We LOVE plant-based dyes! It’s part of our commitment to create products that help you look good, feel good and do good. 

What are plant-based dyes? 

Plant-based dyes fit into a category of natural dyes derived from naturally-occurring resources like plants, flowers, foods and minerals. With the earliest recording in 2600 BC, natural dyes have been around for a lot longer than the synthetic chemical dyes that we’re much more used to in modern day textile production. 

Why don’t we love synthetic dyes? 

Up until the 19th century, plants were the main source of textile dye. Artificial dyes were first created in the mid-1800s and adopted by many textile manufacturers due to its low cost. They’re made up of chemicals that are commonly found to be  harmful to us humans and the environment. Today, the process of synthetic color-treating textiles contributes to nearly 20% of global water pollution. 

Why we love plant-based dyes? 

Better for our planet 

With plant-based dyes being  composed of solely natural and renewable resources, it poses much less of a health risk to those that come in contact with it. On the contrast, synthetic dyes are composed of toxic chemicals that pollute the air and contaminate drinking water. Also, dye workers often have a lack of ventilation and protection when working with artificial dyes. Natural dyes avoid this exposure completely. 

Natural dyes are also biodegradable, compostable and nontoxic. Since they do not contain any harmful chemicals, there is no risk of toxic runoff or residuals from the dyeing process (or your laundering process at home) that would pose a risk to our ocean and waterways. 

Better for our bodies 

With prolonged contact, our skin tends to absorb whatever it comes in contact with - including the toxic chemicals that make up many synthetic fabrics. Plant-based dyes are naturally antimicrobial and non allergenic - so it’s less irritating to the skin. 

Fun color play 

Muted, earthy tones are most popular with naturally dyed fabrics but vibrant colors can still be achieved with a bit of experimentation and choice of natural source. It’s relatively easy to extract the natural color from plants, fruits or flowers - eliminating the entire production process to create synthetic dyes. Natural dyed fabrics also absorb higher levels of UV, better protecting your skin from the sun. 

Whenever we choose to dye our products, we only choose to work with plant-based and/or certified organic dyes. 

Meet our botanical collection: sage, lavender and indigo.

This holiday season,we’re launching our first ever colors. Inspired by rich hues found in nature and experimenting with three kinds of materials - we’ve updated our loved trio set into three lovely shades - sage, indigo and lavender.

To achieve each color, we worked with high-quality fruits, flowers and plants:

The sage shade was created with pomegranate peels.

 

Indigo was created with the indigo plant.

 

And lavender was created with lavender flowers and sea salt.