New Zealand natural skincare brand pushes the ethical sector forward

New Zealand natural skincare company Trilogy puts ethical considerations and social responsibility at the top of its values by ensuring the use of natural ingredients, and the involvement with charity partnerships are a core part of its operations.

Launched in 2002, Trilogy has since developed a range of ethical skin care products and incorporated its ethical values and philanthropy into all of their innovations.

Trilogy’s mantra, ‘Maximum effect on your skin, minimum effect on our environment’, reflects its ethical stance on protecting the environment, not selling in countries where animal testing is conducted, its commitment to help other non-profit organisations.

With ‘discover nature’s power’ at the forefront of everything Trilogy does, they use up to date and quality scientific techniques to create innovative skincare formed from nature, with natural ingredients.

Evolving Ethical Involvement​

Trilogy achieved NATRUE Natural Cosmetics Certification​ in 2012, becoming the first New Zealand skincare brand to receive this certification.

As social responsibility has, since Trilogy’s inception been one of its core values, it has worked with a variety of charities including So They Can, UN Women New Zealand as an empowerment partner and Orangutan Protection Foundation​.

Trilogy has worked with non-profit organisation So They Can​ for several years, which invests in areas in severe need in Kenya and Tanzania. Working towards long-term poverty alleviation through sustainable enterprise, it focuses on educating children and supporting women towards self-sufficiency. 

So They Can also has the support from its communities and governments in Kenya and Tanzania  to educate and empower. This collaboration ensures that So They Can’s model is sustainable and that it can effectively meet the critical needs of the communities that it has been set up to help.

Trilogy has recently released two limited edition natural perfumes, Jua and Raha, which contain hand-harvested sunflower oil from a So They Can social business project. Trilogy will donate NZ$2 (US$1.5) to So They Can from every perfume sold.

Consumer Demand​

As the popularity of ethical and sustainable products grows, Cosmetics Design Asia reported in April ​that Joanna Chan, beauty research analyst with Euromonitor stated that one of the current key trends set to push the ethical market forward is government involvement. 

By combining government support with commercial opportunity from businesses such as Trilogy, this helps to promote the importance of the use of natural ingredients, ethical cosmetics production and social responsibility further.

This year’s Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, which will be held in Hong Kong on November 14-15, will also be placing significant importance on ethical labelling, green ingredients and packaging to reflect the APAC-wide ethical and sustainable trend.

Natural Products​

Trilogy will release its latest natural skin care baby, Rosapene Radiance Serum, in early October.

The Radiance Serum​ is an antioxidant oil blend that contains Rosapene (certified organic rosehip cranberry and tomato seed oils), sea algae and aloe vera.

Rosehip oil is known for its nourishing and moisturising properties and is pH balanced. As it has a molecular structure similar to our skin’s natural oil (sebum), Trilogy state that rosehip oil can help to regulate the skin’s own oil production and can be beneficial for re-balancing oily skin.

It's Certified Organic Rosehip Oil, which launched in 2002 and is one of the original range of five Trilogy products was joined in 2012 by Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+​. The products are also used to help improve the appearance of scars and fine lines and wrinkles.

IRI MarketEdge Pharmacy and Trilogy report that it sells a bottle of Trilogy rosehip oil every 22 seconds.