Candace Grenier - Pure Anada Founder & Formulator
Is your makeup ethical?
I remember the day in 2014 when journalist, Adria Vasil contacted me about THIS ARTICLE she was writing for NOW Toronto. News was beginning to spread that 70% of the world's mica supply is mined in India, much of it linked to child slave-labour. She asked me what I knew about our mica supply chain.
Being so immersed in the day-to-day aspects of growing our company, I was ashamed to admit that I wasn't aware of this practice and the possibility that our suppliers were involved in this scandal. I was horrified to think that Pure Anada could be indirectly linked to child slave-labour. Kristen, our makeup artist was sitting in a desk next to me and asked the sobering question, "If you find out the mica you use in Pure Anada is mined by children, what will you do?"
Mica is an integral part of our colour cosmetic formulations. It's one of the ways Pure Anada products achieve their colour and dimension. Our philosophy is to only use pigment from natural mineral sources. Simply eliminating it from the formula wasn't an option. Finding another supplier also seemed like a grim prospect when I heard that Lush decided to eliminate all mica from their formulas and replace it with synthetic (plastic) shimmer and FD&C (petro-chemical) dyes. This wasn't the direction I wanted to take Pure Anada either.
It crossed my mind that this could be the end of Pure Anada! The ethical treatment of people is of paramount importance to me. It's my heart's desire that all humans are treated fairly, with respect and dignity. While the treatment of animals and the sustainability of natural resources are also important - people (of all things) take priority.
My first course of action was to email our mica-supplier, and hopefully they could enlighten me on their sourcing and production practices. Much to my great relief, their response was SO much better than I could have imagined! Not only were they NOT involved in child-slave-labour, they were pro-active to build and support the communities where they mined mica. The statements below were part of the report I received (our supplier name is not disclosed for proprietary reasons).
I was thrilled (and still am!) to know that our mica supply chain is not only clean, but supportive of women, children and families in India. Another reason to keep doing what we love to do! Thanks for supporting our brand.
Is your makeup ethical?
I remember the day in 2014 when journalist, Adria Vasil contacted me about THIS ARTICLE she was writing for NOW Toronto. News was beginning to spread that 70% of the world's mica supply is mined in India, much of it linked to child slave-labour. She asked me what I knew about our mica supply chain.
Being so immersed in the day-to-day aspects of growing our company, I was ashamed to admit that I wasn't aware of this practice and the possibility that our suppliers were involved in this scandal. I was horrified to think that Pure Anada could be indirectly linked to child slave-labour. Kristen, our makeup artist was sitting in a desk next to me and asked the sobering question, "If you find out the mica you use in Pure Anada is mined by children, what will you do?"
Mica is an integral part of our colour cosmetic formulations. It's one of the ways Pure Anada products achieve their colour and dimension. Our philosophy is to only use pigment from natural mineral sources. Simply eliminating it from the formula wasn't an option. Finding another supplier also seemed like a grim prospect when I heard that Lush decided to eliminate all mica from their formulas and replace it with synthetic (plastic) shimmer and FD&C (petro-chemical) dyes. This wasn't the direction I wanted to take Pure Anada either.
It crossed my mind that this could be the end of Pure Anada! The ethical treatment of people is of paramount importance to me. It's my heart's desire that all humans are treated fairly, with respect and dignity. While the treatment of animals and the sustainability of natural resources are also important - people (of all things) take priority.
My first course of action was to email our mica-supplier, and hopefully they could enlighten me on their sourcing and production practices. Much to my great relief, their response was SO much better than I could have imagined! Not only were they NOT involved in child-slave-labour, they were pro-active to build and support the communities where they mined mica. The statements below were part of the report I received (our supplier name is not disclosed for proprietary reasons).
****** strongly opposes child labour. As a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, the company is actively engaged in eliminating child labour. The ****** Social Charter explicitly bans child labour. We demand that our suppliers act accordingly, stipulating in our contracts with them that they do not employ children.
Besides our strategy to ensure control along the entire mica supply chain, we are working in parallel to improve the social and living conditions of families in the mica mining region. As a means of support, we have established educational and health care programmes. To ensure sustainable results of these social programmes, ****** is collaborating with expert partners locally in India.
****** started to evaluate the need and options for social activities in 2008. In the meantime three schools, two vocational training centres and a medical centre have been opened and are financed by ******. All activities have been well accepted by villagers and their children. Progress has been made constantly showing the high demand for these offers.
Our supplier then went on to explain in detail, the schools, hospitals, vocational training centres and child-friendly villages they have funded and continue to support, including photos of each one. Here are some samples:
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| Medical Centre in Saphi |
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| Sarita - Medical Nurse |
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| School Children in Tisri |
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| School in Tisri |
I was thrilled (and still am!) to know that our mica supply chain is not only clean, but supportive of women, children and families in India. Another reason to keep doing what we love to do! Thanks for supporting our brand.
Want to support other ethical makeup companies? Check out World Vision's Good Makeup Guide and watch this fun video they produced below!
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