The Beginning

Well, I do hope the first blog is the hardest because this is not fun yet.

I’m not a writer and definitely not a poet, so don’t come here looking for any fancy words.

Over the past year, I’ve wondered what I would even say as the Aquarian rebel who wants to say enough, but without scaring you all away. I don’t need to be the next guru with magical words, stating the obvious and telling everyone to “be the change”.

I doubt there is any new groundbreaking message I can give you, but I do want to be supportive in introducing a new way of thinking when we purchase. A little bit of knowledge up our sleeves won’t go astray, and hopefully some of it will pop into our heads before we buy the next plastic fad.

A few years ago, I started thinking about getting back into the skincare world. So much had changed since I had dabbled in it only a few years earlier, but the call was too strong to ignore.

I had worked for a few manufacturers over the years, which I always considered to be my training schools. I used the opportunity to learn as much as I could — the do’s and don’ts and the little tricks that most people aren’t aware of.

Quietly, I played around with an assortment of ideas, but nothing really took hold. Then one day, a client asked me to work on a recycling social media campaign for them.

I never thought much about it at the time, but thankfully I realised it was a right place, right time scenario.

I put my research hat on and was shocked by the landfill images I came across, along with the statistics around fast fashion, plastic, microplastics and the amount of water wasted globally.

And suddenly, I had to rethink my skincare range.

I always knew there would be a recycling element to it, but after looking more closely at my ideas, I realised I would also be part of the problem — and I didn’t want to contribute to those numbers.

When only a small percentage of plastic is actually recycled, it becomes irrelevant whether we are using recycled plastic if it is unlikely to be recycled again. Our planet takes another hit.

I looked at glass options, but breakages were a concern, and it would still need a plastic lid. That idea eventually faded.

Funnily enough, I had looked at aluminium packaging before and found myself going back to an old vision board full of ideas. From there, things started moving forward.

The formula landed in my lap pretty quickly.

I must admit, I didn’t want to become a perfectionist about the whole thing. I’ve treated this project as a work in progress. If something doesn’t work, we’ll change it on the next run. We learn, we adapt and hopefully we improve.

Even the design came together quickly. The first draft arrived, we changed the font and voilà — we were done.

Having worked on previous design projects, that is almost unheard of.

There is one big thank you I need to put out there.

Sabine — my BFF and graphic designer — has tolerated me for years anyway, but helping me with this project and listening to all my tiny dramas that became irrelevant days later makes her the friend we all need.

I’m so grateful. This genuinely could never have happened without her. She has been a true godsend.

I also have to mention Cuba, Mark, Michelle and Paul, who came along on the journey and stayed. Their support right from the beginning has been amazing.

As for this little space, I’m keeping things fairly open.

There will be some skincare, some recycling stuff and maybe a few tips along the way. I want this to be a safe space for all of us to learn a little, question a little and hopefully think a little differently.

The goal isn’t perfection.

It’s simply taking small steps towards creating less waste.

So, welcome to the CR journey. Jump on. I hope you can stay for a little while.

Till next time,
Loretta