If you like looking good and feeling good about your beauty purchases, low-waste clean beauty brands will help you achieve both.
Clean beauty brands are already taking huge strides to combat the large conventional beauty sector -- this list of 12 brands are not only formulating products with healthier chemicals (and leaving the harmful and questionable ingredients behind) but they are also leading the way by producing low-waste beauty and skincare products.
See how these brands are making a difference -- and let's keep this list as the shopping list for 2023:
PureCeuticals innovative, Cruelty Free line of natural and organic-based products are produced in a state of the art dermatology lab in Vancouver, which uses power from hydro electricity generated from rain run off. Their team of experts uses the cleanest, most eco-friendly manufacturing methods, employing fair trade ingredients and recyclable packaging to lower their carbon footprint.
Mamas Medicinals only uses glass packaging. Violet glass is used for everything except bath salts. Here's where violet glass is different: it filters out light, the absence of visible light helps the product resist degradation, increasing a product's shelf life. It gets better; recycled glass uses 40% less energy than manufacturing new glass, and up to 80% of all recycled glass can be reclaimed. Other than the awesome packaging Mamas Medicinals carefully considers the sustainability of ingredients, using local herbs and raw honey to where its manufactured in northern California. Due to a high demand for honey-based products, it is crucial to opt for ethically sourced honey to prevent honey bees from going into extinction. Thought, care and attention to the planet makes Mamas Medicinals an ultimate earth-friendly company!
Dome BEAUTY is clean in all aspects, AKA 360° clean beauty, which is exactly what it sounds like: A holistic approach to being clean in their products, packaging, application, and ethics. Their products are clean in every aspect. They’re safe, eco-friendly, sustainable, and inclusive. Through this approach, they have solidified their commitment to make beauty more unifying while maintaining the cleanest and greenest standards Packaging is always a concern when it comes to beauty. Dome will search for the latest and greatest in sustainable and eco-friendly packaging options like rice husk compacts used in their highlighter and lip gloss cap as an alternative to plastic.
Since its launch in 2019, Gentleman Farmer has been committed to using the most Planet-friendly packaging possible. Conventional plastic is terrible for the environment: it is typically made from fossil fuels, and despite common conception, it is difficult to recycle. In fact, it is estimated that less than 10% of plastic ever produced has been recycled! Instead, Gentleman Farmer chose glass and aluminum packaging because of its recyclability. For difficult-to-recycle items, such as pumps, the company has a mail-back program through its partnership with Pact Collective. Most excitingly though, Gentleman Farmer is rolling out new, innovative labels made entirely of trees!
All Soléo Organics formulas are entirely biodegradable, made only using natural ingredients. For sunscreen, this is especially important to prevent damage to reef, marine, and ocean life as the sunscreen washes off into the ocean or waterways. Soléo's packaging is recyclable, the tube is made from recyclable plastic, and the box is from recyclable cardboard. All their shipping boxes are also recyclable and use biodegradable packing peanuts, recyclable paper fill, and biodegradable tape.
When it comes to beauty packaging, it isn’t always an easy task to cut through the noise to determine what items are better for the planet. There is no cure-all solution either. From a brand perspective, it can be difficult to find eco-friendly packaging solutions that do not require imports and significant transportation. But the good news is that conscious purchasing decisions can help reduce adverse environmental impact while advancing sustainable packaging initiatives. Lovesong Beauty is committed to finding eco-friendly solutions for beauty packaging (and beyond). Lovesong products are made in California with wind energy, bottled in recyclable aluminum and glass, and shipped with eco-friendly materials like cello tape, green wrap, and compostable tissue paper.
Nuez Acres is a zero waste brand by utilizing 100% of the Pecan Nut with our carefully planned manufacturing process. Nuez Acres is proud to be an anhydrous beauty; not only are their product waterless, their manufacturing process is water free as well. Highlighting the water waste that is created in the beauty industry is one Nuez Acres biggest goal; by offering waterless products Nuez Acres offers a more sustainable option to consumers. All of the ingredients used on the blends are 100% natural and come from a sustainable source, ensuring there is no harm to the ecosystem. Nuez Acres packaging has been carefully selected to ensure all of our packaging is recyclable and to the highest cleanest standards.
