasse fibre as the base for our face mask labels (we don't blame you if you have no idea what this is).

Bagasse fibre is a plant-based, renewable tree-free material made from Sugar-cane paper; created from predominantly sugar cane waste.

When the sugar cane is at its most productive, atmospheric carbon is taken by the plant and turned into biomasse and bagasse is then the fibre that remains after the juice has been extracted. 

Producing this kind of material has a lower carbon footprint, meaning we're helping to lower pollution and preserve our forest ecosystems. 

We also use FSC certified environmentally sustainable label materials for our face mask tamper seals so we're basically winning at life. 

future neutral 

Partnering with Future Neutral was a no-brainer for us. Not only do they believe we, as humans, need to change our behaviour to combat climate change but they also recognise the urgency to act and be impactful. With the aim to reduce the affects of climate change, Future Neutral offers the chance for us to contribute in a way that actually helps. 

Using certified, vetted, carbon offset projects that reduce, avoid or remove greenhouse gas emissions, Future Neutral gives you the opportunity to offset your carbon footprint when you're ready to check out. 

So not only do you get a replenishment of the body oil you've been wanting ever since you finished it about roughly 2-5 seconds (our body oils are hard to live without), you also get the chance to make a small but positive impact to help the environment. Definitely worth it. 

So how does it work? 

Future Neutral has installed a one-click carbon offset button at our checkout page, so once you've finished shopping you can choose to offset your purchase by clicking a button that will then add 3% onto your cart's total price. 

Help us save the planet! 

palm oil free

Derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree, palm oil is often found in food (often hiding as 'vegetable oil'), soap, shampoo and other cosmetics but it comes with social, environmental and ethical associations. For these reasons, we never have and we never will use palm oil in our products. 

"Why though?" - you again, probably 

Palm oil production actively contributes to the destroying of endangered animal habitats through rapid deforestation and that's not something we can (or want to) look past. This kind of large-scale destruction is also rapidly increasing the global quantity of carbon pollution emission so you can basically blame this industry for helping to drive human induced climate change. 

"Why do people use it then"? - you again, wishing you knew all of the answers without having to ask. 

Palm oil is very cheap to produce and can be used in so many ingredients so the demand is extremely high, however, manufactures and consumers are beginning to realise that there are sustainable palm oil options and derivatives, meaning there's a possibility to drive the need for palm oil down. Fingers crossed this happens sooner rather than later. 

Instead, we have a great partnership with the Orangutan Alliance as we're now officially palm oil free certified, and we don't wanna brag or anything but we know we’re working with the best in the biz.  

We're not about trying' to hide anything, especially when it comes to our ingredients and where we get them from, and providing ethical options for your everyday skin care products is who we are, down to our very core.

By proudly labelling ourselves as palm oil free, we can help to raise awareness about alarming issues our environment is facing due to unsustainable palm oil production whilst at the same time promoting ethical eco-friendly skincare alternatives (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) that will then lead to the decreased demand and the 'no cutting down of rainforests and orangutan habitats'.

You can't see it but we're giving ourselves a high-five right now. 

Shop affordable, cruelty free skincare at Butt Naked.