Health Is Beauty

San Francisco Now Has Its Own Natural Beauty Store: Credo Beauty

credo store

Credo has been called the “Sephora of natural beauty,” seeking to achieve the same array of seemingly endless makeup options—but with an eye towards personal and planetary health. (That comparison to Sephora is apt: Credo’s founder, Shashi Batra, originally brought the cosmetics store to the US in 1997.)

credo shelves

The all-natural beauty supply company includes over 70 brands. Credo has had an online presence for quite some time, but in June they opened their first brick-and-mortar store on Fillmore St. in San Francisco.

A favorite feature of mine?  Healthy swaps, a system that will help you replace your makeup staples with a similar, more natural product.

Healthy-swaps-credo-beauty

And it’s not just a retail space. According to the SFChronicle:

The 1,400-square-foot store also features beauty bar services like eyebrow waxing and makeup applications as well as skin-care guru Tata Harper’s first-ever spa room for facials and other skin treatments.

According to founder Shashi Batra, the company’s mission is “to change the way people think about what they put on their bodies.”  It seems certain that the best way to do that is to make healthy options as accessible as possible.  As far as Batra is concerned, getting behind natural beauty products isn’t risky or alternative.  In fact, it’s just smart business.

credo shashi inside

“People will always want to look good and feel good,” he says, “and we don’t see a future where educated people will deliberately put harmful products on their bodies. We believe being conscientious about what one consumes and living a healthy lifestyle will become the norm.”

CredoWall

There’s something special about being a company with a purpose; Credo’s energy level is apparent from its website, in images of its flagship store, and in the attitude of its founder.  According to Batra, the employees of Credo feel an “amazing connection” to the consumers—to people who share a love of beautification, be it of the earth or of the body.  

Luckily, I will be visiting San Francisco in a few weeks.  I’ll mostly be spending time with family, but I’m definitely squeezing in a trip to Credo. To those of you far from the City by the Bay, fear not!  Credobeauty.com has a selection just as amazing.

MakeupwithStation

So far, says Batra, the store’s opening has surpassed expectations “on every measurable metric,” and in ways that cannot be measured at all.  I’d say the future of Credo is as bright as the store’s dazzling displays.  Maybe even brighter.

Credo on Facebook

Credo on Twitter

Sophie Hessekiel is a writer, comedian, and occasional musician who has fled Westchester to pursue feminism, fashion, ecology and comedy in the far-flung fields of Poughkeepsie and Manhattan. When not interning at Eco-Chick, she is writing and performing with her sketch group at Vassar or deconstructing Taylor Swift and Tinder with her gal pals. She also interns for Wifey.tv and is always on the lookout for great new video content. Sophie is studying English, Film, and Español at Vassar, and she wants to make television when she grows up—or, you know, now. Whichever comes first.