I first met Robin Tolkan-Doyle when we were twenty-somethings working in the beauty industry. She was the beauty editor at a very popular teen magazine and I was a publicist at a beauty PR agency. Over breakfast at The Standard in LA I just knew Robin was one of the good ones! As obsessed with beauty as I was and a kind soul. Over the years, her career shifted to accessories designer and eventually publicist. Somehow, we kept in touch and I’m now over-the-moon excited to introduce her newest venture, beautyologie, a fair trade and ethically sourced beauty marketplace!

The Inspiration

Having achieved success on both the editorial and PR sides of beauty, Robin was seeking soul-nourishing work and took a chance on a lone trip to India. A respite from being immersed in work, parenting, etc., her love of the beauty and spiritual nature of the country offered an opportunity for growth and the spark of new ideas.

Why Fair Trade?

Over the course of her trip, she was exposed to many craftspeople and goods for sale, which led to some deep diving into the notion of fair trade, which has become part of the culture around responsible fashion, but not beauty. Observing the impact of our importing of goods from developing nations, Robin felt uncomfortable promoting products whose manufacturing had deleterious effects on others.

Upon returning to her California home, Robin penned a gift guide featuring mission-driven brands that are ethically made and tied to disenfranchised people around the world. The response was overwhelmingly positive and the idea for beautyologie was born.

Robin approached her client Shea Yeleen, a skincare brand whose products are made by a co-op of women in Ghana who are paid 5 times fair wage. “I thought,” said Robin, “there must be other people doing this around the world.” She then set to work with her writer’s tenacity and researched the heck out of the industry and began pitching other fair trade businesses with the same ethos and business structure as her client.

Head to beautyologie now and you’ll find upwards of 20 brands featured, with the option to search by country of origin or beauty need. Looking to learn more about the brands’ stories and their founders? Robin’s got that covered, with videos and articles that invite the consumer into the brands’ worlds.

Clean Cred: Fair Trade, meaning accountability in all steps of the manufacturing process, no child or forced labor, no discrimination, gender equality, freedom of association

Bona fide: Byrdie, New Beauty, E!, Bloomberg Business Week, Thrive Global

Website:https://beautyologie.com/