Having been an environmentalist most of my life, brought up in the halls of fashion as the chouchou d’ELLE in the 50’s and 60’s, it never really dawned on me the importance of beauty products and cosmetics had in the grand scheme of things. Then I read that a hair dresser in the UK by the name of Maurice Ward had mixed a few things from his salon together and miraculously came up with a substance more resistant to heat that the NASA space shuttle tiles. He named it Starlite after Bakelite, the first plastic, its jewelery still prized today.

In recent years, the work of architect Bill McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart at MBDC, implementing their cradle-to-cradle product development philosophy, led to the creation of green chemistry departments at Universities all over the world, most notably at Yale, now working on safer formulas for the beauty industry. Interesting how again, architecture and fashion cross path to share missions.

Emma Pezzack’s Futurenatural came online last year and quickly established itself as one of the most successful all natural and organic supply house for enlightened consumers as well as professional make-up artists wishing to green their kits. Emma joined forces with Anna Griffin, Courtney Dailey and Stacy Malkan at GreenMUA to lead the way in Hollywood.

Futurenatural came just at the right time, addressing the needs of so many people, including professionals, who were starting to question the sanity of all these strange chemicals in their beauty products. There had been organic beauty products sold in health food stores for decades, but they never really crossed over into beauty salons until companies like Aveda came along… and yet, when Aveda sponsors a fashion show, since Aveda doesn’t have a pro-make up line yet, little if any of the products in make up artists kits going on model’s faces are in fact natural or organic.

I spent an afternoon at Harmon not too long ago, when Physicians Formula first introduced Organic Wear. I read the ingredients on hundreds of products. The women working there shared with me what a breath of fresh air Organic Wear was for them. The 50’s were “better life through chemistry” and if a molecule didn’t cause instant death, it was perfectly OK to introduce in everything from food to products we put on our skin. We can trace cancer back to such heavy use of certain ingredients, there’s been a wake-up call, just like when it became evident silicon implants were causing problems.

Emma, what changed? How did the American woman suddenly become conscious of the chem-lab major US cosmetic firms were sneaking past them? Was it because the ingredients were so cheap? Are we to blame the chemists, the executives, the profit motive?

It hasn’t been a ’sudden’ awareness. It’s been a gradual enlightenment with a ton of ground work laid by various groups, activists and everyday people spreading the word - and media catching on to that movement. I don’t believe there’s value in apportioning blame - it’s too complex an issue. It’s more effective to acknowledge that the status quo is no longer acceptable, to empower consumers with as much information as possible, and to keep pushing for legislative change that forces toxic chemicals out of our products.

You’re based in Austin, Texas. So many of today’s pioneers in the fashion industry are getting off the ground outside of the major fashion centers like New York and Los Angeles. I suspect the web is enabling this change in the business environment?

With any business it’s critical to manage overhead and being in Austin allows us growth we couldn’t attain if we were based in NY or LA (plus it’s a cool, green, hip city so it fits with how we like to live). We don’t operate any brick & mortar stores at this point (although this is part of our business plan), so the internet facilitates all of our transactions, most of our marketing initiatives are web focused, and so on. Our reach is nationwide compared to what we would gain from purely operating a retail store on the ground in one location.

But at the same time, the old guard still rules from penthouses on Madison Avenue and Century City. What’s been their reaction to Futurenatural, and to this new family of products you’ve come to represent?

I’m not sure if we’re talking about magazines here or competitive businesses such as Sephora? If the magazines: some supportive, some not. At the end of the day they’re a very savvy group of business people whose job it is to represent what’s current, happening and forecasted in the world of beauty, so it’s impossible for them to avoid or ignore the monumental shifts happening in the organic & natural market. In terms of our direct competitors in the conventional world of beauty, again they’ve added natural and organic to their mix of brand offerings. Everyone’s trying to capitalize on what’s taking place.

