When it comes to Holos, with our products, instead of promoting what’s NOT in them we try to educate our community on what IS in them. So we talk about the merits of plant ingredients and the nutritional value they provide to the skin, the science of what is contained within a plant sourced ingredient, and how we combine these with plant actives and sometimes not plant actives. We are very passionate about using ingredients that come from a “natural” origin but if that entails an ingredient not being vegan or doesn’t come with enough evidence of stability or safety for the user, we will choose a more stable form of an active – e.g. when we were formulating our vitamin C, we tried many different forms and none of the ones that came from a plant source remained stable. They oxidised causing the product to go rancid faster. Using pure Ascorbic acid, the most potent form of Vitamin C also did this, so we chose a form that only turns to ascorbic acid in the skin, so it remains stable in the bottle.

When it comes to ingredients and animal testing, it is illegal to test ingredients/products that are exclusively for cosmetic purposes, on animals in Europe, so you would wonder why using the term “Cruelty-free” is even necessary in Europe and sometimes brands can be accused of using this term as part of a greenwashing campaign. However, when it comes to an ingredient, there are some ingredients that are available for both the cosmetic and medical sectors and some of these may have recently been tested on animals so are NOT Cruelty-free. We make sure that ALL ingredients are cruelty-free so when looking for actives we look for manufacturers that have certification and documentation to prove the non-use of ingredients in the medical industry. We look for actives that come with cosmos certification for example.

Using the word Vegan is also still important as very common ingredients like stearic acid and glycerine can come from both an animal or plant source. We guarantee that these commonly used ingredients will always come from a plant source because we actively make sure of it when sourcing our ingredients.

A reason why the word “natural” doesn’t automatically mean better is, when it comes to plant ingredients,  you can still buy from suppliers that are not engaged in sustainable practices, We look for partners that are open about their own practices within their businesses – so who they buy from, what their own vegan and testing credentials are, whether they are involved in replanting / farming / tree planting initiatives etc. Our plant ingredient suppliers are all vetted for suitability with our own ethos. We look for small suppliers, supporting local whenever we can.

Manufacturers of active ingredients tend to be bigger and so when it comes to bigger, they can go 2 ways, making big cuts to get bigger, or make a bigger impact when it comes to sustainability and social responsibility. While searching for ingredients, we look at their business practices, e.g. The use of solar or wind power to power plants, Ecovadis or B-corp certification. We look at community activities, i.e. how they work with their internal teams and external communities.

When it comes to packaging materials, we have a combination of suppliers, both in Ireland and abroad. We try to get as much locally but some expertise is focused on abroad. We have almost all products in glass or light weight aluminium with only 3 products left in PET plastic. We will eventually change these but we do not want to waste packaging we have in stores. We minimise boxes where possible and have removed boxes from products where we can. We will use boxes if A. we cannot fit required information on the bottle so need to use a box, B. we need the extra protection of a box if we are using glass. Since 2020, all new launches have been in light weight aluminium which has lowered CO2 emissions in transport and also aluminium is infinitely recycled. We have pushed our aluminium supplier hard to begin working with recycled aluminium so presently they are creating samples for us which we will test on our products. We need to strike a balance between safety and sustainability. Recycled aluminium will have more impurities than virgin aluminium so our supplier is insisting on a high quality before supplying us, and stability testing of our products. We will be carrying this out over the coming months and hope to be using recycled aluminium by 2025. On our https://holos.ie website we have links to help our community learn about recycling and we have a table laying out all of our packaging with a transparent and extensive guide to the parts of our packaging that can be recycled in your area and also the parts that cannot be.

Within our company, we have low waste, low energy use,  a strict recycling policy. We do small things like collect batteries with WEE Ireland who are in partnership with Laura Lynn. We support local charities and sports groups that work with children, animals and women.

No team member ever starts on minimum wage and appraisals are carried out and salaries reviewed regularly. Health insurance is offered to all full time team members once probationary periods are complete and we have flexible working arrangements to fit around family and lifestyle with flexible times and hybrid working for those who are not directly working in production. We celebrate every birthday and have a culture of mutual respect and kindness.