We got the opportunity to sit down with Suzanne Carter, CEO of M·Y·O Cosmetics Cases to ask her what it means to become B Corp certified during this time and how she hopes to make an impact with her brand moving forward. M·Y·O Cosmetic Cases is an eco-conscious beauty brand that offers a refillable reusable cosmetic case marketed to both professional makeup artists and everyday users. Suzanne attended our Getting to 80 program (previously known as the Impact 6 Pack) where we helped work her through developing a policy and determined areas that could be improved upon to get her to a place where she could apply for her certification. She has been a joy to work with over the past several months and we are excited to share her impact journey with you all.

Tell us about your business. What problem are you trying to solve?

M·Y·O [Makeup Your Own] Cosmetic Cases is an eco-conscious beauty brand offering Zero-Waste and COVID Safe Cosmetic Cases. We are on a mission to reduce excessive cosmetic packaging waste while increasing makeup organization and specifically for professional makeup artists, increasing efficiency and safety on sets.

Who knew that when I created the M·Y·O Cosmetics Case in 2016, it would be a sanitation safety touch- up tool used on TV/Film sets globally by professional makeup artists? I was on a mission to design an innovative multi product makeup case that reduced cosmetic packaging waste, increased makeup organization while keeping makeup healthy and safe.

My journey started as I was introducing a minimal makeup philosophy to my then teenage daughters, which inspired me to want a more simplified makeup routine for myself and reduce the packaging, and unused cosmetics, in my overflowing makeup drawer and makeup bag. This started me on a path that led me to collaborate with the experts of the industry, Professional Makeup Artists, and eco-minded young people to innovate a customizable refill reuse makeup system.

With Pro and consumer models, our Pro M·Y·O Cosmetic Case is a COVID-19 safety touch-up tool that is being used on thousands of TV/Film sets globally and helping to reduce environmental exposure of makeup while increasing the safety of actors on set. As an efficiency tool, it’s saving productions valuable and expensive touch up time and alleviates physical strain for makeup artists by reducing excessive weight in makeup bags. Mindful of the health of our consumers' makeup, our case is made of food and medical grade materials that can be cleaned, sanitized and disinfected which are “must have” features for professionals in today’s environment.

You can find our M·Y·O Pro Kit in the hands of artists on TV/Film sets including Batwoman, The Politician, Vikings, RuPaul's Drag Race, POSE, Dead to Me, The Umbrella Academy, My Lottery Dream Home, Star Trek, Riverdale and more. It is in the hands of celebrity artists, backstage at Fashion Week, utilized on Broadway and behind the scenes at photoshoots for publications such as Elle, Allure, and Vanity Fair. We are happy to say our kits have made it globally! 

Our consumer Zero Waste Eco M·Y·O Cosmetic Case is reducing cosmetic packaging waste by encouraging the purchase of more eco-friendly single refill pan makeup (from many popular brands), while also simplifying makeup routines and increasing makeup organization.

Our case design intentionally supports a minimalistic approach to makeup while accommodating multiple types, — [single refill] pan, pencils, liners, makeup accessories and in our proprietary magnetic M·Y·O Makeup Pods (containers) liquids, creams and powders. Making Makeup Easier!

What does impact mean to you?

Impact is a broad topic. To me personally it means making decisions daily in consideration of future generations. As an eco-conscious focused company, we make decisions with the purpose of making a positive impact in the way we live for global good.

While so many of us have been at home and reflecting on what is truly important, a positive effect of the pandemic was that clean beauty and sustainable packaging came to the forefront of the Beauty Industry.  With over 120 billion units of cosmetic packaging produced globally per year, the majority of which ends up in our landfills, our goal is to encourage consumers to reuse and refill our case by purchasing more eco-friendly refill makeup (eye shadow, blush, highlighter) from many popular brands.

Our case offers universal usage as both pro artists and everyday consumers have the option of using makeup including professional, fashion, organic and clean brands in their M·Y·O Cosmetic Case. This customization makes it accessible to everyone. 

Unfortunately, wasteful packaging is not the only thing that ends up in our landfills, unused toxic cosmetics also end up there as well. For example, in an eyeshadow pallet of 10 colors, statistically consumers use 2-4 colors and the rest of those cosmetics end up in our landfill.

Through the function of our products, we educate our consumers to embrace a more conscious consumption and reuse lifestyle. It’s time to Rethink Makeup Routines – Reduce, Reuse and Refill! Although we’ve already made an impact in the Professional Makeup Artist world, the everyday beauty market, based on sheer numbers, is where I believe we can make our biggest positive impact!

