40 Beauty Brands Band Together to Fight for Reproductive Rights
Laney Crowell, founder of Saie Beauty, is galvanizing the beauty industry to raise awareness and funds for SisterSong, the largest multi-ethnic Reproductive Justice collective in the nation
I always marvel at my friends who have the courage to become entrepreneurs.
Those who have a big idea and then actually do the work to make that idea a reality.
But let’s be honest — creating something is one thing.
Succeeding?
That’s another.
Which is why I’m so in awe of my friend Laney Crowell, founder of Saie.
Instagram: @saiebeauty
The beauty brand with the tagline, “Skincare as makeup. Made clean for our planet.”
Instagram: @saiebeauty
In just three short years, Saie has created noise in a crowded market, won multiple beauty awards, and won over Gwyneth Paltrow as a key investor.
Today, Saie is reaching another milestone — launching The Every Body Campaign, a partnership with 35+ beauty and wellness brands to raise awareness and funds for reproductive justice.
A first.
I sat down with Crowell recently talk about The Every Body Campaign, another big collaboration with Reformation and her big dream for Saie.
THE EVERY BODY CAMPAIGN
ALINA CHO: Let's talk about The Every Body Campaign.
Photo Courtesy: Saie Beauty
LANEY CROWELL: The Every Body Campaign is the largest reproductive justice campaign that the beauty industry has ever had. We've banded together with [more than] 35 beauty brands to protect everybody's right to choose. We believe that reproductive rights are human rights. We're working in partnership with SisterSong.
Source: SisterSong
Source: SisterSong
And 100% of the proceeds from the campaign go to SisterSong to fight for reproductive freedom and support those affected by the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
ALINA CHO: For people who don’t know, what is SisterSong?
LANEY CROWELL: They're based in Georgia. And they're on front lines of those affected most by the abortion bans. SisterSong is the largest multi-ethnic reproductive justice collective in the nation. They're a national organization.
ALINA CHO: Wow. So, you reached out to other brands…
LANEY CROWELL: Well, I first I reached out to SisterSong. I heard [the founder] speak and I was so blown away by Monica [Simpson], that I DMed her on Instagram. I said, "Hey, I just heard you speak. I am the founder of a beauty brand. I know that other founders would love to help, and do you have time to talk?" We got on the phone and we came up with this idea together.
ALINA CHO: So, each brand…
LANEY CROWELL: Every brand chose their own product, and we repackaged it in our limited edition, Every Body green packaging.
Source: Every Body Campaign
ALINA CHO: Because green has really become the color of the movement.
Source: NPR
LANEY CROWELL: It has.
Source: Bloomberg
It originated in Argentina [and is meant to symbolize life and hope].
ALINA CHO: So, each brand chose one hero product. You've repackaged it in this special green packaging, and 100% of the proceeds will go to SisterSong.
LANEY CROWELL: Exactly. I thought this campaign would maybe be five or seven brands banding together because, of course, there's power in numbers. Now, it’s close to 40 brands.
ALINA CHO: Wow, that’s unbelievable.
LANEY CROWELL: I calculated our Instagram reach. With just the brands’ Instagram, it’s [more than] 13 million potential people that we can reach. And I think that number is probably two or three times higher when we add in all these other channels, [TikTok and brand founders, etc.].
REFORMATION X SAIE
LANEY CROWELL: This is the first beauty collaboration that Reformation has ever done.
ALINA CHO: Amazing.
LANEY CROWELL: Saie and Reformation share our sustainability mission and ethos to a T. They are so incredibly thoughtful about everything that they do, and so we just aligned perfectly in terms of what our standards are. And then, the cherry on top is that we both love really beautiful, cute things, and so the product is inspired by their holiday collection.
ALINA CHO: What’s on offer?
LANEY CROWELL: So, it's High Glow and it's a brand new product. It's a liquid highlighter.
Source: Saie Beauty
ALINA CHO: I love a good highlighter.
LANEY CROWELL: [We also have] Glowy Super Gel
Source: Saie Beauty
[and Lip Blur].
Source: Saie Beauty
It’s limited edition, so you gotta get it quickly. [There’s currently a waitlist for Glowy Super Gel and Lip Blur].
ALINA CHO: Love it.
LANEY CROWELL: And especially with the fabulous box that it comes in, which is, of course, on FSC-certified paper, is just the perfect stocking suffer.
SAIE THE BRAND AND THE BIG DREAM
ALINA CHO: I feel very proud about this, I do feel like I've been with you on the whole journey…
LANEY CROWELL: You have. We sat for coffee at Jam’s [three years ago].
ALINA CHO: And you explained to me what your idea was for Saie before there was even a product. So, what was that original idea?
LANEY CROWELL: Quite simply, I started with this idea of beauty being better.
Instagram: @saiebeauty
And what do I mean by that? I want the ingredients that I'm putting on my skin to be not just not harmful, I want them to be good for me. I want them to be making my skin better. I want the packaging that it comes in to not only [cause] as little harm as it possibly can for the environment, I also want the packaging to be beautiful. I want it to give me butterflies when I see it.
Instagram: @saiebeauty
ALINA CHO: But the speed at which you’ve grown is phenomenal. What do you think it was that people connected with?
LANEY CROWELL: I think everything that I'm saying wasn't just how I was feeling. I reached out to my Instagram community and said, "Hey guys, I want products that are good for me. It doesn't really seem like there's any makeup that falls in that category." And everyone wrote back and was like, "Oh my gosh, I wish that this was being made. I wish that that was being made. Everything that’s out there is so expensive, I can't even afford it.”
ALINA CHO: Right. Saie is luxurious, but also accessible, and that's very hard to achieve.
LANEY CROWELL: It's hard to achieve. It's getting harder and harder to achieve with inflation and supply chain issues. But it's something that's so important to me. I want everyone to be at the table. We just have to figure out a way to make it work.
ALINA CHO: What's the big dream for Saie?
LANEY CROWELL: Oh, wow, that's such a good question. When I dream, I dream about having as big an impact as I possibly can on the beauty industry and particularly the environment. My dream is, of course, to be a top beauty brand but to really make significant and notable change.