Innovation

The skincare products offered by Bend Beauty are built on a foundation of research about skin protection. Their goal is to spread awareness regarding sustainable beauty. After addressing their carbon footprint, the company has shifted towards green energy. Bend Beauty aspires to be a force for good in the beauty industry with a new approach to skincare with ingestible supplements which aligns with its motto of treating the skin by treating the whole body. With this holistic view, Marc, the founder of Bend Beauty, explains how he wants to deliver results we can both see and feel. Marc aims to create a brand that delivers nourishing products that makes one’s body full of vitality.

He adds that the name Bend Beauty stems from the idea of “bending” or transforming the concept of beauty, which we always thought of as having narrow standards. Marc stated, “People see skin as just a protective covering of our body. We need to move on from the myopic view on life with human health as skin is so intimately connected to so many different things in our body.” In turn, Marc and his team developed a concept of skin climate system, which is about the science defining the internal climate of our body and how that reflects on the outside. With research and development, Bend is dedicated to discovering the major pathways and systems in our body that impact skin health and longevity. The transformation Bend believes in extends to the company’s environmental impact. Not only Bend makes sustainability a priority in its supply chain management, but also donates one percent of its sales to environmental non-profits through a partnership with 1% for the Planet. In partnership with Upswing Solutions, Marc says he wants to keep up with his vision in making good choices for Mother nature and lead with the idea that business can be a force for transformation around the environment.

Bend Beauty is also committed to diversity and inclusion. Bend has recently updated its hiring policies to ensure equal opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds. Bend is also in the process of becoming a Certified B Corporation that is transparent and meets high standards of social and environmental performance.

Inspiration

Marc has been in the natural health products industry for quite some time. Prior to selling his company Ascenta Health Ltd in 2015, Marc had already begun developing the intellectual property that would eventually be used in the formation of Bend Beauty.

During his time with Ascenta Health, a lot of focus was placed on wellness in a very broad sense. The company recognized the wide range of benefits in which omega 3 fatty acids have on our overall health. Over time, his understanding of the compound matured. He and his team discovered the immense impact it can have, most notably, on skin health. This apprehension is what provoked the formation of Bend Beauty. No one had really gone down this path in depth before, so they recognized the potential for their new brand.

Marc emphasizes the importance of being brand led opposed to product led. The vision for Bend Beauty is made up of three general layers. The industry layer, the societal layer, and the environmental layer. These layers are essentially the inspiration behind what the company, Bend Beauty, is trying to achieve. That is to elevate their ingestible as the foundation of skin health and longevity, to help people create a holistic and beautiful life, to redefine beauty, and to make beauty sustainable. In order to make a positive shift, the team asked themselves, “How can we set an example as to how business can become a force for good?" This vision is what makes up the brand we see today, Bend Beauty.

Overall impact

The use of Omega-3 supplements in achieving optimal skin health have had great impacts on the business's success. Consumers have given incredible feedback on the results they are experiencing, and the improvements on various skin and other health conditions. The innovation is beneficial to everyone, not just those with skin “problems”. It is this concept that generates widespread potential for product use.

Bend Beauty’s innovation is more than just what is physically being sold on the market. The company aims to create change in people’s lives by placing value on how their product impacts overall health and wellness. The marketing of the product aims to educate consumers on why taking care of the body from the “inside out” is so important. Bend Beauty wants to help consumers become more conscious about how they approach skin health. Supporting their bodies by supplementing is only the first part. They are also working to help people understand that things like eating well and paying attention to emotional health are also critical. They believe that redefining what it means to “live and feel beautiful” will drive positive change in our society and better the way we interact with one another.

Bend Beauty has taken their hopes to create societal change a step further. They are currently working with the university of waterloo to develop a comprehensive indicator tool for small to medium business to use in order to report their progress on tackling each sustainable development goal.

Corresponding to their value of a holistic life, the manufacturing of Bend Beauty’s supplements is done so in conscious and transparent way. From an environmental perspective, they are working very hard to achieve rapid decarbonization. Currently, all the power used in their facilities comes from renewable sources. Marc acknowledges however, that they are constantly learning more, and moving through various auditing stages to better their operations. There is so much more to be done to address their environmental impact, from supply chain operations to packaging. However, it is an inspiration to hear about Bend Beauty’s long-run goals. Rethinking how to operate a business that works with the environment is daunting because it is complicated, expensive and time-consuming. A lot of people don’t know where to start. Luckily, Marc and his team have declared themselves dedicated to setting an example on how to authentically address climate change.

Business benefit

Bend Beauty’s work in health, skincare and longevity is a great contributor to their success, it is no secret that health and healthcare products are in high demand, due to everyone wanting to look and feel the absolute best not only for social media posts but also the environment as you see more and more people becoming vegetarian because meat consumption emits carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases such as methane which all contributes to climate change. Now how does this relate to Bend Beauty’s business benefits? As Marc ST. Onge founder of Bend Beauty mentioned in the interview is, they want to be the foundation in skincare, longevity and ingestible supplements for healthy skin. Marc also went mentioned their environmental commitment, these all being reasons why Bend Beauty knows their demographic and what appeals to them most this also shows that Bend Beauty identifies sales trends like skincare and health products, being eco-friendly and more. Bend Beauty also has donated over 1 million dollars of its sales to environmental non-profits, not only doing something great with the revenue generated but also appeals to more demographic’s therefore bringing more awareness and revenue streams to the firm. To conclude Bend Beauty is a great and futuristic up business that appeals to a large and diverse audience, generating revenue for the firm but also environmental non- profit organizations in efforts to make a change leading to more eyes behind the motive and purpose of the firm.

Social and environmental benefit

So, founder of Bend Beauty Marc St. Onge mentioned early in the interview that Bend Beauty can appeal to anyone because anybody, no matter their look, skills, size, age and shape or anything they can have healthy skin and that beauty comes from the inside first, so being educated on what we should be putting in our bodies to create that overall happy lifestyle. For example, say somebody is self-conscious about the look of their skin Bend Beauty can help with that since they are big on ingestible supplements to help with overall skincare and or other skincare products. They also donate 1% of each sale to environmental non-profits and have generated over 1 million dollars in such for environmental NPO’s in efforts to help with climate change and the planet bringing awareness and more to the subject benefiting the society’s future and the future generations to come. All of Bend Beauty’s facilities are a 100% powered by green energy from solar, wind, and low impact hydro as well as making an investment in a renewable energy company. Bend Beauty has completed a purchasing policy that ensures all office supplies, electronics, food, and cleaning agents go through a detailed environmental impact screening process. They also have developed a raw material sourcing guide to ensure our products meet best in class environmental and ethical standards, including when possible, using organic ingredients and marine ingredients that are certified as sustainably harvested. Marc mentioned in the interview that they have been recently working with Upswing Solutions to support their sustainability work further as well as working on sustainable packing strategy, novel ingredient solutions that have value-added benefit for the environment and more, listed on their website bendbeaty.com. To conclude, Bend Beauty is breaking down all the right doors for the future of the planet with all their sustainable and environmental work making for a healthier lifestyle and what really brought this to light, is when Marc said, “every company has an impact” Marc saying this and acknowledging it shows just how invested and from the heart all his efforts to help society and the planet are for him and Bend Beauty.

Interview

Marc St-Onge, Founder