Most of us have grown up only knowing plastic-encased makeup, but times are changing.
The personal care and beauty industry produces more than 120 billion units of packaging every year globally — most of which are not truly recyclable.
This article runs through some of our favourite naked cosmetic brands looking to change this figure and consider the impact they are making to the cosmetics space.
You’ll find more on their efforts on our SHiFT.How platform, alongside hundreds of other solutions, which can be implemented to help minimise your plastic footprint.
What do we mean by “naked cosmetics”?
By naked cosmetics, we’re talking about cosmetic items that avoid the use of unnecessary plastic in their production, in terms of both packaging, and the product itself.
The Pact Collective
The Pact Collective is a non-profit collective driving circularity across the cosmetics industry, by helping wellness and beauty companies divert hard-to recycle plastic packaging from landfill. It’s a membership collective and Pact members gain access to hard-to-recycle packaging collection programs, exclusive educational tools, and a network of other industry leaders with shared environmental goals.
Photo Credit : Pact Collective
Pact collects the packaging that municipal recycling facilities (MRFs) cannot recycle due to equipment limitations or lack of end market. Once collected, they find the highest use for the materials, prioritising mechanically recycling into consumer packaging or durable goods. Moreover, Pact offers different programs to suit different company needs – for customers and employees – ranging from “In-Office” as well as “In-Store”” Collection Programmes. Companies without storefront locations can also benefit through their Pact’s Mail-Back Program.
Our friends at Westman Atelier, and Plaine Products are two of Pact’s 180 members worldwide. Will your company be next?
Find out more about Pact and its membership opportunities here.
Lush
This well loved brand is a front-runner in terms of naked cosmetics. With 35% of their products devoid of both synthetic preservatives and packaging, Lush is one to watch.
In 2019 they opened their first “Naked” store in the UK, along with two other plastic-free stores in Milan and Berlin.
With the arrival of these new stores, Lush launched an app for customers to use on their “naked” products to identify what they are and what’s in them, without the need for packaging!
Find out more about Lush here.
Juni
Over 900 million lipsticks sold each year worldwide, most of which are in non-recyclable plastic. Similarly to Lush, Juni is working to change this.
Photo Credit: Juni
With 100% plastic free, vegan and majority organic make-up products, Juni is joining in the charge to minimise the industry’s plastic footprint.
What more, Juni have introduced a Return & Refill Initiative which allows customers to send back empty Juni packaging with a free returns label in return for a 10% discount code.
cozie
So you know you want to switch to refill, but which brands offer a solution?
With French brand CoZie you can buy their pre-filled products on their web shop but also in one of their 450 points of sale. Some of these local shops are also equipped with bulk and refill machines. You can then choose the quantity of your choice from a selection of products from the range or refill your favourite skin care and cosmetics products.
CoZie’s bulk dispensing machines are the first in the world for cosmetic products.
What is the SHiFT Platform?
There’s no silver bullet to solve the ocean plastic problem but there are hundreds of ways to tackle it.
However, a big challenge for many people is knowing where to start. That’s why, in 2020, eXXpedition partnered with global technology firm SAP to launch the online SHiFT platform.
The SHiFT Platform allows you to sift through hundreds of impactful solutions, and find the ones that best fit you
