Sustainable products have been gaining a lot of popularity. Many people have been wanting to switch out their everyday products for ones safer for themselves and the environment. Some companies see this as a trend they would like to exploit, but for others, like Kopari, it is a lifestyle. For Kopari, it is a lifestyle that the founders have lived before they created their skincare brand and it is a lifestyle they would like to share in an honest way.
Kopari- (Kopparai) Indian word for coconut
Kopari was founded by Gigi and Kiana, two women from two different generations. Kiana is a Hawaiian native. She grew up using coconut oil for just about everything and is passionate about keeping a natural beauty routine. Kiana studied integrative health and nutrition at New York’s Natural Gourmet Institute. It was there she learned the vast health benefits of coconut, became a certified organic chef, and began her mission to find different ways coconut can benefit the body.
Gigi was a stay-at-home mom who discovered that coconut oil can keep her skin glowing and hair glossy. She started using it on her children for things such as chapped lips and sunburn. She became passionate about coconut oil’s beauty benefits and decided to bring it up to her husband, Bryce, who works in the beauty industry. Together, they started sourcing and developing pure coconut oil. They teamed up with Kiana who moved out to San Diego to work with them. Kopari was officially established in 2015.
Gigi and Kiana believe that everyone should know about coconut oil and its benefits. So they made Kopari so others could use pure, sustainable beauty products.
About Kopari’s Brand and Sustainability
“At Kopari, we coconut like we give a damn.”
It is hard to talk about this brand without talking about how it is sustainable. Kopari is a private business and is still decently small for its big reputation. All Kopari’s products are sulfate-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, phthalate-free, and vegan! All the products consist of “100% pure, organic coconut oil from small family farms in the Philippines.” The brand also promises to be transparent with its consumers about the ingredients. Kopari also uses other specific natural ingredients to enhance the benefits and performance of coconut oil, such as shea butter, aloe vera, hibiscus oil, avocado oil, and passion fruit oil. Their ingredients are also certified organic and their sunscreen is reef safe! If you are curious about the ingredients and what they do, click on the product on Kopari’s website and they will tell you. They promise that all their formulas are as natural and as safe as possible. The coconut melts are also multipurpose!
Kopari’s packaging also does not shy away from its sustainable promise. All the packaging is 100% recyclable! Don’t have recycling or want to make sure it gets recycled? No problem! Kopari has your back. They have partnered up with TerraCycle, an innovative recycling company. It is a free and easy way to recycle your Kopari products and it turns them into new products! To recycle through the TerraCycle partnership, just go to Kopari’s website, go to the about menu, click on sustainability, click the get started button, and follow the directions! You can also click here. It is a short and easy process. Kopari’s packaging is also blue bin recycling now. Just please recycle!
Giving Back
Kopari’s sustainable efforts do not stop at the products. They give back with what they call “Coconut Powered Giving,” in which they give back to the community they source the coconuts from! Sourcing the small family farms in the Philippines has created jobs for the people there. But that was not enough for the founders; they wanted to do more for them. The area they source from has been hit hard by past natural disasters and many people have lost their homes; Kopari decided to focus their efforts there. So far Kopari has built 20 homes (the area has been named Kopari Village), provided clean water access (which was not available to the community before), and donated school supplies. They still are not done. Kopari has a goal to build more homes and support the community where they source their coconuts from. They have partnered with Gawad Kalinga and Waves4Water to help them build more homes and create more clean drinking water sources for Kopari Village and the surrounding areas. The founders of Kopari even make visits to the village to spend time with its people.
What Else the Brand Offers
Rewards
Kopari is not just a company you can have a they sell-you buy relationship with. They offer their customers a bit more than that. Kopari has a rewards system called Kopari Clique! It is free and easy to join. Just by joining you get 50 points! Points are also easy to earn. You get 15 points when you share them on social media, 10 points when you like or follow them on social media, 25 points for leaving a review, and 1 point for every $1 you spend on the website. Also, 100 points on your birthday! The points can be used to get you discounts! You need at least 100 points to get a discount.
