BEAUTY & FRAGRANCE
FOUNDERS BEAUTY
Founders Beauty is a luxury vegan skincare house built for people who read the label. Founded in Singapore in 2022 by Sonam Uttamchandani, after a personal health journey that made her question everything she was putting on her skin, the brand selects every active in-house, choosing on performance alone, then formulates with laboratory partners in New Zealand and in Singapore for selected products, so that each formulation is made more sustainably and remains stable as well as effective. Certified cruelty-free and vegan by PETA and carrying the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark, Founders Beauty gives its customers everything at once: high-performing actives, independently verified ethics, and the pleasure of a well-made product.
SUSTAINABILITY PURPOSE
At Founders Beauty, sustainability is settled at the formulation bench, not in the marketing meeting. Every product is vegan and certified cruelty-free by PETA, no animal-derived ingredients and no animal testing at any stage, by the brand, its partners, or anyone acting on its behalf. Ingredient selection is carried out in-house, so that each active earns its place on performance rather than on cost or convenience. Formulation then takes place with laboratory partners in New Zealand, and in Singapore for selected products, chosen for their ability to source more responsibly and to build formulations that stay stable across their life. Four principles govern the work: Transparency, Empowerment, Lasting Results and Love – T.E.L.L. In practice they mean saying what is in the bottle and why, explaining it well enough that customers can judge for themselves, formulating for results that justify the price, and treating suppliers and community as people rather than costs. Butterfly Mark certification put all of it under independent, audited scrutiny – the first time Founders Beauty's governance, sourcing and social practice had been assessed by anyone other than Founders Beauty. That is precisely the point. A brand asking to be trusted should be willing to show its working, and certification is how this one intends to keep earning it: measured against targets, reassessed on a cycle, published where anyone can check.
Established
2022
First Certified
2023
Headquarters
Singapore
Employees
1-10
Categories
Skincare and Wellness
Website
Distribution
International shipping; Singapore and Asia-Pacific retail
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT CARD
Click below to see the detailed breakdown of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Founders Beauty has been comprehensively assessed and scored against all key areas of sustainability, including impact on climate, nature and water, treatment of workers and communities as well as how ethically the business is run. Performance is assessed against international agreements, global frameworks, standards and legislation.
REAL CHANGE IN ACTION
ETHICS AND FAIR OPERATING PRACTICES
Founders Beauty operates based on the core principles of transparency, empowerment through education, and love; with trust and respect at the forefront of stakeholder engagement. An internal ‘ethical decision tree’ ensures that decision-making aligns to the company values without compromising the disclosure of confidential information. Operational decisions account for potential impact(s) on stakeholders and long-term business goals. The Founders Beauty Code of Conduct, which all the company’s key suppliers have signed, outlines how the company screens, and selects suppliers in accordance with legal compliance, sustainability considerations as well as anti-corruption and anti-trust principles. The code underlines customers’ freedom of choice, while upholding policies such as fair competition as well as safeguarding labour laws and regulations. Active steps are taken to assess the risks of corruption and money laundering in the company value chain. In-house training, and procedures governing conflicts of interest are complemented by due diligence approaches to verify that prospective business partners have similar ethical policies and practices.
SUSTAINABILITY PURPOSE
The Founders Beauty purpose statement: 'Empowering one and all to understand nature and its ability to heal' underpins the company’s holistic business strategy and product development. Sustainability is almost a permanent item on the company agenda, which drives company objectives, targets, procurement, and accountability for both internal and external stakeholders. The company’s wellness programme prioritises employees’ work-life balance, while ensuring a healthy and safe working environment. These priorities are reinforced by regular risk assessments, meetings, and check-ins. Two well-being days are given per year in addition to two Fridays per year for wellness weekends so that employees can rest, reflect, and reset. Wellness-focused and sustainability-based training opportunities are offered across the organisation to further integrate the company’s ethics-driven culture.
SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION
Founders Beauty’s innovative products for peoples' skincare and their well-being derive from both plant- and vegan-based natural ingredients. While company suppliers implement organic or biodynamic farming practices under accreditations such as natrue-label and ISO 9001, complementary partnerships engage experts in the fields of nutrition, wellness, and fitness. To bring products to market, sustainable sourcing-related research and consumer feedback provided via online channels complement rigorous lab testing. The diversity of Founders Beauty employees alongside the diversity of partners with whom they work encourages a cross-pollination of ideas. Creativity, technical know-how, and market analysis come together to embed sustainable innovation in daily business practices. Low-impact materials and post-consumer recycled packaging are rolled out to customers in collaboration with business partners via digital tools, apps, and platforms that enable streamlined processes and means through which to optimise the customer’s experience.
