Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 runs from 27 February - 11 March where the Fairtrade Foundation will be calling for support.

This can be as simple as switching your choice of coffee to trying a new product or getting involved by joining the facebook group or a local campaign.

To mark the occasion and give you some inspiration, I thought I'd post a fairtrade special.

Wherever you see the Fairtrade Foundation logo it marks an independent consumer guarantee that the farmers producing the Fairtrade ingredients in a beauty product are getting a better deal – receiving a fair and stable, minimum price and Fairtrade premium, receiving pre-financing where requested and benefiting from longer-term, more direct trading relationships.

Fairtrade Beauty Brands

Beauty products are not made up of 100% fairtrade ingredients - only the natural ingredients contained in beauty products may be certified fairtrade. The key ones are brazil nut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and sugar.

While the number of fairtrade products out there do lag considerably behind the rest of the market, there are still some gems to be had. Here's a few of my favourites...

Neals Yard Remedies Sensual Jasmine Shower Gel
Enriched with Fairtrade honey, Fairtrade rooibos and essential oils of jasmine and ylang ylang this shower gel smells absolutely gorgeous. The Iconic blue NYR packaging is also made from recycled materials.

Boots Extracts Brazil Nut Body Scrub
Boots stocks a number of Fairtrade products including a range of body washes and scrubs under the Extracts brand. My favourite is the rich Extracts Brazil Nut Body Scrub which contains natural scrub to exfoliate along with Fairtrade and organic brazil nut oil that leaves skin smooth.

Body Shop Brazil Nut Body Butter
Follow up the shower gel and exfoliator with this gorgeous body butter from The Body Shop containing Fairtrade brazil nut oil, shea butter and and cocoa butter giving it the ultra creamy texture and super moisturising finish!

Lush Fairtrade Foot Lotion

Peppermint and spearmint stimulate the circulation, bring blood to the surface of the skin and help cool and soothe tired feet. The foot lotion also contains arnica - a natural homeopathic remedy to help with bruising and swelling and the Fairtrade cocoa butter and almond oil helps soften the skin and prevent cracks.

Its great to see that you can pretty much get cleansed, toned and moisturised from head to toe these days with a whole host of yummy products that are Fairtrade. I'd love to see more from the industry to innovate within this category particularly to develop a fairtrade make up proposition.

If in doubt of how you can get involved, watch the short video below from Fairtrade Fortnight 2011

For a more comprehensive list of Fairtrade certified beauty brands visit the Fairtrade Foundation website

Lindsey