April 22, 2021

“Sustainability has found its way to the forefront of many conversations — in fashion, construction, energy — you name it. One of the industries that has revolutionized the term, however, is beauty. From “clean” beauty formulas to recyclable packaging, the beauty industry is taking profound steps to reduce its impact on the environment,” explains Jillian Ortiz in USA Today.

Check out this roundup of recent sustainability measures and developments in the beauty industry:

REN Clean Skincare recently announced the launch of the #WeAreAllies campaign, a measure devoted to tackling the problem of packaging waste created by the beauty industry.

#WeAreAllies is a community alliance and the four clean skincare brands Biossance, Caudalie, Herbivore, and YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE have all joined the campaign, led by REN’s CEO, Arnaud Meysselle.

Each brand in the #WeAreAllies campaign has committed to more planet-friendly packaging by the year 2025. Additionally, REN has a goal to use only packaging that’s recycled, recyclable, or reusable by the end of 2021.

“We were hugely inspired to be met with such shared enthusiasm for a common sustainability purpose and shared values by clean brands we’re proud to now call our allies. Taking action to reduce waste in the beauty industry is a challenge; together we can share ideas and pioneer new solutions to reduce packaging waste while raising awareness and inspiring other brands to join us with their sustainability efforts. It is the sharing of the knowledge of the collective that has the power to make a real, meaningful and scalable difference,” Arnaud Meysselle, CEO REN Clean Skincare, said, according to BusinessWire.

As of this year, all 500+ Aveda haircare, skincare, personal care, and makeup products are now entirely vegan and free from animal-derived ingredients. 

The vegan swap took years to make, according to the company. In order to go completely vegan Aveda focused on removing the following from all of their formulations:

• honey
• beeswax
• and beeswax-derived ingredients 

“Aveda was founded on an environmental mission, so becoming vegan was a natural next step for us to continue to lessen our impact on the planet,” Christine Hall, Aveda Vice President of Research & Development, said in a statement. “We were further compelled to expedite the process when faced with the facts around the impact of animal-derived ingredients on the health of the planet.” 

The vegan skincare market is projected to be worth $20.8 billion USD by 2025.

Another big development to emerge in the sustainable beauty world?

Upcycling, or using food ingredients, ordinarily viewed as waste, in eco-chic formulations. Think: coffee grinds, tea leaves, fruit peels, flowers, vegetable extracts and more.

There’s been a recent boom in innovative upcycled beauty formulations, including:

• Upcycled Beauty – this UK brands upcycles a variety of ingredients, including berry pulp leftover from juice production and discarded olive pits to create sustainabe skincare and personal care products.
• Loli Beauty Plum Elixir Organic Face Oil – this moisturizing face oil uses the sustainably upcycled kernel of the French Ente plum to provide hydration.
• Superzero Heavenly Hydration & Blue Light Defense Hand Balm Bar – this vegetable-based product uses upcycled blueberry oil to offer hydration. Plus, consumers love that the bar is plastic-packaging free.

Additionally, it’s important to note many brands are also upcycling consumer waste like recycled paper and plastic into more sustainable packaging.

The eco-friendly packaging trend of offering refillable and reusable containers is most associated with color cosmetics, like eye shadow palettes. But now, innovative skincare brands are tapping into the refillable packaging trend in an effort to become more sustainable.

Skincare brand Noble Panacea has invented recyclable single-dose sachets of its creams and serums, all housed within a box. The sachets are designed to protect the active ingredients and keep the formulas from degrading. Once the skincare products are used up, consumers can mail the empty sachets back to Noble Panacea and then receive a refill in the mail.

The desire for refillable skincare products is predicted to be a huge demand going forward, as consumers seek ways to reduce their environmental impact. 

Mega-popular beauty retailer Ulta teamed up with TerraCycle’s Loop, in an effort to reduce plastic packaging from beauty products. 

Ulta Beauty recently pledged to have 50% of assortment packaging sold made from recycled or bio-sourced materials, or be recyclable, or be refillable by 2025.  In order to meet the pledge Ulta is working with Loop and beauty brands to offer products in reusable and refillable packaging.

“Ulta Beauty is the first major beauty retailer to partner with Loop beginning March 2021. We look forward to taking a significant step in reducing disposability by giving Ulta Beauty guests the opportunity to order a selection of products in durable, reusable packaging,” Tom Szaky, TerraCycle & Loop Founder & CEO said on Ulta.com.

The Loop by Ulta program is currently operating in 48 U.S. states.

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