Conscious Beauty And Beautiful Minds: Interview w/ Lindsey McCoy
Lindsey McCoy is the co-founder and CEO of Plaine Products, a personal care products company on a mission to save the earth from single-use plastics. After seeing an overwhelming amount of plastics wash up on beaches while living in The Bahamas, Lindsey made the choice to use less plastic in her life, but was unable to find alternatives to the plastic bottles used for products like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and facial care products. She then joined up with her sister, co-founder and COO Ali Webster, to create a line of sustainable body care products in reusable, refillable aluminum bottles. Their customers send back the empty bottles to be cleaned, refilled and returned to circulation. Together with their customers, who receive no extra incentive for returning the bottles, the company has diverted over 250,000 bottles from circulation, a number that they are on target to double in 2021.
What was the first beauty routine you adopted as a child or teenager? Which emotions do you connect with this memory?
Our mom was a hippie, so there wasn’t any introduction to the world of beauty or regimes coming from her. Instead there was an emphasis on simplicity and natural beauty which serves me to this day. I’m still always in favor of less being more and I’m so grateful that the love and support she gave me gives me the confidence to step out in the world “as is.” My makeup routine has always been pretty minimal and most days just includes a little moisturizer. It may sound trite, but I do believe that beauty comes from within. It’s more about what comes from the inside than anything that you might add to the outside.
CONSCIOUS BEAUTY — What meaning do you give this term?
We ask our customers to be more conscious about their own consumerism as one step in living more sustainably. More specifically, we ask them to think about what they are buying, how they are using it, and how they will dispose of it. We believe this awareness is important for almost every category, not just beauty. Studies have shown that so many women have thousands of dollars worth of skin and personal care products in their bathroom drawers, much of it only partially used, and many of the products in plastic bottles that have a greater chance of ending up in landfills versus the recycling stream. Although we can be tempted by marketing claims, we think conscious beauty has to do with really thinking about what you’re going to buy and use. Sometimes that means not buying the same products over and over without considering more sustainable options, sometimes that means skipping an impulse purchase, as less purchasing ultimately leads to less waste.
Conscious beauty, to me, is also about considering a product’s ingredients. Our products are vegan, toxin free, and biodegradable. Why would you want to put something on your skin or hair that could hurt you or the environment? How can the outcome of any toxic product be considered beautiful?
Which aspects of sustainability in beauty are especially important to you?
It’s the whole package for us. We’re trying to make a big impact by making a very minimal impact. Our bottles are refilled and our shipping boxes, which are made from recycled and recyclable materials, secured with recyclable paper tape and labeled with recyclable shipping labels, are reused 4 to 5 times before they are recycled. Our ingredients are non-toxic, Leaping Bunny Certified cruelty free, vegan, biodegradable, and free of sulfates, parabens, phthalates, silicone, and palm oil. Additionally, we recently announced that our shipping (even retroactively) is carbon neutral. But we’re still working to increase our sustainability. We’re constantly learning more, refining our process, and finding new earth-friendly practices.
What we think is important is sustainable beauty — and in any industry — is the baby steps towards progress. We were among the first to start a circular system with our packaging and we’ve tweaked and modified our process as we’ve learned more to become more eco-friendly. But, we know that we can’t do it alone. We need many more companies like ours and we need every manufacturer to consider sustainability factors in their practices. We’re starting to see other companies use aluminum bottles. We’re seeing more companies provide non-plastic options. And there’s much more of an emphasis on ingredients and non-toxic alternatives in beauty. In the early days of our company, we worked with a specific, niche audience that was looking for a product like ours. Now we’re reaching beyond the “sustainability audience” to a more mainstream one. It’s like a large-scale awakening with consumers everywhere. It matters what we buy and it matters what we put on our bodies. Soon, it will be an expectation to have sustainable packaging and ingredients, not a differentiation point. That’s a day that we can’t wait to see.
When do you consciously feel beautiful?
When I am joyful. When I can really just enjoy the moment for what it is, I feel good both inside and out. I feel like those moments of true joy make everyone’s beauty shine through.
Did your approach to beauty change within the last 1–2 years?
Sustainability has been an interest of mine for a long time. Before founding Plaine Products, I worked for environmental nonprofits during my time living in The Bahamas. In the islands, the trash doesn’t just disappear, and seeing the consequences of our disposable lifestyle had me gradually change my choices towards reuse and repurpose versus recycle and throw away.
However, through our company social media channels, I always wanted to put forth a positive, non judgemental message. No plastic shaming allowed! We preach progress over perfection. We don’t want people to give up if they can’t achieve zero waste (which is impossible), and instead we want them to celebrate the small reuse wins. It’s about all of us taking small steps and celebrating small.
My time in 2019 aboard Exxpedition, an all women, plastic research sailing vessel, really pushed me to continue to expand the reach of Plaine Products. Sailing from Aruba to Panama we found plastic on, in and under the water. I was re-galvanized in my effort to help people “turn off the plastic tap” and find more sustainable alternatives to packaging. We ramped up our efforts to get the word out about sustainable habits and using eco-friendly products after that. We worked even harder to network with other companies with a similar ethos. We’re still non-judgemental and encourage baby steps, but we realize now that we can’t stop. We’ve expanded our product line since my trip, to now include facial care products, beauty oil, hand sanitizer, and unscented hair products, because we’re more committed than ever to provide plastic free beauty and hair products. Consumers can’t go plastic free if they don’t have options. There’s an estimate that if we don’t do something about our plastic usage as a society, by 2050, the amount of plastic particles in the ocean could outnumber fish. We’re a company that’s encouraged by competition. We welcome others into our category. The more options consumers have, the more impact we can have in stopping single use plastic waste.
How would you like to see the image of beauty change within the next 5 years?
When thinking about beauty standards, I always want us to be kind to ourselves. We’re in a society that is so critical. But being kind to yourself isn’t just what your internal voice tells you. Being kind to yourself is being good to your body by using safe, nurturing products with ingredients that are good for you and the earth. If it hurts you, how can it make you feel beautiful?
What or who inspires your beauty routine?
I’m in awe of the sheer skill of some women to highlight the right features and deemphasize others to create a subtle metamorphosis with makeup. When they use their talents on me, I’m struck by how I’m still myself, but more. I do like the look they are able to achieve. However, those skills aren’t ones I have spent the time to acquire, so personally, I’m inspired by women like Alicia Keys who have chosen to step out in the world in a more natural way.
What is your best beauty advice to others?
Beauty works best for me as a form of self care. As women, and as humans, we all could take a little more time for ourselves. For me, that means taking the extra moment in the moment to apply toner before I moisturize. It means our Plaine Products beauty oil at the end of the day to help relax. It means taking breaks during the day to breathe and move. I think we are all more beautiful when we are happier and healthier.
THANK YOU!
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Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on CONSCIOUS BEAUTY:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur with more than 2 decades of experience in the health & beauty industry. This interview series is intended to create awareness about the movement of Conscious Beauty.
We are in a beautiful time of Conscious Beauty — you may have heard of this term, but what does Conscious Beauty mean, and why does it matter?
For us, beauty is a way to love — it is about self-care, art, nutrition, exercise, life, self-love. I invite you to become part of a movement that re-defines beauty. Let’s empower beautiful minds.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
