Australian company Eco Tan and Eco by Sonya has taken out the coveted award for best facial oil in the UK Green Parent Natural Beauty Awards, with its product Glory Oil, a blend of organic cold-pressed seed oils.

Started in 2010 in a tiny tin shed in the backyard of Sonya Driver’s Currumbin home, Eco Tan has grown into a multi-million dollar, global award-winning empire with a product sold online every minute.

A newly single mum, watching as her younger sister was diagnosed with a melanoma, Sonya resolved to make a positive impact on the world and others, growing Eco Tan into a cult beauty brand with thousands of stockists, millions of happy customers around the world and a truckload of global award wins.

In 2011, Eco Tan became the first Australia organic tan manufacturer to be certified organic by the Organic Food Chain Australia. They are also proudly Certified Toxic Free by Safe Cosmetics Australia, Choose Cruelty Free and licensed by PETA.

“Eco Tan was founded on the principles of authenticity and transparency, which is why our certifications are so important,” says Sonya. “The truth is always visible.”

“I am an innovator, not an imitator,” she says. “I crave to be unique and to set new benchmarks in clean beauty and world sustainable practices.”

Product development is also personal. After having a large basal cell carcinoma cut from her face in May 2017, Sonya resolved to create something that would help reduce the appearance of scars and fine lines. Enter Glory Oil. 

Launched in February 2018, the Certified Organic product has won multiple awards, with hundreds of thousands of bottles of Glory Oil sold worldwide. The product caught the eye of Myer’s beauty buyers and Eco Tan was able to launch its full range in Myer stores across the country in late 2018.

Giving back

With all her success, Sonya has not forgotten her promise to make a positive impact on the world. “Eco Tan is about lifting people up,” she says, “Every day we ask ourselves who can we help… we get excited by being givers.” 

Eco Tan is proudly philanthropic, using its success to give back globally. The company regularly donates and contributes to over 20 charities and foundations around the world. 

“We have a menagerie of charities, causes and people we lift up, because nothing compares to love,” says Sonya. 

Rafiki Mwema is one charity supported by Sonya and the Eco Tan team. For the last decade, the Australian-based team at Rafiki Mwema have built a safe farm where they look after children who are victims of horrific abuse in Kenya. 
 
Last year, Sonya, with the help of Rafiki Mwema Ambassador Celeste Barber, hatched a plan to raise money and give the charity the boost it needed. They raised $100,000 in just five days.

In November 2018, Eco Tan launched their first not-for-profit product - the Eco By Sonya Hand & Nail Cream for Rafiki Mwema, sold online and worldwide via stockists. 100% of the company’s profits from the sale of this product go directly to Rafiki Mwema, in order to provide a long-term fundraising solution for the charity.

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