While newsstand magazine sales are down 10%, many green fashion magazine upstarts launched this summer. Young women are expressing concerns so much paper is unecessary, but magazines are still the most beautiful medium for photography. How is Futurenatural involving itself with the business of fashion photography, and has the attitude of photographers and make-up artists changed?

I’ve just been appointed Beauty Director for a gorgeous new fashion & beauty eco-glossy launching in September and we’re working with all organic & natural brands, beauty products, the kits we’ve put together for the MUA’s are all green - basically everything you’ll see from the makeup on the models to the products featured in editorial are all organic, natural, green. We’re very proactively involved with all our brands at Futurenatural to get them contributing to high profile events, sponsorships, makeup kits for fashion shows, swag bags and so on. It’s very important that we try and raise awareness of organic and natural beauty brands as having the same sexy, modern, cool and effective persona as their conventional counterparts. Besides Futurenatural, we’ve also just launched a blog called Organic Beauty View which is all about the latest trends, stylish brands, cool product reviews and savvy surveillance from the modern side of organic & natural beauty. We’re trying to showcase that organic and natural in the 21st Century is a far cry from the 70’s & 80’s and even 90’s.

Germany, Europe leads the way in removing dangerous ingredients from formulations. Governor Schwarzenegger passed a law making California the first state in the Union obliging cosmetic companies to reveal their contents. Hollywood leads the way in green awareness. Is this celebrity militancy having a positive effect on the rest of the country, are people catching on?

People are definitely catching on but I think what’s interesting is the momentum to date has been largely spurred by a huge number of small players over a long period of time: i.e. everyday people, groups such as EWG and The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics, green blogs, etc… as opposed to a celebrity movement. Al Gore, the internet, the sharing of information has made it possible to reach others with knowledge and opinions that would otherwise never have been shared, and celebrity militancy can bring issues to our attention, but the thoughts, opinions and experiences of your friends and family are also very, very powerful motivators for change.

We all hear quite a bit about Josie Maran who has positioned herself quite nicely in the green cosmetic revolution. I wonder how Maybelline feels about her role, having been their spokesmodel for so many years. They planted the seed of their own demise by carving her supermodel status. What would it take for Maybeline to go green, or for any of the other large established power houses like MAC, Estee Lauder or Revlon? Will they change, or will they, like General Motors, suffer the consequences of a changing sensibility?

All the major cosmetic players are aware of the changes taking place in the personal care industry and I don’t see the demise of any of them. The growth of the organic & natural category grew by $1 Billion last year and most of that was in North America. I don’t see conventional brands suddenly becoming green, but I do believe most major cosmetic brands will make it part of their growth strategies either by directly investing in (e.g. Estee Lauder - Origins & Aveda or L’Oreal - The Body Shop) or creating (in the case of Physicians Formula), their own lines. Along with that I wouldn’t be surprised if their ad campaigns used well known models and spokespeople with a ‘green’ agenda - it would be a natural fit (excuse the pun). Angela Lindvall, Shalom Harlow, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts would be some likely candidates that spring to mind.

There are many make-up trade publications. Have these editors been open, supportive, or still relegate “green” to the sidelines, nurturing their advertising base? Are some of the products Futurenatural carries soon to be in a position to compete with the mainstream brands for the hearts and minds of the American woman?

Beauty editors are definitely supportive of natural & organic personal care brands. It’s their job to profile what’s happening and the new products coming into the beauty market. Still, it’s a category not often profiled and it’d be great to see some permanent column space dedicated to organic & natural beauty brands in the big glossies. I don’t believe there’s any one brand in particular that’s set to impact the market dramatically - what we’re seeing is gradual and distinct growth that shows no signs of slowing down. That said, what is happening across the board is a shift in the way we’re thinking about cosmetics, period. At Futurenatural we’re proactively trying to spearhead and firmly instill in the psyche of women is that the equivalent of anything they’re currently using in conventional beauty products, can now be found in the natural and organic beauty world. Amazing design, effective formulations, brilliantly conceived, scientific innovations and so on, all exist now and retailers like Futurenatural are bringing them all together under one roof to make it easy for consumers to change.

