TransparenSee: Tackling greenwashing in the beauty industry

Clean? Natural? Plant-Powered? Within recent years the number of beauty brands calling themselves green has risen dramatically and whilst many are helping us help the planet; many larger brands are greenwashing their products to capitalise on this recent trend.

Brief: To increase awareness of greenwashing in the beauty industry by putting pressure on brands to become more transparent and empowering millennial beauty consumers to spot and avoid greenwashed cosmetics so that they can make truly sustainable choices.

Solution: TransparenSee is a movement that aims to spread awareness of greenwashing and provide people with the tools to avoid it. Satirical posters incorporate beauty brand logos to drive awareness aiming to put pressure on beauty brands to become more transparent whilst educating beauty consumers on what greenwashing is.

Anti-greenwashing PR boxes contain products to help influencers understand how to avoid greenwashing so that the message can then be spread to their followers. The ‘Let’s blend away greenwashing’ palette uses commonly unregulated terms such as ‘organic’ as shade names to help beauty consumers spot greenwashing. These products have been designed as a more engaging way to spread information, asides from conventional methods such as leaflets, to encourage people to think twice when they buy and provide a conversation starting point amongst the beauty community.

Get Wild to Rewild is a sub-brand campaign delivered by Durex that encourages condom use in 18-25-year-old men by drawing attention to the link between overpopulation and deforestation.

Billboards are placed in Leeds Millenium Square targeting young people in their twenties walking to University and on nights out. The bright colour, humorous copy and playful yet powerful tone of voice capture the target audience in a light-hearted manner whilst addressing a serious environmental issue.

Fear of dental pain can cause dental-fearing individuals to stop attending routine dental appointments and seeking treatment which consequently negatively affects both oral and mental health.

The ‘Fearful of Fillings?’ website allows people that are scared of the dentist to prepare for treatment by understanding what will happen during a filling procedure. The A5 booklet placed in NHS dentist waiting rooms then reassures dental-fearing individuals by providing coping methods that can help relieve anxiety during the treatment ahead.