Slow Beauty - Guiding Principles

Slow Beauty - Guiding Principles

Call it slow, call it clean, responsible or green... 
What we want from beauty stays the same, even though the hot buzz words change and the trends shift. It's quite simple, really. Beauty should always be safe, sustainable and transparent. Here's what we mean by that:

SAFETY

  • We have strict safety standards and abide by a full list of more than 1,300 banned ingredients (not to mention all the additional restricted ingredients with percentage limits).
  • Though we are not IFRA members and its guide for the fragrance industry is purely optional, we choose to meet their requirements for maximum concentration levels of many ingredients.
  • We conform to stringent EU ingredient regulations.
  • We share all the details of our formulas with a licensed toxicologist, who informs any reformulation process to ensure safety.

SUSTAINABILITY 

  • Our guiding principle is slow beauty: there are many benefits to resisting the feverish pacing of many modern beauty brands. This practice reduces waste at every level created by the machine that churns out low-value product.  Cultus Artem has been in development for 12 years and is the result of meticulous craft. We use traditional methods to create a modern product built to stand the test of time.
  • Our packaging design focuses on reuse & repurposing, durability, and long-term value. Our boxes do not have overt exterior branding (thus the use of sleeves) and have plain frames for multiple use after the instant in the spotlight when a consumer receives the product.  In designing them, we did not focus on making them as cheap as possible, or as disposable as possible, but instead in creating a useful object to be treasured. We use as little plastic as possible, most of it for ensuring safety by making packaging tamper-evident.
  • In-house waste mitigation: we apply deliberate care in the making of our product. Many industries are segmented, resulting in the need to transport components repeatedly from one facility to another with large amounts of waste created and little accountability.  By integrating more levels of the design, development and production processes, we control our use of materials with the same deliberate care. Our facilities are located inside a refurbished building furnished with upcycled antiquities.  We make use of the space for R&D, design, business operations, production, and our showroom.  Our batches are small and hand-made, diluted in even smaller portions as they are needed to reduce time spent in storage and the risk of degradation.  In the filling process, we do not use heavy machinery that necessitates the loss of precious perfume to prime filling pump equipment.  Instead, we use cleanable and reusable glass containers and coated aluminum drums.  New formulations are tested in very small amounts. At every level of creation, we are present and actively preventing waste.

 TRANSPARENCY

  • We root ourselves in the underlying meaning of artifacts and words. Our curiosity and drive to understand the unique elements that create something of true value naturally results in a respect for nuances and details of the process. We have knowledge to impart, and a unique appreciation for the beauty in it. It’s part of the brand.

Cultus Artem perfumes contain only fragrance oils, distilled water, and perfumery alcohol.  They are free of BHA, BHT, color additives and synthetic dyes, ethanolamines (ETA, DEA and TEA), formaldehyde, organosulfates, parabens, phthalates, and toluene. We do not test on animals.