What’s happening in other countries, like Japan, Arabia, South America? Is the rising green consciousness of women making it more difficult for American drugstore brands to continue dominating a large share of the International market? Is the movement becoming planetary, or is it still very much limited to the Socially Conscious Upwardly-mobile Person?

It’s a gradual transition with the major players still dominating but there are more and more entries into the lower-end supermarkets & drugstores, that are giving customers who can only afford to buy at that level some great new options for change. Physicians Formula, Burts Bees, Alba Botanicals, Aveeno, the list goes on. There’s also a shift with companies like L’Oreal just launching Bare Naturale Mascara that while not absolutely perfect, is a step forward nonetheless. Some big changes are afoot across all socio-economic groups with a focus on all demographics.

How about men’s products? Has it been moving in their direction as well? How can you market safe cosmetics to a male demographic without it seeming less than manly? There’s a lot of machismo in the chemical soup imposed by corporate America… Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, GMOs, synthetic hormones… it’s all about bigger, not better. How do we refine the taste of Americans so the impact of their dollar choices can affect our health, and the health of agriculture?

Men are a really difficult sell and women are traditionally much more early adopters when it comes to personal care products. How it often happens is via the boyfriend, husband, partner using the products their wives, girlfriends etc… use, and either noticing a difference or being pressured to start taking care of their skin. There are some great natural brands out there that are not in the slightest way unmanly: Aveda, Herban Cowboy, John Masters, Urth, Pangea, and more but it’s a long slow process to get men to change.

The way to refine tastes is to offer more carefully conceived selection that makes consumers feel as though they’re buying something better for their money. The products have value rather than being seen as cheap. Case in point as an example is Target. They’ve managed to bring design to the masses without sacrificing price points - as have companies like Ikea. They’re not green but the business model can be applied to any retail chain. (Method is perhaps a good green example).

What percentage do you think the natural and organic market represents right now? It’s getting a lot of good press, it’s a big trend. But has all this coverage translated in a major shift in markets? Many new eco-fashion boutiques are opening, there’s a shift away from malls with Gen-Y back to new urbanist areas, reviving old down town neighborhoods. How do young people react to what you are doing? Are they becoming your best emissaries?

To give you some idea: The natural/organic personal care category showed the largest growth of the personal industry sector over 2006, at 29% and there were 842 new product introductions in 2007. Across the board the organics and natural industry has grown to $102 billion representing the largest growth of all consumer spending. This is no passing phase, organic and natural is the new zeitgeist.

We’re finding a huge amount of awareness amongst young people and their consciousness is more prevalent than in older generations who were less exposed to the issues of today. In saying that, everyone from housewives to mothers have made it their business to become more aware and they are some of the most loyal and staunch supporters. It’s really a movement transcending gender, background, race and age because it’s something that affects all of us.

You launched your own blog a few weeks ago… I’ve read many of the posts, it gets very involved and technical… I love it, though I wish I had twenty brains to process all I discover on the Internet. How can we bring more green chemists to the picture, to involve them in the green cosmetics revolution? Are you invited to speak at Universities? Are women going for a chemist degree expressing interest in the green cosmetic industry as a challenge?

It’s happening. With the industry already topping $100 billion and growth set to rise by 25% in the next five years, there are massive changes taking place from sourcing of ingredients, chemistry, new technology developments, manufacturing processes, research and development, and new ingredients. There are also a multitude of collaborations and acquisitions going on between companies wanting to enter this space, and those currently occupying it. Money is a great motivator for big business to change which is unfortunate on one level but really, to a certain extent it doesn’t matter how we get to a more green world, only that we do.

I can’t speak to the women becoming green chemists question - speaking to some universities or major cosmetic players might shed more light on this?

I guess, off to Yale I go… Thanks Emma.