The transition is undoubtedly underway, the figures show that consumers have already started to remove all unnecessary products from their bathrooms to embrace a cleaner beauty routine with natural fibres, solid cosmetics, and washable, reusable accessories.
Towards circularity
While its far from being a magical solution, reducing waste production first requires to recycle, or upcycle, packaging or to degrade them biologically. It is on these issues that cosmetic brands are now focusing their research, and some have already begun to provide innovative solutions.
Juni Cosmetics is one of the brands that have gone big on recycling. Founded by makeup artist Madeleine White, the brand worked with designers to eliminate plastic from its beauty products. The result is a capsule collection of high-end lipsticks ("Luxury Hydrating Lipstick") with strong moisturizing power, formulated with organic oils, vitamin E and plant hyaluronic acid, whose tubes are made entirely of aluminum, therefore fully recyclable.
Note that the entire lipstick tube is made of aluminum, including the mechanism’s cogs, giving consumers the option to recycle the product without having to disassemble it. Certified vegan, the lipstick contains only organic and sustainably sourced ingredients.
In the same vein, the brand Izzy Zero Waste Beauty has introduced the world’s first reusable and recyclable mascara, which therefore generates no waste. Made of a stainless steel tube, "Zero Waste Mascara" is delivered without any packaging in reusable envelopes made from recycled materials. A subscription service allows consumers the possibility to receive a new sterilized and filled mascara every three months, accompanied by a prepaid envelope to return the previous mascara which will be completely cleaned and refilled for a second life.
An eyeliner that transforms into flowers
Initially specializing in sustainable writing tools, Danish company Sprout World has also taken a step towards a circular beauty routine. It recently released a plantable eyeliner. Its "Sprout eyeliner," totally free of microplastics, is used like any other eyeliner with one exception. At the end of its life, it can be planted in a pot, then watered, to turn into flowers. This is made possible thanks to the capsule nestled at the end of the product, which contains seeds.
These may seem like small innovations but they prove that brands have already started to work on sustainable alternatives to traditional cosmetics to make bathrooms greener and less polluting.
