The Future of Sustainable Skincare
By Mala McAlpin, written for The Skincare Company
Historically, skincare and other beauty and cosmetic products have been one of the largest sources of waste materials globally. Thankfully, skincare has come a long way over the past decade, embracing more opportunities to recycle, decrease waste, and reduce overall carbon footprints. In celebration of Earth Day, April 22nd, we reflect on just how significantly sustainable beauty has developed over the years, and with it, our own sustainable strategies for both the present and future.
Skincare Packaging
A key indicator of how sustainable a beauty brand is often its packaging. Traditionally, most beauty products have been packaged in plastic containers, many of which also contain elements which are non-recyclable. Once these bottles and containers end up in landfill, they can take decades to break down. However, over the past several years, we’ve seen a noticeable shift towards eco-friendly skincare packaging, including:
Recycled & recyclable containers – as this is the largest source of waste, it’s wonderful to see changes to traditional beauty packaging. Our professional range (used by our stockist clinics) are fully recyclable, with amber glass bottles and HDPE2 plastic pumps. Our product development is well underway for our entire skincare range to become fully recyclable by 2025.
Compostable postage satchels – eco-conscious brands not only package their beauty products sustainably, but deliver them sustainably too. We ship our online purchases in biodegradable and compostable packages, including the postage satchel and packing beans. We have also introduced tissue paper made with soy-based ink, with one tree planted every time an online order is placed!
The Skincare Company is committed to reducing our impact on the planet, with plans to improve year on year. We are proudly working towards a goal of 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, in line with APCO’s national targets.
Sourcing Sustainable Ingredients
Aside from packaging, there are countless opportunities for sustainable practices to extend through to the skincare – in particular, the ingredients and formulations.
Clean formulations – Our products are not only good for the skin, but good for the planet. They do not contain parabens, dyes, artificial fragrance or colours. All of these substances end up back in our soil or waterways, which can be harmful to the plant or animal species residing there. And of course, we are cruelty-free, and never test on animals.
Australian ingredients – We believe in the sourcing of nutrient-rich Australian-grown ingredients, which also lowers our carbon emissions through reduced importation. These carefully-selected plant ingredients are high in potent skin-boosting compounds to reduce inflammation, improve barrier function, and provide antioxidant protection. For example, the hydroxtyrosol in our Vitamin C serum, which is derived from olive, and mangosteen extract in our HB5 Serum, derived from the mangosteen fruit. Also, the Kakadu Plum found in our Daily Defence – a flourishing Australian fruit with extremely high levels of vitamin c, antioxidants, and brightening phytonutrients.
Longer-lasting products = less packaging waste. We have placed a large emphasis on the development of airless packaging. This not only improves the efficacy and potency of the skincare formulation inside the bottle, but increases its shelf life by reducing oxidation. Longer-lasting products means less waste, which is a win-win for our customers and our planet. We only formulate our products in small batch runs, using high levels of multiple active ingredients. This means you’ll only need to use 1-2 pumps per product, and only a small number of multifunctional products in your regime. This combination not only makes your routine more simple, but reduces your frequency of purchases AND the number of empty bottles you dispose of.
Brand Partnerships & Initiatives
We believe that dramatic change can be achieved through collaboration. That’s why The Skincare Company is a proud supporter of sustainable brand partnerships – changing the world through supporting local businesses. Over the years, we have established multiple partnerships and initiatives with organisations that give back: to the earth, and to communities. The first is Geelong Mums, who recycle nursery items such as cots, prams, car seats, clothes and other baby essentials, to sort, safety check, and package for donation. The organisation provides quality new or pre-loved donations which make a world of difference to struggling families. Recycling these items also means less in landfill.
Another proud partnership we have is with Bayleaf Kitchen, who supports families through difficult times by providing hot, nutritious meals and food hampers using fresh quality ingredients. Nutrition and healthy habits are often the first to suffer during times of family hardship or financial burden, and this amazing organisation hopes to help heal and sustain those in crisis through the gift of food. We are always on the lookout for more ways to give back and to create a more sustainable future. We hope to engage in even more partnerships in the near future, and are actively researching more green initiatives that will allow us to further offset our carbon emissions for the next financial year.
This Earth Day, we invite you to join us in celebration of the leaps and bounds we’ve made to become more sustainable as an industry. But we still have a long way to go. For business owners in the beauty space: environmentally-conscious consumers are now aware of, and actively seeking, these types of eco-friendly practices from the brands they use and love. We would therefore encourage salons, day spas, and skin clinics wanting to adopt planet-friendly choices to consider some of the amazing new options out there. And for those trying to change the world on an individual level: we hope that you continue making planet-friendly choices, and thank you for supporting us while we play our part in a more sustainable future!
