Beauty with a Purpose: Corporate Social Responsibility within the Cosmetic Industry

Corporate social responsibility is something that has been increasingly on the minds of consumers in all departments. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has also become increasingly important in the beauty industry, with many brands stepping up to address social and environmental issues. Here are some top instances of CSR in the beauty industry:

Fenty Beauty: Founded by renowned singer Rihanna, Fenty Beauty has set a new standard for inclusivity and social impact in the beauty world. The brand’s commitment to diversity is evident in its extensive foundation range, which launched with 40 shades and has since expanded to 501. This move not only revolutionized the industry but also addressed a long-standing issue of underrepresentation in beauty products.

Fenty Beauty’s CSR efforts extend beyond product inclusivity. The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) was founded in 2012 by Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. CLF supports and funds climate resilience and climate justice projects in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Fenty has a CLF makeup line which donates 35% of all proceeds to the foundation. In 2020, Fenty Beauty pledged $1 million to support racial justice causes, including Black Lives Matter and the NAACP.

Rare Beauty: Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty has made mental health a cornerstone of its CSR initiatives. The brand launched the Rare Impact Fund, committing to raising $100 million over ten years to expand access to mental health services. Rare Beauty allocates 1% of all product sales to the fund, which has already provided more than $1.7 million in grant support to mental health organizations worldwide.

Mental health is very important to Selena as she is very open about her own personal struggles with Bipolar disorder, and also not being able to have children of her own. These are issues that women all across the world deal with every day and often feel great shame in talking about, Selena strives to change that narrative.

As she said in a Peoples Magazine article titled “ Selena Gomez Says It’s ‘Not Shameful’ to Disclose That She Can’t Carry Kids and Has Bipolar Disorder” “That is not shameful. So yeah, I shared that I can’t carry a child. Yeah, I shared I have bipolar. F— off. That’s what my life is like,”

I think CSR is important for all brands to consider and being an educated consumer is one of our duties as customers. Within the beauty world, there can be so many negative standards that are created and upheld by brands, for instance not having enough diversity in the options for different shades of products. I think many brands have come a long way and are continuing to do better each year. Seeing beauty brands uplift other women such as Rare Beauty and Fenty, is really empowering.

I challenge you to research your favorite cosmetic brands and learn more about their good, or bad, CSR!