Words by Smiley Team
Throughout his life, the CEO of makeup brand Zao, David Reccole, has built up a strong belief in socially and environmentally sustainable business practices. Today, his vegan makeup brand is a testament to the lessons he has learned since childhood.
Growing up, David’s community-orientated family taught him the value of supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged people. When he graduated from university with an engineering degree, he travelled to India to volunteer in a centre for people with leprosy before finding work in a French humanitarian organisation.
“My parents really instilled in me the idea that bosses were bad people who are always extracting profits from the labour forces and so I didn't want to be like this. So I am always thinking about how to consistently do business in a way that makes the employees happy to work on the project,” he says.
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After entering the cosmetics industry, he developed a passion for sourcing sustainable ingredients. Working for natural beauty brand L’Occitane, David discovered makeup manufacturing processes that put the environment first, such as using natural ingredients such as shea butter.
Years later, after receiving a bamboo pencil as a gift from a friend, he was inspired to travel to China and learn about the potential of this natural material.
In the midst of a rustling bamboo forest, a local colleague of David’s taught him how these plants can grow faster than most standard trees and how compounds within their stems can be transformed into natural makeup.
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“Bamboo is one of the richest ingredients on Earth,” he explains, “and it’s a natural source of silica, one of the most important components in our body. From the age of about 20, we stop synthesising it in our bodies when we stop growing. But it's absolutely necessary for skin elasticity.”
More research led him to discover other minerals, including silver, that would help finalise his natural makeup collection.
The result of this incredible learning journey is Zao, a company selling affordable but highly sustainable makeup. Everything except their pencils and nail polishes is available in beautifully designed refillable containers made from sustainable bamboo.
The company offers foundations, powders, eye makeup, lipsticks, nail polishes and more. All items are of optimum benefit to your skin and produced with minimal impact on the environment.
