amika is officially B Corp certified!

what does it mean to be B Corp?

We’re the first to tell you that a brand is more than just the products they sell. Our core values and principles are what drive us. A B Corp certification is “a standard of excellence across five areas of business” says Jamie Richards, our CSR and Sustainability Lead The five areas of business are as follows:

Governance: 15.7

“Governance” measures the performance of our mission, ethics, accountability, and transparency. For example, do we share public reports with our consumers? (Yes! Stay tuned for our 2023 sustainability report), or do we communicate price changes? (Another yes! See here

Workers: 23.0

“Workers” measures the performance of our employees’ financial, physical, professional, and social well-being. amika offers 401k matching, paid parental leave (including for miscarriage + abortion), and competitive PTO and healthcare benefits. We’re particularly proud of this section because it led us to gain our Great Places to Work Certification.

Community: 23.7

“Community” measures the economic and social well-being of the communities in which it operates. In other words, how do we affect our community? As a Brooklyn-born brand, this section is important to us—we always love giving back to the place that raised us and being a positive force to those we interact with.

Environment: 32.2

This section is where our sustainability initiatives come into play. This measures our performance in overall environmental stewardship, which covers a range of attributes, from managing water usage to offsetting our emissions scope. amika uses PCR plastics, partners with recycling program TerraCycle®, is certified Climate Neutral, has pledged to be Net Zero by 2035, and is vegan and cruelty-free.

Customers: 4.4

“Customers” measures the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels. Are we protecting our customers’ privacy? Are we practicing good quality control testing? This has all been part of our mission since day one.

For a company to earn its certification, they need to score 80 points or more combined from all five categories. amika scored 99.2, which is “an impressive score for our first time around,” and notably, “no one section is weighted more than the others, which means amika invests equally across our brand,” says Jamie.

why is it important for a company to be B Corp certified?

So, what does all this mean—why should you care that we’re B Corp? When posing this question to Jamie, she explained, “it’s a way to signal that we’re not just doing one thing right; we’re doing it all. It’s a way that allows the consumer to know you can trust this brand because we’re holding ourselves to a high standard of excellence across our entire business, not just one area.”

Additionally, B Corp shows what gaps there are in the business. As a brand who always wants to grow, learn, and be better, this piece stood out to us. When running these tests, we learned things about our business that we want to improve on, and now we know that we will—more to come there!

what was the process like?

When asking Jamie why she had the sustainability roadmap (which she created back in 2019) end with becoming B Corp, she said, “I liked the standards and policies, and [since] I was the only one doing this, I needed something to hold me to an industry standard, so I started tracking with B Corp.” After presenting it to the 2019 leadership team, the ball was officially rolling (albeit, slowly). When Covid hit, Jamie officially moved to the sustainability team—and she became our Sustainability Lead in 2021. The B Corp certification process became her first project, and after working tirelessly on filling out our assessment from May 2021 – August 2021, she submitted it in just three months (it normally takes 1 year to complete). And on March 13th, 2023, we officially became B Corp certified! 

While this is a momentous milestone in our journey, we aren’t stopping here. "We've transformed amika in a matter of a few years, from the beginning of our CSR journey in 2018 to achieving one of the greatest validations of becoming a certified B Corp brand,” said Chelsea Riggs, amika’s brand president. “In 2022 we qualified for the highly respected Clean at Sephora seal, further confirming our safe, responsible, and efficacious approach to formulating products. This progress is remarkable and a huge testament to our entire organization's commitment and passion on this journey. We hope to inspire more hair companies to become B Corp certified and shift the industry as a whole." This is a new beginning for amika, and we will continue to be leaders in a space of transparency, and social and environmental responsibility.

That’s why we’re proud to announce some of our latest achievements coming straight from our 2024 sustainability report.

what does it mean to have the Sephora Planet Aware seal?

2024 was a big year for amika, but of all the progress we made toward our sustainability goals, we’re incredibly excited to share that we qualified for Sephora’s Planet Aware seal. To have that seal featured alongside our products on sephora.com, we had to show dedication to 4 key pillars within sustainability: sustainable sourcing and packaging, corporate commitments, and consumer transparency.

Sephora identifies Planet Aware brands as those who are committed to sustainably sourcing ingredients and developing formulas with environmental impact in mind. Brands must also show that they’re reducing packaging waste where possible, aiming to use refillable and recyclable materials. For corporate commitments, this seal acknowledges a brand’s efforts to measure and track its environmental footprint, with an eye toward reducing it. Finally, this seal also shows that a brand is transparent with customers about how its products impact the environment so customers can stay informed.

Sustainable sourcing practices, responsible packaging, environmental giving, and climate commitment are all principals that are part of our brand ethos, and we’re so happy to be recognized for them!

why did we receive the CEW Sustainability Excellence Award?

Beyond our B Corp certification, 2023 also brought us another acknowledgement to be proud of—earning the CEW Sustainability Excellence Award. CEW gives this award to recognize a brand for moving further toward its sustainability goals and to encourage others in the beauty industry to do the same. amika was chosen as the winner for our best efforts in integrating sustainability through our entire value chain. From responsible packaging and ingredients to the conception of our products, sustainability is always at the forefront of our priorities and considerations. We are thrilled that our ethical work is being acknowledged, and we look forward to continually meeting our sustainability goals in 2025.