Blog
Yes, Kopari has its own blog and it has the cutest name, “The Salty.” “The Salty” has five categories: Industry Expert, Kopari HQ, Beauty Dare, All Things Coconut, and Lifestyle. Industry Expert consists of Q&A’s advice from experts, and knowledge from experts. Kopari HQ is all things Kopari: interviews with founders, what products to bring on vacation, news, etc.… Beauty Dare is all about skincare and personal care: what works and what doesn’t, what you should add to your routine, and more. All Things Coconut is about what coconut oil can help with and what else your body may need. Lifestyle is about food, drinks, working out, anything lifestyle. Kopari wants you to live your best natural life, so check out the blog!
Kopari sustainability and brand review/analysis
Authors Note
I want to live a sustainable lifestyle, so I search for products that fit that lifestyle. Not only do I search for them, but I will critique, analyze, and call out companies for their sustainability or false claims about sustainability. I use the knowledge I gain from research and the sustainability certificate that I am working on, to make informed conclusions and decisions.
Review
Kopari screams sustainability. It is depicted all over their website, social media, ingredients, even the name and product look gives it a more sustainable feel. I won’t leave you all hanging. Kopari has a right to broadcast it. Sustainability is so tightly woven throughout the workings of this brand. When analyzing brands that are perceived as sustainable, I am always ready to be disappointed, but Kopari made me excited. Let’s dive into why!
Ingredients
All Kopari’s ingredients are truly organic, sulfate-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, phthalate-free, and vegan. They have the certificates to prove it! They claim to use coconut oil and other natural ingredients and… they do! I went through the ingredients list for many of their products and they are all safe and mostly if not all natural. They even tell you what the ingredient does which is a great way to be transparent. Kopari even tells you where they get their most used ingredient from! The ingredients are so simple, basic, and natural that there is not much to say about them. I could simply just wrap it up by saying “they are clean!” The ingredients are good for your person and environmentally friendly.
Packaging
The packaging is indeed 100% recyclable and the partnership they have with TerraCycle makes recycling easy and available to those who do not have recycling. The products being remade into new products is fantastic! The only problem I have here is that the products themselves do not seem to be made of recycled plastics. I hope to see that in the future. I did read an interview where the founders discussed starting a refill program so consumers can just refill their containers for a discounted price! Good for the wallet and environment.
Brand
Honestly, they blew me away. The brand and founders are truly transparent. They tell you the ingredients and why they are used, they tell you their goals, they are extremely honest in interviews! In one interview, a founder was asked what is the weirdest way they used coconut and the founder told them that it is a great lubricant! They do not hold back and I am here for it.
The brand has given back to the community they get their coconut oil from and they are not stopping. They want to continue to give and have already made an impact. Kopari has created jobs, given a community access to clean water and housing. Those are three big sustainability goals that Kopari has done in one initiative! They are transparent with what they do there! They are constantly trying ways to improve their sustainability.
Sustainability Pillars
Kopari marks off in all three of the pillars
Economic
Kopari has created jobs, satisfied demands without using up its resources, their products are not overly expensive, privately owned, rewards program so consumers can save money, helps small family businesses.
Environment
Uses renewable resources, ingredients that are environmentally safe, recyclable packaging, products are not tested on animals, organic and safe ingredients.
Social
Created homes and clean drinking water, blog to create more of a community, committed to helping Kopari Village, gives school supplies to children in the village
Verdict
I will gladly say aloha to Kopari! They are sustainable and continue to try to be more sustainable and make a larger impact. They keep trying to improve in areas they may lack a bit in. Kopari is honest, transparent, safe, and trustworthy. Their ingredients are what they say, natural. In a short time, the brand has made a large splash and I am excited to see what they continue to do.
Everyone Loves Kopari
In the short time that Kopari has been around, it has made a large splash. It has gotten the attention of people of all ages and genders. It has even gotten the attention of big celebrities such as Zoë Kravitz, Jen Atkins, Olivia Culpo, and Kourtney Kardashian. Allure has also given the brand much love!
Where to Buy Kopari
On Kopari’s website (Can currently only gain points through Kopari website purchases)
Ulta
Revolve
Nordstrom
Amazon
Target