Why Buying Canadian Beauty Products Is One of the Most Radical Things You Can Do

Every dollar spent at a locally owned business recirculates in your community roughly 2.5 times before it leaves. Every dollar spent at a multinational brand recirculates roughly once before most of it exits the local economy.

These aren't estimates. They're figures from economic multiplier studies conducted across dozens of cities over thirty years.

We're not going to pretend buying Kasandy face oil is an act of radical political economy. But it's worth being honest about what the choice actually means.

The carbon argument

A product made in Vancouver and sold to a customer in Vancouver has a dramatically shorter supply chain than the same product made in a factory in South Korea, warehoused in New Jersey, and shipped to your door. The packaging, the product, the energy that made it — all of it has a carbon footprint. Proximity reduces it.
This isn't the main reason we make things locally. The main reason is direct control — over quality, labour conditions, and the ability to catch a problem and fix it the same week. But the environmental argument is real. Worth naming.

The support-what-you-love argument

Granville Island is one of the most distinctive artisan communities in North America. It exists because people chose, for decades, to shop there. To pay slightly more for handmade things from local makers than for mass-produced things from large retailers. That choice, made repeatedly by enough people, sustained the whole ecosystem.

The same logic applies to anything you buy from a small local producer. You're not just buying a product. You're casting a vote for the existence of that kind of maker, in your city.

We find that more satisfying than the alternative. You might too.