Sustainable & Ethical Beauty

6 min readMay 6, 2021

Understanding Ethical Beauty and Sustainable Products & Packaging

Sustainability has been the interest of many people ever since the issues with the environment have received more attention. Sustainability could be tied up with anything — fashion, cosmetics, technology, and etc. As sustainability became more engaged with people’s daily lives, sustainable beauty products, as well as their packaging, has become an interest to many cosmetic lovers.

Each and every year, the cosmetic industry creates billions of tons of non-recyclable plastic to hold their products in. We all are aware of how much impact plastic waste has an impact on the environment. Over 120.8 billion tons of plastic waste get sent to landfills across the country, and if this level of consumption continues, by 2050 there will be 12 billion tons of plastic in landfills, the equivalent to 35,000 Empire State Buildings.

With an increasing number of consumers and retailers demanding cosmetics with natural or sustainable ingredients, the green cosmetics market has experienced a 15 percent annual growth rate.

In order to help save the environment and provide more options for people who are more caring about sustainability, the cosmetics industry has made a lot of sustainable beauty brands and included sustainable elements into cosmetics. According to Quantis 2016 of the ‘Sustainability in the Cosmetics Sector’, 75% of cosmetics companies surveyed are measuring the environmental footprint of their operations and products. Also, 100% are working to understand their material sustainability issues, and 70% design for the circular economy or plan to in the future. Since this statistic was recorded in 2016, a higher percentage would have designed for the circular economy by now.

To find out how much people have become more interested in eco-friendly cosmetics, I also found some other statistics. GlobalWebIndex made research in 2018 on GenZ (16–21), the Millennials (22–35), GenX (36–54), and Baby Boomers (55–64). The statistics were on the percentage of people who agree to pay more for eco-friendly products.

What are Sustainable “Green” Cosmetics?

“Green” and “sustainable” cosmetics are defined as cosmetic products using natural ingredients produced from renewable raw materials. Many companies use petrochemical ingredients derived from petrol, a non-renewable and economically volatile resource. Bio-based oleochemicals, on the other hand, derive from renewable plant and bacteria sources and are the crux of the green cosmetics movement.

Green Ingredients & Harmful Ingredients?

Green: Natural Oils, Agricultural Plants, Bacteria

Harmful: BHA&BHT, Coal Tar Dyes, Formaldehyde-releasing Preservatives, Aluminum, Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)

Sustainable Choices within Beauty Products

Consider choosing cosmetics made from 100% natural ingredients from beauty brands with a true eco-conscience.
Look for beauty brands that have been certified Vegan if you want to completely avoid the use of Palm Oil in your cosmetics.
Some councils will accept your cosmetic containers with lids while others won’t. It depends on what equipment and processes are in place by the Material Recovery Facility. Contact your local council to find out what is right for your area.
Choose 100% natural cosmetics so that toxic ingredients don’t end up in our ecosystems harming sea life and other life on Earth.

Characteristics and Elements of Eco-Friendly Cosmetics

Sustainable & Organic Cosmetic Brands

Antonym Cosmetics — Antonym Cosmetics was founded by Miami makeup artist Valerie (Val) Giraud who sought to create the best organic makeup and makeup brushes that were cruelty-free and gentle on the skin.

Elate Cosmetics — Elate Cosmetics creates safe, effective beauty products using cruelty-free ingredients, ethical marketing, and sustainable practices. With the goal of becoming the first waste-free cosmetic company, our products offer innovative solutions to the otherwise wasteful practices of the beauty industry and fill a gap in your beauty ritual.

Kjaer Weis — Since its inception in 2010, Kjaer Weis has led the charge in sustainability, being the first luxury beauty brand to introduce refillable packaging at its launch.

RMS Beauty — Its mission to create healthy luxurious beauty means they only use the highest-quality clean ingredients, meticulously sourced and tested for complete purity.

Fat and The Moon — Continuing a family legacy of herbalists and natural healers, Fat and the Moon founder Rachel Budde has built her company around providing handcrafted, herbal body care products to those seeking natural and effective alternatives to chemical-filled products.

PHB Ethical Beauty — All PHB products are free from alcohol, animal ingredients, palm oil & harmful chemicals. PHB is 100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free.

What Could Be Considered As Eco-Friendly Cosmetics Packaging?

As the increasing number of consumers and retailers become more interested in sustainability within their daily lives, they came to think about not only green cosmetics but also sustainable cosmetics packaging. Though we all know how much packaging is being wasted today, many industries continue to use what they have been using before, since it’s convenient to keep what they had from before. Not only the materials matter but also excessive packaging have become an issue, especially in the cosmetics industry since most of the products are not that big.

While making research on some of the sustainable packaging in the beauty industry, I came across 5 innovative ideas that I wanted to share.

1. Lush has created “carbon-positive” packaging. The new packaging is made from cork instead of plastic. In addition to having a low carbon footprint, cork is anti-bacterial, water-resistant, strong, and can even be composted. Not only is cork biodegradable, but it also comes from bark, which is harvested every ten years and does not require cutting down trees during the process.

2. Pippa Bridges, a recent graduate from Loughborough University, designed a reusable capsule to replace the disposable tube, which the capsule can be refilled as required. She also replaced the regular mascara brush with a unique fingertip applicator that can last up to 10 years, whereas the normal tubes need to be replaced every 6 months.

3. Japan-based Nippon Paper Group has designed a new kind of paper container to hold liquids. The material is similar to cardboard and does not get soggy when wet, according to the company. Containers resemble milk cartons and are designed to replace refillable plastic pouches.

4. US-based Cleanyst has created a home appliance that makes custom-made cleaning and hygiene products. The machine can shrink your plastic footprint and save money, the company says. Cleanyst is part of a growing trend of zero-waste retail options that include homemade cleaners and other products.

5. Australian-based Flora&Fauna is creating an interactive marketplace for zero-waste goods and services. Customers will be able to recycle and learn about eco-friendly lifestyles through workshops and pop-ups. The store will also include the first bulk eco-refill station in the country, providing customers with the opportunity to bring their own containers to refill with shampoo, conditioner, and laundry detergent.