Founders Beauty operates based on the core principles of transparency, empowerment through education, and love; with trust and respect at the forefront of stakeholder engagement. An internal ‘ethical decision tree’ ensures that decision-making aligns to the company values without compromising the disclosure of confidential information. Operational decisions account for potential impact(s) on stakeholders and long-term business goals. The Founders Beauty Code of Conduct, which all the company’s key suppliers have signed, outlines how the company screens, and selects suppliers in accordance with legal compliance, sustainability considerations as well as anti-corruption and anti-trust principles. The code underlines customers’ freedom of choice, while upholding policies such as fair competition as well as safeguarding labour laws and regulations. Active steps are taken to assess the risks of corruption and money laundering in the company value chain. In-house training, and procedures governing conflicts of interest are complemented by due diligence approaches to verify that prospective business partners have similar ethical policies and practices.
The Founders Beauty purpose statement: 'Empowering one and all to understand nature and its ability to heal' underpins the company’s holistic business strategy and product development. Sustainability is almost a permanent item on the company agenda, which drives company objectives, targets, procurement, and accountability for both internal and external stakeholders. The company’s wellness programme prioritises employees’ work-life balance, while ensuring a healthy and safe working environment. These priorities are reinforced by regular risk assessments, meetings, and check-ins. Two well-being days are given per year in addition to two Fridays per year for wellness weekends so that employees can rest, reflect, and reset. Wellness-focused and sustainability-based training opportunities are offered across the organisation to further integrate the company’s ethics-driven culture.
Founders Beauty’s innovative products for peoples' skincare and their well-being derive from both plant- and vegan-based natural ingredients. While company suppliers implement organic or biodynamic farming practices under accreditations such as natrue-label and ISO 9001, complementary partnerships engage experts in the fields of nutrition, wellness, and fitness. To bring products to market, sustainable sourcing-related research and consumer feedback provided via online channels complement rigorous lab testing. The diversity of Founders Beauty employees alongside the diversity of partners with whom they work encourages a cross-pollination of ideas. Creativity, technical know-how, and market analysis come together to embed sustainable innovation in daily business practices. Low-impact materials and post-consumer recycled packaging are rolled out to customers in collaboration with business partners via digital tools, apps, and platforms that enable streamlined processes and means through which to optimise the customer’s experience.
Standards & Accreditations
To provide evidence of sustainability performance across luxury companies' full value chain, 180+ memberships, accreditations and specialist certifications are taken into account during assessment
FSC Certified
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
ISO 9001 Quality Management
JOURNEY SO FAR
08/2023
CERTIFIED
07/2023
FINAL SUBMISSION
02/2023
RISK MAPPING
12/2022
BASELINE SUBMISSION
09/2022
BEGAN ASSESSMENT
A WORD FROM THE FOUNDER
I started Founders Beauty because I needed it to exist. A personal health journey taught me how much the body can recover when it is treated well – and how little I actually knew about what I was putting on my skin. So we built the brand backwards from that discomfort: prove the ingredient, prove the partner, prove the claim. Sustainability is not a campaign. It is the accumulation of small decisions nobody sees, made correctly when nobody is watching. The Butterfly Mark holds us to those decisions independently, which is exactly why we wanted it
SONAM UTTAMCHANDANI-NANWANI
FOUNDER AND CEO
WHY POSITIVE LUXURY
Good intentions are not a standard. Founders Beauty sought Butterfly Mark certification because a small, founder-led brand competing against houses many times its size cannot ask to be taken on trust – it has to be checkable. Positive Luxury's ESG+ assessment was rigorous enough to find the brand's gaps and independent enough that customers and retail partners need not take Founders Beauty's word for anything. Certification is not a badge to be filed away. It is a starting line, and a public undertaking to be measured again.
PATHWAY TO HIGHER STANDARDS
Founders Beauty's sustainability journey thrives through innovation and best practices, next we aim to focus on the following:
1. Renewable Energy Adoption: Shifting operations to renewable sources via power purchase deals, solar panels, and community energy projects.
2. Eco-Packaging Excellence: Minimising packaging impact through design efficiency, recycled/sustainable materials, and encouraging recycling/composting.
3. Thoughtful Ingredient Selection: Prioritising low-carbon footprint options like sustainable, organic, and local ingredients.
4. Regenerative Collaboration: Partnering with suppliers promoting sustainable farming and regenerative agriculture.
This roadmap amplifies Founders Beauty's eco-commitment, aligning ethics with consumer desires for a greener future.