The leader in upcycled, zero-waste skincare LOLI Beauty has closed its operations but left a permanent imprint on the industry.WHO: Launched by beauty industry veteran Tina Hedges in 2018, LOLI Beauty was on a mission to clean up beauty with its sustainable, conscious approach to sourcing, formulating, amd packaging. LOLI was the first to upcycle organic, superfoods ingredients, formulate waterless, multipurpose products that were Made Safe certified, and use reusable, food-grade, and certified bio-compostable packaging—even growing mycelium as a replacement for its secondary cartons.WHY: After months of pursuing a joint venture or change of ownership, the brand was forced to shut down operations. Hedges had a deal on the table to sell the brand that fell apart because of a lien on the business related to a $500,000 United States Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan taken in the wake of the pandemic. Without additional capital, LOLI Beauty couldn’t support its operations.IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “LOLI played a significant role in changing the beauty landscape and making it more clean and conscious,” says Hedges. “When I stood up on the stage at CEW in 2019, and won the sustainability award beating out L’Oréal and Biossance, and recognizing they each had huge budgets to apply to sustainability & R&D, it was really a pivotal moment where the beauty industry had to stop and think about what they were doing. If that’s our LOLI legacy, I’m super proud of it. I don’t see this as a failure, I see this as an incredible learning experience about the power of planet-friendly purpose.