Pacifica
Image taken from: https://www.feelsofab.com/brand/pacifica/
Started by a woman who found her passion with essential oils, Pacifica is a 100% vegan and cruelty free cosmetic brand. Its founder, Brooke Taylor, started mixing scents with essential oils from a local co-op that her mother worked at before she left for college in Oregon. There, she began studying aromatherapy, and her passion grew. While living on the West Coast, Brooke met Billy Taylor, who studied photography and film making and had worked previously for both the National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. The two’s shared love and respect for nature and the outdoors, along with their individual skill sets, led to the creation of Pacifica.
Fan Favorites
Pacifica carries a multitude of cosmetic products, from skincare, bath, and body products to makeup, hair care, and perfume. Below are five products from their “Best Sellers”page.
1. Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream ($16)
This BB Cream is described as “a moisturizing tint” with benefits for one’s skin. It includes a fair amount of ingredients, all of which are plant-based. This product uses uses capric/caprylic triglyceride, a chemical derived from coconut oil that is, an emollient for skin - helping to soften and smooth. Another emollient this BB cream utilizes is simmondsia chinensis, or organic jojoba seed oil. This oil, typically grown in Mexico and southern portions of the United States, has a similar consistency to sebum, the oil that our skin and hair naturally creates. For people with oily skin, too much of this oil can be damaging, but a small amount can mimic natural sebum and trick the skin into not producing as much oil. The ingredients Pacifica highlights in this product are coconut water, which can act as emollient or fragrance, floral stem cells (iris pallida and rosa damascena cells), thought to renew damaged skin, and hyaluronic acid, a moisture retaining agent.
2. Rose Flower Hydro Mist ($10)
This mist is described as a great skin pick-me-up to make skin feel “refreshed and dewy.” The ingredients highlighted in this mist are kombucha (black tea ferment or camellia sinensis extract), which has many uses: from antioxidant agent, emollient and humectant, to rosa damascena flower, which has antioxidant and relaxant properties. Another great ingredient in this is witch hazel, used historically to reduce swelling or clean cuts and scrapes. Now, witch hazel is often used to sooth skin and as an astringent.
3. Coconut Milk and Essential Oils Underarm Deodorant Wipes ($9)
For a hot day when you’re running around and a shower perhaps isn’t an option, this product is described as an odor neutralizer, and removes excess sweat. Cocos nucifera, or coconut milk, helps to provide a bit of hydration here, while essential oils minimize odor. Other great ingredients are witch hazel, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), and castor oil.
4. Stellar Gaze Length & Strength Mineral Mascara ($14)
This “long-lasting, nourishing, natural mineral mascara” gives you a natural look while hydrating eyelashes at the same time. Pacifica highlights vitamin B and coconut oil, both hair and skin conditioning agents. This mascara also features jojoba esters that condition skin and help to spread other ingredients that aren’t water soluble; conditioning vitamin E, cucumber sativus for softening and smoothing; and corallina officinalis extract (algae) that is rich in minerals and vitamins.
5. Tahitian Gardenia Spray Perfume ($22)
This perfume, a blend of essential oils, is gluten free on top of being vegan and cruelty free, as denatured alcohol that Pacifica uses for its perfumes are corn based! For those with gluten allergies, this can prevent a possible allergic reaction if perfume on wrists or hand transfers to hand-held food. While this is uncommon, it is just another small benefit to an already great product.
Recycling Program
Besides just their vegan and cruelty free status, Pacifica shows their care for our earth by encouraging their consumers to take part in their plastic recycling program. Pacifica has partnered with Preserve, a company that makes plastic houseware entirely from recycled materials, to allow their customers to recycle empty products. On the Pacifica website, a customer can enter the specific products they’d like to recycle, and be emailed a prepaid shipping label to return the products. To further encourage customers to use this program, 10 loyalty points are given when Pacifica gets the plastic!
Brooke Taylor created Pacifica with the intention of choosing products that reflect a love and respect for the environment, and this brand seems to do exactly that. Pacifica uses ingredients that are nontoxic, vegan, and cruelty free, encourages recycling from its customers, and promotes the fact that a completely environmentally conscious brand is not only possible, but also beautiful and fun.