CODE Beautiful: “How the people who use our products inspire us."

Since the beginning, CODE Beautiful has always set out to do things differently. Born out of a simple (but infuriating ) frustration with products that over-promised and under-delivered, as well as with this ever present message that women need to look and act a certain way to be beautiful; sisters Sarah and Emma Cross went to work creating a cosmetics brand that didn’t fall short.

They found themselves wondering, “Why should a person need to buy 3 products instead of one? Why are we being told we need all of these things to be beautiful? And actually, why should we have to spend our time thinking about it when we have other things to focus on?”

Instead of trying to sell products by telling women they need them in order to fit a specific idea of what’s beautiful, the girls decided to do things the other way around, only creating products that they and their customers actually wanted.

By simply asking, listening to the feedback and then committing to creating products of uncompromising quality; the girls have taken a very, “you tell us, we won’t tell you” approach to building the company.

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CODE Beautiful creates standout beauty products that do what they are supposed to do and more. No trends, no nonsense; just the products they’ve been asked for, upgraded both in the way they are produced and the way that they perform to enhance the way women (and men) naturally look and feel. 

Very much a reflection of their personal values and attitudes towards the world; it’s all about saying no to convention for convention’s sake and empowering women to live by their own code.

Being a brand that’s meaningfully led by customer feedback has taken them to down some unexpected paths. Shaping far more than which products they create, it has also profoundly impacted the way their products are produced and packaged.

From reaching out into the world for feedback and talking to people, it became increasingly apparent that it was incredibly important for a product to be 100% Vegan and cruelty-free. Sarah would be the first to admit, she is far from Vegan herself— an animal lover to be sure, but definitely not adhering to a plant based diet or lifestyle. But CODE Beautiful is about much more than the preferences of its founders—central to their ethos is the idea of women coming together to inspire each other and exchange thoughts on the things that are important to them.  Though perhaps not part of the original plan, the sisters were indeed inspired by their customers and got to work on ensuring their products were all PETA certified earlier in the year. If asked now— they would never consider operating in any other way.

A few months ago, CODE reached out to their customers again to ask for feedback on their packaging and again were prompted to make some changes. In response, they have significantly reduced the amount of packaging they use for their products and shifted to 100% recyclable boxes. Not only that, but they are also in the process of replacing all of the plastic in their warehouses so that the boxes used for shipping are also recyclable. They expect to have completed this transition by the end of the year.

Now on the look out for additional ways to improve their sustainability efforts, CODE Beautiful is fully committed to being an environmentally friendly brand. More than simply giving people what they want, this shift is an example of what can happen when companies create a meaningful dialogue with the people that use their products. The sisters hope that by creating a conversation and a community around women who are living by their own personal codes, they will be able to turn CODE Beautiful into a brand that positively contributes to the world in a myriad of ways extending far beyond cosmetics.