Mention the phrase “clean beauty” and you’re likely to be met with blank stares. Despite this, the lesser-known natural, ethical and environmentally conscious sector of the beauty industry is now worth over $18 billion. This burgeoning growth is something New Zealand entrepreneur Brianne West can attest to. Since she created Ethique (pronounced ‘Et-eek’) in 2012, West has crowd-funded over $2.8 million ($NZ3 million) from people around the world who are passionate about her zero-plastic, zero-waste beauty brand. After two crowd-funding raises, the company has over 350 shareholders who are zealous about the brand’s solid beauty products (think shampoos, conditioners and cleansers) which come in compostable packaging. Read more at News.com.au : Sustainable NZ beauty brand’s success after crowd-funding $2.8m