From Refillable to Biodegradable Products, What’s Next for Sustainable Beauty?
You’ve swapped single-use bottles for refillable ones, traded plastic-heavy packaging for biodegradable alternatives and shifted to brands prioritizing sustainability. However, as the beauty industry continues to evolve, you might be wondering what’s next. Sustainability isn’t just a trend — it’s a movement that’s constantly pushing forward.
The next wave of eco-friendly beauty is all about innovation, from waterless formulas to carbon-neutral production and lab-grown ingredients. Whether you’re a skincare minimalist or a beauty maximalist, your choices shape the industry's future. So, where is sustainable beauty heading?
The Sustainable Beauty Trend
As the world becomes increasingly eco-conscious, the beauty industry has followed suit. Many innovations in the past few years have embraced eco-friendly beauty practices.
The beauty industry has seen everything from refillable bottles to biodegradable products, and sustainable beauty is no longer only a trend. It has become a lifestyle for many beauty enthusiasts.
You’ll know a sustainable brand from an unsustainable one because they don’t use ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate and parabens. Instead, they formulate their products with natural ingredients like coconut oil and bentonite clay.
Waterless Formulas
Most ingredient lists on your favorite skincare products contain the word “aqua,” meaning that the product uses water in its formulation. However, as beauty brands become more aware of the effects of droughts and other water shortages worldwide, many have moved away from traditional formulations and adopted waterless beauty.
Waterless beauty still requires water during usage, but it is omitted entirely from production. The movement started in South Korea and uses various oils, butters and waxes as the active ingredients to ensure the products are still hydrating and easily applied.
Although waterless beauty products are more concentrated than traditional beauty products, they have been widely accepted by consumers who are conscious of their carbon footprint.
Carbon-Neutral Beauty Brands
Carbon-neutral beauty brands are leading the sustainability movement by offsetting more carbon emissions than they produce while manufacturing their products. This significantly reduces their carbon footprint.
Although the evidence may not be visible in the products themselves, the fuels needed to produce them are significantly less harmful to the environment than those used in a conventional beauty factory.
Sustainable Tools
Many people with a skincare routine use cotton pads or washcloths to wash the products off their faces. However, these practices are not sustainable. Even if you use a washcloth instead of a cotton pad, that cloth is not biodegradable.
The solution is simple. New technology from Japan is introducing a biodegradable material that is incredibly soft when wet and can hold moisture for a long time. This new technology will enable people to moisten it and clean their faces while remaining sustainable.
Beware of Greenwashing
While many brands are genuinely eco-conscious and doing everything possible to ensure their products are sustainable, some companies use greenwashing to attract eco-conscious customers.
Even if a company says it uses natural ingredients, those ingredients could be farmed in environmentally harmful and unethical ways. So beware that even if a product claims to be eco-friendly, it doesn’t mean it’s ethically produced.
If you are curious about how your beauty products are being produced, research the company and assess how their products are being farmed. If everything is done ethically and environmentally friendly, you’re onto a winner.
Do not become discouraged as you sift through all the companies that produce greenwashed products. Although it may happen gradually, genuinely sustainable products will likely become more popular with time.
Beauty’s Next Chapter
Sustainable beauty is growing and evolving with no sign of slowing down. As a consumer, you can decide where it goes next. Whether you embrace waterless formulas, choose carbon-neutral brands or use more sustainable tools, every small switch in your routine adds up.
The future of beauty is about making choices that make you feel good and look good. By staying informed and demanding more from brands, you're leading the way in sustainable beauty.
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Mia Barnes is a health and wellness writer and the Editor In Chief at Body+Mind. She especially enjoys writing about mental health, physical well-being, mindfulness, and healthy living. When she's not writing, you can find Mia reading romance novels, jogging, and trying new recipes!
