Having founded Green People over 25 years ago, its founder, Charlotte continues to set a high bar in the pursuit of creating an authentically organic lifestyle without compromising on the environment or ethics.
With a background in nursing, chemistry and pharmacology, along with phytotherapy (complementary medicine using plants and herbs), Charlotte moved to the UK from Denmark nearly 30years ago
It was when Charlotte’s young daughter, Alexandra suffered from a range of skin allergies as a toddler that Green People came to life. Searching high and low for natural products that would be gentle on her daughter’s sensitive skin proved fruitless as many of the so-called natural skin care brands at the time were formulated with synthetic ingredients, primarily as regulations only stipulated that a product can be labelled ‘natural’ with less than 1% natural or organic ingredients. “From that moment”, says Charlotte, “ I realised that we all are children of the chemical age and that man-made chemicals, combined with changing dietary habits, profoundly affect us all”.
This wake-up call spurred Charlotte to create organic creams and salves, tailored to her daughter’s skin. “There are many motivations behind an entrepreneurial spirit – to be your own boss, make money or start something new. For me the motivation came from wanting to help treat the skin problems that Alexandra was suffering with. As any parent of a child with severe skin problems will know, it can be a long and frustrating battle to find treatments that work.”
After years of product research and development, Green People was founded in 1997, with the ethos of never putting profit above quality of product, ethical practices or the environment.
It was all about setting the standards when it came to beauty and the concept of ‘natural’.. Charlotte made it her mission to help regulate the industry and approached the Soil Association (the UK’s leading organisation for organic certification) to encourage them to develop standards for beauty products. This led to Charlotte being invited to join a Soil Association committee in 1999 to create the first standards for organic beauty – Charlotte, alongside Green People’s Cosmetic Scientist, Ian Taylor, played a major role in setting the regulations for natural and organic cosmetics we now have in the UK.
Today, focussing on gentle and all-natural formulations, Green People offers over 140 natural, organic products for sensitive skin, hair, body, sun care, ageing along with make-up ranges and specialist products for men, babies, children and even our four-legged pals. In addition to its botanical innovations, and planet=friendly packaging, we also love the Green People website, it’s so intuitive allowing you to search for the perfect product based on your skin type, skin concern and favourite scent. And then there’s the pet section and the blog, offering a host of tips and insights on how to keep your pet (primarily dogs) happy, healthy and looking tip top.
Charlotte continues to inspire in her quest to encourage everyone to embrace an organic lifestyle, having literally re-written the rules on how to care for sensitive skin, Green People sets a high standard for organic beauty products.
Green People products are available online and at their health store in Horsham, West Sussex, as well as in various national retailers that meet their exacting standards.
