Natura

In 1969, Luiz Seabra opened a small cosmetics shop on Oscar Freire street in São Paulo with a conviction that seemed naive for the era: beauty products should celebrate the person using them rather than promise to change her into someone else. Half a century later, Natura is the largest beauty company in Latin America, a certified B Corporation, carbon neutral since 2007, and the owner of a supply chain that reaches deep into the Amazon rainforest — where it sources ingredients from 40 communities and over 8,000 families.

Natura is not a niche brand that happens to be sustainable. It is a mass-market behemoth — with more than 1.7 million consultoras (sales consultants) across Brazil — that has placed sustainability at the centre of its commercial model since before "sustainability" became a marketing buzzword. The brand's argument is that biodiversity is not just an ethical imperative but a competitive advantage: the Amazon rainforest contains more plant species per hectare than any other ecosystem on Earth, and those plants produce bioactive compounds that decades of pharmaceutical and cosmetic research have barely begun to catalogue.

The Ekos line

The Ekos collection is Natura's signature range — a line built entirely on Amazonian botanicals sourced through fair-trade partnerships with forest communities. Natura Ekos Açaí Face Cream uses açaí oil — rich in anthocyanins (powerful antioxidants), oleic acid, and phytosterols — to deliver antioxidant protection with a texture that suits Brazil's tropical humidity. The Ekos Açaí Bruma Facial is a face mist that provides hydration and a sensorial experience rooted in the fruit's origin story. Ekos Andiroba Oil — pressed from the seeds of a tree that grows along Amazonian riverbanks — delivers anti-inflammatory fatty acids traditionally used by indigenous communities for skin healing.

The Ekos Castanha Body Butter (Brazil nut) and (passion fruit) extend the Amazonian sourcing into body care. Each ingredient carries a provenance story — the specific community that harvested it, the ecosystem it came from, the traditional use that inspired the formulation. This is traceability in the deepest sense: Natura can tell you not just what is in the bottle, but who picked it, where it grew, and what they were paid.