Okanagan Lavender & Herb Farm strives to make conscious and responsible choices in every aspect of the business to reduce their ecological footprint and contribute to the global effort to eliminate plastic waste. Products are cultivated and created with care and intention, staying clear of conventional plastic packaging and choosing reusable, recyclable and biodegradable options to live more lightly on the earth. To complement their eco-friendly packaging, they produce as many ingredients as possible on the farm, reducing their carbon footprint by following their mantra ‘from plant to product and nothing in between.
Foria is an innovative health and sexual wellness company creating life-changing, plant-based sexual wellness formulas for relief, intimacy, and daily wellbeing. Foria is proud to use all-natural, organic ingredients without ever using phthalates, parabens, artificial fragrances or glycerin, eliminating all toxic chemicals that are not aligned with Foria's mission: using ingredients created directly from the Earth that are accessible and sustainable for all. As an extension of their commitment to purity and transparency, Foria also provides a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for every product they sell. Most brands share only the COA for their CBD oil — and often only showing potency, but not contaminants. Finally, Foria also takes pride in their low-impact packaging (made with 100% PCW paper and compostable shipping materials), formatted to enhance recyclability and minimize waste and plastic pollution. Through an unwavering commitment to clean ingredients, sex education, and sustainable packaging, Foria crafts formulas rooted in the sensuality of nature and designed to connect you to your body.
Sustainability is at the center of everything Sienna does. Sienna leads the way in best practice for nail polish quality, production, and formula, and continuously pushes forward to inspire a sustainable, ethical and clean approach to beauty. Sienna is not only vegan, cruelty-free, non-toxic, Benzo-free, and breathable but is the first micro-plastic-free, aluminum-free and nano-particle-free nail polish in the world. Even more exciting, their new plant-based formula includes ingredients with little to no waste by-product. Sienna uses 100% renewable energy at their head office and warehouse. As well as sourcing all power from an ethical company with strong environmental and community credentials.
Upfront Cosmetics is on a mission to bring transparency and eco-friendly alternatives to the haircare space. Each Upfront shampoo and conditioner bar replaces up to three bottles of packaged alternates, minimizing waste and ecological impact. One of Upfront’s calling cards is their Plastic Free Promise - This means that during the shipping process not one bit of plastic is used. From the FSC certified fully recyclable shampoo and conditioner packaging, to the compostable craft paper Hair Masque bags, lined with bio-material that is made from renewable resources such as corn and sugar. Upfront also uses recyclable shipping boxes, and paper based water activated tape, as well as biodegradable packing peanuts made from potato starch. They also plant a tree for every single order.
From ingredient sourcing, to the choice of packaging, sustainablity and waste reduction is a core value at Zorah and is taken into consideration through each step of the company's manufacturing process. Zorah makes sure to use either recycled, recycable, biodegradable or compostable options, from packaging to marketing and promotional materials. All products are locally manufactured, thus reducing unnecessary transport and avoiding over-packaging. The brand only uses FSC boxes and biodegradable packaging peanuts that are made from cornstarch which dissolves on contact with water, preventing them from ending up in oceans, lakes, rivers or landfills.
It is important to note that these brands are not just any clean beauty brands that are taking sustainability seriously -- these are brands that stand behind the performance and effectiveness of their products as well. Afterall, all the above mentioned brands all participated in the 2022 Clean Beauty Awards.
Moving towards more sustainable beauty just seems like the right thing to do. Helping and protecting our environment by switching to sustainable beauty products is a great place to start. By doing so, you're not only helping preserve our beautiful planet but also improving your own health! If you are interested in supporting women-owned clean beauty brands, then you may want to read this: Top 30+ Woman-Powered Clean Beauty Brands to Watch for in 2023.