YSL Beauty

Photo courtesy YSL Beauty.

Yves Saint Laurent Beauty or YSL Beauty, the cosmetics division of the storied, Paris-born luxury fashion house, has worked to become a leader in the sustainability space over the years, placing a higher priority on the ecological preservation of our greater world. 

On World Environment Day, which took place on Saturday June 5, the brand continued its green priorities and reaffirmed its commitment to regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration in the Ourika Valley, which serves as the home to the Ourika Community Gardens in Morocco.

The effort supports the alignment of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration program, which launched on World Environment Day and is slated to run through 2030—the tentative timeline scientists have noted as being the final opportunity before we confront catastrophic climate change.

Located in the Atlas Mountains region of Morocco, the Ourika Community Gardens is regarded as “an oasis of sustainable beauty.” The project was first founded in 2013 and has a dedicated purpose to grow cosmetic ingredients through advanced approaches to research and botany. 

Stephan Bezy, International General Manager for Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, said in a released statement: "The Ourika Community Gardens is an experimental project inspired by M. Yves Saint Laurent's passion for the Moroccan landscape. Following in his footsteps, these gardens offer an opportunity to observe, cultivate and, ultimately transform an ecosystem threatened by climate change into a flourishing environment.”

The Ourika Community Gardens are working to create sustainable changes through programs aimed at inspiring a positive impact on the local community’s women who cultivate the garden.

Further, these women, along with a number of other local community members, are tapping into bioregenerative techniques and innovative agricultural practices to bring these gardens to life. As noted by YSL Beauty, the program’s priorities include: recovering abused ecosystems, of which YSL beauty has helped to restore nearly 335 hectares in the Ourika Valley; working with communities, as the Gardens bring together a collective 32 local women who rely on ancestral craftsmanship; the preservation of native plant species, with more than 200 botanical species present; and finally, the promotion of botanical research, which has resulted in the sourcing of 12 plants from the Gardens which have been featured in YSL Beauty product campaigns. 

Caroline Nègre, YSL Beauty’s Director of Scientific Communications, also said in a statement: "We need to respect the environment by respecting its limits. The world’s leading scientists have warned that we only have ten years left to reduce our use of resources in order to combat climate change. Alongside our own in-depth transformation process to reduce our impact on resources, it is essential and urgent that we start deploying solutions if we want to restore and regenerate our ecosystems," she adds.

In joining the global efforts to “reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide,” YSL Beauty is not only working to maintain intentionality in its current line of work, but the brand is also dedicating its existing money and resources to eco causes worthy of championing. 

For more information on the brand and its sustainability initiatives, visit www.yslbeautyus.com.