Looking for ways to green up your beauty routine? Meet Angie Poon, founder of The Organic Store, an alternative platform carrying beauty and skincare products made with natural and organic ingredients that are good for our skin, wallets, and the planet.

As conventional beauty and skincare products are often made with ingredients such as micro-plastics, silicones, parabens, mineral oil, or other harmful chemicals, Angie started The Organic Store in 2020 to bring her favourite clean beauty and skincare brands from Europe to Hong Kong.

In our latest edition of ‘8Shades Of’, Angie shares what sparked her sustainability journey, her best and worst eco habits and what consumers should look for in clean beauty products.

In one sentence, tell us what you do!

I am the founder of The Organic Store, a clean beauty platform in Hong Kong selling Europe’s top natural skincare products that are good for our skin, our wallets, and the planet.

Why are you an 8Shader?

There wasn’t really an ‘aha’ moment when I first encountered sustainability. It’s always been a habit of mine to preserve Earth’s precious resources. When I was a kid, my parents always reminded me to save water and energy, and that was probably the beginning of my sustainable lifestyle. My dad (who’s now 82) actually invented a micro-wind-turbine generator, and he is still working hard to promote renewable energy.

Your best eco habit?

I reuse and recycle whenever and wherever I can – although it’s difficult to do so in Hong Kong. And yes, we need more recycling bins/stations in Hong Kong.

Guilty not-so-green habit?

I am still a meat eater, but I’m trying to reduce my meat consumption and the amount of wasted food.

Fave eco product?

Our UpCircle Beauty’s Coffee Body Scrub made with upcycled coffee grounds and lemongrass essential oil, as well as Nuud Care’s Vegan Anti-odorant, an effective, natural and safe deodorant for everyone.

Fave veggie dish in HK?

Anything with Impossible Meat in it!

What are the things that our readers should look for in clean beauty products?

First, become more familiar with skincare ingredients. These are the common harmful ingredients you should avoid: formaldehyde, parabens, petroleum (mineral oil), aluminum, and phthalates.

Second, look for logos like ECOCERT, The Vegan Society Trademark, NATRUE, COSMOS and USDA ORGANIC on beauty products. I am an advocate for European products because the EU has more stringent and protective laws for cosmetics/skincare than many other countries, including the US.

By selecting clean beauty products, you’ll naturally be doing less harm to the environment. Opt for recyclable packaging or even better, zero waste products.

What shade of green are you?

I believe I am pistachio green. There are still many things I can do to help my community adopt sustainable behaviours and create a more sustainable community.

Follow The Organic Store on Instagram @theorganicstore.hk

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See also: 8Shades of… June Ng of Tempehola