What are you most proud of with M·Y·O Cosmetic Cases?

I am most proud of the fact that our product is making a difference in people’s lives and especially now as our case is being used globally as a sanitation safety touch-up tool by professional makeup artists. I’m proud of the decision to operate my company guided by making decisions with future generations in mine. Even before becoming officially B Corp Certified, I was making all our business decisions based on the B Corp philosophy however, becoming an official B Corp Certified company, verifying our social and environmental commitments, is an accomplishment I am extremely proud of. 

One of the biggest environmental decisions I made was – mindful of our carbon footprint, was to manufacture our cases in Canada. I chose a manufacturer that already had solid sustainable practices in place and was located 15 minutes from my office which is incredible! This company treats their staff amazingly, has an extensive recycling program and an in-house water refiltration system that cleans and reuses water to cool their injection molding machines. I could’ve easily had my cases made in another country for a lot less money however, I wanted to make better decisions for our planet and people moving forward. As well, 90% of our materials are sourced within North America. 

With our manufacturer local, it made it easy to enact our circular economy take-back program (keeping our cases out of landfills) where we accept our cases back (in Canada and the USA) , disassemble, wash, chip and reuse the materials. Any materials we cannot use, we responsibly recycle.

In addition to being a BCorp Certified company, M·Y·O Cosmetic Cases is a signatory to The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment led by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation in partnership with the UN Environmental Programme.

As a signatory, we are committed to:

ELIMINATING unnecessary and single use plastic packaging

INNOVATING products to be reused, refilled and recycled, or composted by 2025

CIRCULATING plastic to be reused or recycled and made into new packaging or products

What does the process look like to become B Corp certified?

A company has to take a holistic approach to making business decisions with the health and wellbeing of all life on and for our planet. Becoming B Corp certified validates the incredible effort that it takes to make those decisions, on a daily basis, that are often more challenging, time consuming and more expensive, but definitely of higher and long-term value.

As a company with the desire to become B Corp Certified, you have to look at and commit to considering every stream of your business operations from suppliers, employees, community, environment, your customers and also create policies and procedures to guide all your actions. Participating in the ‘Getting to 80’ program introduced me to these streams and created an awareness on how to structure my company to have positive impacts within each of these streams long term. The program, organized in a cohort, allowed the opportunity to collectively learn from everyone in the room and was an incredible experience to be surrounded by people that shared the same passion for doing better.

The process itself was intense and challenging from completing the B Impact Assessment to the creation of policy and procedure documents, reviewed by B Lab. I truly couldn’t have done it without the support of Decade Impact, Brianna and Kristy.

Decade Impact played a leading role in assisting my company to become B Corp certified. As a small business owner their expertise is exactly what I needed to push me through to achieving our B Corp Certification.

What’s next for M·Y·O Cosmetic Cases?

Since the pandemic started, I’ve had to pivot my business however only in its messaging. For my makeup artist community, I’ve switched up my messaging to emphasize that our case is made of FDA and European compliant food and medical grade materials and it’s a system that keeps makeup safe and hygienic. Our M·Y·O Makeup Pods make it easy to reduce environmental exposure of makeup and right now that’s essential. Also, we designed our case, in 2016, choosing materials that have the ability to be cleaned, sanitized and disinfected.

In the TV/Film/Makeup Artist industry, they are currently using many disposable products which are great for sanitary reasons but not great for the environment. Our product gives them the option to use a product that can be reused consistently. In the last year, I’ve had six new retailers reach out to sell our Pro M·Y·O Cosmetic Cases for their makeup artist communities and now sell in 5 countries.

This year, we are excited to introduce our Zero Waste Eco M·Y·O Cosmetic Case to eco-conscious Gen Z’s and Minimalist Millennials markets. Since the pandemic, clean beauty and sustainable packaging are at the forefront of the Beauty Industry and as our Eco M·Y·O Cosmetic Case encourages a more conscious consumption approach to cosmetics, it’s the perfect time to share our product with the world.

Currently in the beauty world, all sorts of articles are being published about sustainable packaging and products that are reusable/refillable. Now as a B Corp company, I feel connected more than ever to these articles and can echo the passion that all B Corps hold in support of a better future for people and planet.

For those who want to learn more about Suzanne’s career journey in the beauty industry, be sure to read her feature on Pursuit 365. It was a pleasure to catching up with Suzanne and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for and her business!