Known for her role as "Trina Vega" on the beloved Nickelodeon hit Victorious, Daniella Monet is now making a name for herself as the co-founder of nontoxic and vegan cosmetics brand, Kinder Beauty.
Monet says it was in her early career, when she and her family faced health struggles, that she truly began thinking about wellness.
"It was around that time that I realized how important it was to really take your own well-being into your own hands," she tells Sonia Baghdady of Advocate Now. "And what that looked like for me was taking a step back. ... I was realizing that if I just paid more attention to what was actually going on emotionally and had better coping habits, that I could actually endure a lot more."
Daniella Monet | Advocate Now
Wearing makeup for hours on set pushed Monet to examine the products that were being used, and what she was putting on and in her body. She says she has always preferred "simple ingredients," and that her brand uses cruelty-free products which are already known to be safe and do not need to be tested on animals.
"I did see a lane where there was a need for a much more clear identity of what clean and vegan and cruelty free beauty looked like, and making that accessible," Monet says. "And that's always been really close to my heart, because I have been lucky enough to make these choices in my lifestyle that were more clean and more healthy and more ethical."
Not everyone is financially able to invest in sustainable products, but additionally, Monet says that many people also lack knowledge about what goes into certain products, or whether or not it's good for them. While stricter regulations on the industry are needed, Monet believes that as more people pay attention, they can affect real change.
"I think that we need to have stricter clean standards. ... There's a lot of room for improvement, and I'm excited that people are talking about it and that people care because people vote with their dollar," she says. "And as long as people spend money on the products that are primarily clean or they're asking for more of that in the market, then I think brands will follow through."
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