Conserving Beauty founder Natassia Nicolao on what it takes to be a genuinely sustainable and purpose-led brand

Conserving Beauty founder Natassia Nicolao is on a mission to eliminate water waste from the beauty industry, and her game-changing new product range is doing just that. She joined Cec Busby on the First Act podcast to share her insights into building a purpose-led brand that walks the talk.

Conserving Beauty is Australia’s first waterless beauty brand, and they’re changing the way beauty products are manufactured and processed in this country. Using innovative technology to create dissolvable beauty products that do not break down into harmful, waterway-polluting microplastics or toxins and require no water in ingredients or manufacture, it’s no wonder the brand is taking the beauty sector by storm.

A passion for purpose

Natassia Nicolao, a Bachelor of Science graduate, self-confessed ‘nerd’ and 2022 Women of the Future award winner, says that a will to help the planet and her fellow human is an intrinsic part of her nature.

“My vision for my life is to positively impact people on the planet, which is why I went into science,” says the 28-year-old founder. “If I’m going to be working towards something all day, every day, I want it to leave a positive impact.”

Natassia Nicolao, Conserving Beauty founder & CEO

“I am doing that with our brand – we make waterless products that make your skin feel good, but they’re also equally great for the planet as we’re saving water, carbon and waste in the process.

After university, Natassia moved into the corporate world in operations for the renowned beauty brand, Swisse, and then was invited to join the owners’ new venture growth investment firm. In these roles, she learned from the best about the ins and outs of operating a global enterprise, from ethical sourcing and sustainable supply chains to product development and due diligence.

“I became obsessed with startups and problem-solving and people out there trying to create solutions to be better,” says Natassia. “I was lucky enough to do lots of secondments with the businesses they invested in, from supply chain help or innovation to new product development pipelines. I also went to strategy and board sessions and saw the other side of a commercial business, such as how to run profit and loss and the importance of profitability and managing teams. It was the perfect learning experience.”

One Elle of a learning curve

Eventually, this impressive skillset led her to head up global retail sales for Elle Macpherson’s wellness brand, WelleCo – an opportunity that was to become a catalyst for the young entrepreneur to start her own brand. The business mentoring she received from Elle Macpherson was a big part of Conserving Beauty’s quick success.

“Fun fact,” Natassia reveals. “Elle is now on my board of directors. She turned from boss-slash-mentor to Conserving Beauty mentor. She’s instrumental in my learning foundation; I’m lucky to have worked with her.”

Conserving Beauty’s world-first waterless beauty range, including dissolvable makeup wipes and sheet masks, is now stocked globally in massive beauty retailers such as Mecca in Australia and New Zealand and Cult Beauty in the UK and beyond.

Listen to Natassia Nicolao on the First Act podcast:

The ‘clean beauty’ myth: Are you really sustainable?

With the current economic and climate conditions affecting the globe, Natassia has no time for ‘greenwashing’ or businesses that only focus on surface solutions. She says a deeper dive into sustainability is essential for a company to be ethical and sustainable.

“The perception of a ‘sustainable product’ is quite skewed,” Natassia believes. “People have a great understanding of refillable or recyclable packaging. However, about thirty things happen in the product life cycle and supply chain where you’ve already had a significant impact on the planet before you even choose packaging. Why are we not talking about those things? Packaging and waste are essential, but it’s not the be-all-end-all solution.

“Water is involved in every single stage of a product life cycle,” says Natassia. “In beauty, it starts from when you grow ingredients, harvest, extract, manufacture, process – everything needs water.

“How crazy that we’re shipping bottles of plastic mostly filled with water with the sprinkle of some ingredients in there, and calling it ‘clean beauty’? That’s not the answer. It’s not good enough to take water out of the formulations. Why can’t we take water out of the whole process, give people a hundred per cent of the good stuff and make a better product? Let’s create beauty products that save water, carbon and waste.”

And on this front, Natassia and Conserving Beauty are walking the talk.

“I wanted to map our whole supply chain and measure our water footprint so I can tell people, ‘this is actually how much water we save’. So, we partnered with the Water Footprint Network, the global leader in water footprint assessment. We’ve been leading a custom research project to measure our exact water footprint, and we’ll publish it later this year. We manage our waste footprint using infinitely recyclable, compostable or dissolvable materials.

“We’re a product that stands for more than a product. We’ve got a unique story that we’re trying to tell – a big dream and a big mission. I think that resonates with people – they know and feel good that that product has a positive impact on the planet.”

Purpose starts with your people

It’s one thing to have a great idea but quite another to build a team that wants to help your big picture thrive. Natassia says that building any strong business starts with your people.

“When you create a business, you bring something into the world that helps solve a problem. But why can’t that purpose be positive for your people?” she asks. “This falls under ESG (environmental, social and governance). It’s the one thing I tell people; an understanding of your supply chain and visibility and traceability is everything – that’s how you’ll be able to make a legitimate impact.

“If you don’t know where your ingredients are sourced from and the people who are farming them or how they’re treated, or how products are transported and where you are manufacturing them, then how can you make sure that you are saving water, carbon and waste along the way?

“Every decision we make in business tends to have an outcome to people or the planet, so it doesn’t necessarily have to link to our products – it’s around the people who work with us, even down to our manufacturing team,” says Natassia. “How are the people in my team treated? What’s our maternity leave or sick leave cover policy? How are they treated to and from work? Do they get downtime or mental health days? How does our office impact the planet? For example, we work at a co-share working space that has fair trade coffee, and they run on solar panels.

“All these people who help us every day and make the dream come true they’re the reason why we’re able to do what we do. So, looking after everybody in our ecosystem is extremely important to me.”

In this First Act ep, Natassia shared many more anecdotes and insights into her journey from science nerd to beauty brand water warrior. Listen now!