We may have done away with plastic straws for our bubble teas in favour of metal ones, but with forethought, we should be casting light on pro-environment causes more frequently. Goal: thinking eco-friendly vibes every day.
It is the simple things like being more mindful about the ingredients in our beauty products to supporting labels with biodegradable packaging that helps reduce our ecological footprint. While the beauty industry hasn’t typically been the shining example of eco-friendly practices, the vision of sustainable beauty and transparency is at the forefront of these brands, below.
So what does it take to become an eco-conscious beauty brand? We find out.
L:A Bruket
Recommended Product: 063 Seasalt Scrub, $66
Environmental Efforts: Gone are the days where toxic ingredients reigned supreme — chemical-laden formulations and non-transparency are left in the dust. L:A Bruket is instead, opting for natural, organic offerings championing purity, quality, and sustainability. Not only do they minimise the industrial influence in their products by opting for natural ingredients, but their plastic bottles are also made of recyclable food-grade PET. They will soon introduce their recyclable PCR (Post Consumer Recyclable) PET bottles made of recycled plastic. Eco-friendly? Check.
L:A Bruket is available online and in-stores.
Banyan Tree Essentials
Recommended Product: Coconut & Seaweed Mineral Sunscreen, USD$32.90
Environmental Efforts: Banyan Tree Essentials’ main draw? Their reef-safe sunscreen promotes the usual UVA and UVB rays protection all while not causing any harm to the coral reefs with its nutrient-rich formula. With an approach that combines ethically-sourced ingredients with recyclable packaging, their skincare offerings are as green as they are effective.
Banyan Tree Essentials is available online.
Soleil Toujours
Recommended Product: 100% Mineral Sunscreen Glow, $58
Environmental Efforts: Dedicated to developing high-quality beauty products that protect, hydrate and nourish the skin, Soleil Toujours has also quickly reached the top tier of green beauty status with its pigment-packed formulas and packaging. As for future plans, they will be switching to bio-plastics. Sourced from sugarcane, the brand has created a renewable plastic that is not derived from petroleum. Model environmental citizen? We think so.
Soleil Toujours is available online and in-stores.
Innisfree
Recommended Product: Green Tea Seed Serum, $37
Environmental Efforts: It’s not hard to see why everyone wants innisfree on their beauty counters. The affordable beauty label with a stellar line up of healthy skincare offers recycling rewards (think: free samples when opting not to take a paper-bag and membership points when customers bring back their empty innisfree bottles), green campaigns and a holistic sensory experience — a brand promise to give back to nature.
Innisfree is available online and in-stores.
The Body Shop
Recommended Product: Drops of Youth Youth Concentrate Sheet Mask, $9
Environmental Efforts: Is there anything the Queen of green beauty can’t do? Not only is the packaging of their sheet masks fabulously biodegradable, but you can also expect their other products to be brimming with eco-friendly and reliably sourced ingredients. Lest you forget, the brand is also 100% vegan and cruelty-free.
The Body Shop is available online and in-stores.
Bjork and Berries
Recommended Product: Never Spring Eau De Parfum, $149
Environmental Efforts: Besides being transparent with their ecological, natural, vegan, non-toxic skincare line, this eco-luxury brand also believes in the concept of Lagom (which means “just enough”) so they never produce more than they need. Priding itself on an organic selection that allows consumers to be kind to the environment as well as committing to 100% recyclable packaging, staying woke about environmental beauty practices has never looked this easy.
Bjork and Berries is available online.
Lush
Recommended Product: Naked Shower Gel, $29
Environmental Efforts: First things first: a round of applause for Lush for embracing the nude in their packaging for quite some time now; from solid shampoo bars to bath bombs and soaps that do away with unnecessary packaging waste. Boasting cruelty-free products and committing to little or no preservative or packaging, all we see are wins.
Lush is available online and in-stores.
Bybi
Recommended Product: Babe Balm $35
Environmental Efforts: As their track record shows, this certified vegan brand knows no bounds when it comes having eco-friendly creds — sugarcane-derived bioplastic tubes that are both recyclable and industrially compostable to promising to leap at the chance for non-plastic alternatives. Such adaptability may be too high a bar for many beauty brands to meet, but this is Bybi we’re dishing about. Gold star.
Bybi is available online and in-stores.
Aveda
Recommended Product: Aveda Rinseless Refresh, $47
Environmental Efforts: Dubbed a heavyweight eco-friendly beauty brand for good reason, Aveda is a desirable ally in the use of naturally derived ingredients and delivering botanically-based products. Owing to its responsible packaging and fairly-sourced components pledge, products like their hair and scalp refresher use the most environmentally sound materials without affecting the efficacy of the product. Fun fact: they were the first beauty company to use 100% post-consumer recycled PET.
Aveda is available online and in-stores.
Written by Sinead Lee.
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