About Us

ETHOS

Our goal is to reduce the impact that the personal care industry has on the environment by choosing sustainable ingredients and packaging whenever possible. Transparency is very important to us, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out and contact us.

PRODUCTS

We handcraft our products in small batches to ensure that everything is made with ethical manufacturing processes to the highest quality standard.

All of our goods are 100% vegan and certified palm oil free.

We use natural and naturally derived ingredients, however we will choose a nature identical alternative to an ingredient if a vegan or palm free option is not available.  For example, we use nature identical Vitamin B5 and Vitamin E in our formulas as the natural forms are generally derived from animal products (Vitamin B5) or palm (Vitamin E).

CERTIFIED PALM OIL FREE

We are proud to be the first company in Canada to be certified by the Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark!  To learn more about this initiative, click here.

Being a palm free brand isn't easy and greatly increases our production costs, but we feel it is a very important stance to take.  The palm oil industry has been destroying rainforests to make way for palm plantations at an alarming rate.   This not only causes harm to wildlife and the environment, but extremely unethical labour practices are unfortunately all too common on these plantations.  

While thankfully there is an increase in sustainable palm plantations, many of the "sustainable" palm derived cosmetic ingredients are "Mass Balance" which means it contains 50% sustainable and 50% unsustainable palm.  We choose not to contribute to the demand for palm oil as a whole and have worked very hard to ensure our entire brand is palm free.  

You will see some ingredients within our range that traditionally would contain palm oil derivatives however we have sourced these ingredients specifically palm free from trusted manufacturers.  Read more about why we choose to be certified palm free here.

PACKAGING

Our packaging is 98% plastic free!  As soon as a replacement for the plastic screw top ring around dropper bottles is invented, we will be at 100%.  To reduce the need for these dropper bottle tops, we offer refills for our liquid products.  Online, request the low-waste option, pop the previous dropper top into the new refill bottle and recycle the aluminum cap.   We also offer bulk refill sizes to our wholesale partners so customers can refill in store!  

We use paperboard packaging which is both recyclable and compostable.  In the event that a paperboard package contained an oil based product (our deodorants), the packaging should only be composted, not recycled.

When a product contains light sensitive liquids, we choose to use white or black glass to reduce UV exposure and maintain the integrity of the ingredients.  

Some of our powder based products come in aluminum shaker bottles as they are very durable, can be easily refilled or reused for a multitude of uses, and aluminum is infinitely recyclable.

Most beauty products are packaged in hard-to-recycle containers (think pump tops, packaging with mixed materials, etc).  As it is our goal is to reduce the impact the personal care industry has on the environment, we now offer recycling collection for all beauty product packaging at our location the Shine Lab in Squamish, BC.  Feel free to bring in your empty containers from any brand and we will happily collect them.  Once our ZeroWaste box is full, we ship it to TerraCycle to be properly recycled.  The packaging does not need to be cleaned, we just ask that they are empty.  To learn more about TerraCycle recycling programs, click here. 

SHIPPING MATERIALS

Your order will come packed in fully recyclable packaging. 

• Shipping labels and brand stickers are both recyclable & home compostable.
• We reuse packing paper from our incoming deliveries. 
• Tissue paper is made of 100% recycled content. 
• The seed paper shreds are from a wonderful Canadian company called Botanical Paperworks and are cut-offs from their seed paper production.  Plant it and watch wildflowers grow!

LOCATION

We are a Canadian company, created and nurtured in the Squamish and Okanagan Valley areas of BC.  All of our manufacturing is done on site at the Shine Lab in Squamish, BC.  The Shine Lab features a small gift shop + eco-boutique  where you can visit for refills and to check out all of our goodies in person.  We look forward to welcoming you soon!!

We respectfully acknowledge that our business is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Squamish Nation Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw.

OUR ROOTS

The Eco Alchemist was launched May 2021 by Cosmetic Chemist and Holistic Nutritionist Terri Kirkham, who has been making personal care products for over a decade.  She discovered her passion for the industry after a deep dive into nutrition and environmental studies had her seeking out more natural product options.  The Eco Alchemist was created out of a need to supply palm-free shampoo & conditioner bars to the Canadian market and expanded to include skin care which dramatically improved her own skin issues. 

Terri graduated from the Institute of Personal Care Science in 2023, proudly earning the title of Cosmetic Chemist/Formulation Chemist.  She has also completed the Organic Skin Care Formulation & Organic Hair Care Formulation Diploma programs with Formula Botanica in 2019.

The Eco Alchemist features highly effective products with a reduced footprint. Efficacy, sustainability and eco-friendly packaging solutions are a few key aspects of the brand.  After owning and operating a health food store, Terri saw just how many plastic bottles are consumed with beauty & wellness products and felt compelled to become a part of the change.