The brand’s first ever vitamin C serum goes the extra mile by making use of organic zero-waste camellia oil and mango seed oil. The raw materials are specifically grown for their oil, then once extracted, any leftovers are used as natural fertilisers or animal feed to ensure nothing goes to waste. And speaking of leftovers, bilberry and plum seeds, and apricot kernels are salvaged from the food, juice and agricultural industries and upcycled, cold-pressed and extracted to offer up additional skin-conditioning and barrier building oils in the serum. For instance, bilberry is jam-packed with omega 3 and 6 which are key for ceramide-formation – and ceramides are key to stronger, healthier skin barriers. As for the vitamin C, the brand has chosen a skin-compatible, oil-soluble, slow-release rendition that’s designed to be gentle enough for use on sensitive skin – a fact verified by independent patch tests.
A repeat refill cleanser
We know that packaging is one of the biggest problems when it comes to our beauty products’ environmental impact. We’ll use the formula inside but the plastic surrounding it can be left behind for generations. In the UK over 95% of beauty packaging is thrown away after just one use. Beauty Kitchen is set up to change that. The Return, Refill, Repeat programme, means every bottle and pot is washed and reused before being put back to work.
Founder, Jo, a chemist, botanist and sustainability expert, grew Beauty Kitchen from 6 products stocked in just one retailer to over 120 products stocked in well known high street stores across the country such as Boots and Sainsburys. Once finished, you can return your bottles and pots in over 1,000 Holland & Barrett stores in the UK, or you can download a free-post label and post it back next time you head to the post office with your ASOS returns.
You can choose from face oils, moisuturisers, cleansers, hand soap, shampoos and conditioners for all different hair and skin types. And once you’re done, you can feel zen knowing there’s not a plastic bottle knocking around in landfill for centuries because of your beauty routine.
A zero mile shampoo
One of the biggest hurdles to sourcing sustainable ingredients is trusting your supplier. Add to that the fact that ingredients from far-flung locations can rack up hundreds of thousands of air miles before they even make it to manufacturing. But a sure-fire way to have a meticulous oversight of your ingredients is to grow them on-site – which is exactly what haircare brand Oway does.
In a process they’ve aptly named “soil-to-scalp”, the brand grows zero-mile plants on its estate on the hills of Bologna. The first hair brand to use biodynamic agriculture methods, the brand utilises clean and green chemistry that’s free from pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilisers to produce its products. And, for the ingredients the brand is unable to grow on-site, they work only with external certified biodynamic and organic farmers.
On top of this, the brand uses 100% renewable energy for business processes to reduce the environmental footprint and they only use highly recyclable glass and aluminium to package products. There’s tons of shampoos and conditioners to choose from, whether you want something volumising, colour-protecting, or specifically for curly hair.
For more from GLAMOUR’s Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk