Brands working towards minimizing their footprint in the environment© Agencies

Earth Day 2021: Brands working towards minimizing their footprint in the environment

We curated a list of products with recyclable packaging, natural formulas, and so much more


Senior Writer
APRIL 22, 2021 2:33 PM EDT

Each year on April 22nd, we celebrate Earth Day, a date to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Unfortunately, in our household, we have products that harm the planet, but luckily we can start choosing brands that offer the eco-friendly version of what we use the most.

We curated a list of our favorite brands and products and how they are working towards minimizing their footprint in the environment with recyclable packaging, natural formulas, and so much more.

Overall Sustainable Beauty Brands

Bliss

  • Bliss believes that taking care of ourselves and the environment is essential to achieving a higher state of happiness. As such, the brand prioritizes the well-being of people, animals, and the planet in all they do. Bliss is dedicated to making health, well-being, and equality fundamental for all. The brand thoughtfully creates products, ensuring no living beings are harmed in the process.
  • Bliss develops all formulas and packaging to minimize their impact on the planet consciously, and they are certified by PETA and TerraCycle for their initiatives. In 2021, the brand is looking forward to receiving a B-Corp certification.

FEKKAI

  • Frédéric Fekkai, a legendary celebrity hairstylist and fierce advocate of environmentally conscious practices, has taken his passions and channeled them into his new haircare range, FEKKAI. The high-performance salon-tested collection includes twenty shampoos, conditioners, and treatments, across six ranges addressing various hair types and concerns.
  • The formulas of the salon-grade products have a wide range of natural ingredients, including green coconut water, vegetable-derived polymers, cold-pressed olive oil, and rice proteins. As the founder of National Clean Beauty Day (June 4th), the brand has ensured that every bottle is made with 95% high-grade repurposed plastic and is 100% recyclable. Each product is free of parabens, sulfates, silicones, phthalates, and 100% vegan and gluten-free.
  • This year, FEKKAI is partnering with Green Circle Salons and Plastic Bank to prevent plastic bottles from the world’s oceans.

HEY HUMANS

  • Co-founded by Jada Pinkett Smith, Hey Humans is a brand on a mission to bring change to the world and has committed itself to delivering the highest standards of products while caring about the planet and all that inhabit it. The Hey Humans collection features products that are highly efficacious loaded with powerful naturally derived ingredients, yet gentle and safe for all humans. This is the first personal care brand to be plastic free, with packaging designed to be 100% recyclable or 100% biodegradable. The Hey Humans collection is cruelty free, vegan, and made without harmful chemicals.

Sand & Sky Sustainable Beauty – Clean Sands. Clear Skies.

  • As a clean beauty brand with locally sourced botanicals, Sand & Sky makes it a mission to tread lightly at every step of the journey. From bush to bathroom, the brand is committed to protecting the environment and giving back to local communities while creating clean skincare that works. How Sand & Sky is taking positive action: responsible sourcing, no-nasties formulas, recyclable packaging, cruelty-free & (almost) vegan.

L’Oréal Paris

  • The brand’s new global sustainability program, “L’Oréal For the Future, Because our Planet is Worth It,” focuses on reducing its carbon footprint by 50% and contributes 10 million Euros to environmental projects whose beneficiaries are communities of women around the world.
  • These latest ambitions build on the brand’s achievements since 2020 including 93% of L’Oréal Paris’ new & renovated products were improved based on the life cycle methodology. 11,453 sustainable sourcing beneficiaries were developed for raw materials. Between 2005 and 2020, L’Oréal Paris factories and distribution centers had reduced CO2 emissions by 82%, water consumption by 44%, and waste generation by 35%. L’Oréal had 11 carbon neutral factories, among 26 factories.
  • The brand’s new ambitious goals for 2030 include a variety of things such as, 100% of the plastic used will be recycled and recyclable, 100% of the brand’s biobased ingredients will be sustainably sourced, and 100% of the brand’s factories will be carbon neutral. The brand will offer a full selection of waterless haircare products such as 2 in 1 products and will encourage waterless hair care.

Love Beauty and Planet

  • Unilever’s Love Beauty and Planet 2030 global sustainability commitments includes the launch of their first ever aluminum refillable hair care sold at mass retail. Today, Love Beauty and Planet has committed to 100% recyclable, refillable or compostable products and packaging and net zero emissions.

Eco-friendly And Sustainable Products

© Agencies

Suave Nature-Inspired collection

A Target Clean Beauty certified range with shampoos and conditioners, this collection aims to deliver benefits for top hair concerns such as added volume, shine, moisturization. These products have a lot to brag about, but to highlight a few, they are free from parabens, dyes, silicones, and artificial fragrances. 94-99% of the formulas, including water, are made up of naturally derived content, and the bottles are made from 100% post-consumer recycled content.

© Agencies

Goop: Clean Beauty

Goop has set out to create a new standard in beauty – clean – which can be seen in the brand’s collections and the goop Clean Beauty shop on their website. Goop only sells non-toxic products that are made without ingredients linked to harmful health effects like hormone disruption, cancer, and plain-old skin irritation. To name a few, they screen for parabens, phthalates, PEGs, ethanolamines, chemical sunscreens, synthetic fragrance, BHT, and BHA. The latest addition to their collection of non-toxic products is the GOOPGENES All-In-One Super Nutrient Face Oil.

© Agencies

R+Co

The beauty line offers 100% recyclable packaging to introduce their couture sister collection, R+Co BLEU. Their partnership with One Tree Planted is helping reforestation (and koalas!), plus the sustainability efforts present in their core R+Co collection.

R+Co BLEU launched in December of 2020 as one of the first beauty brands to feature 100% PCR packaging. The bottles and jars are made of 100% post-consumer recycled material, which uses 88% less energy to produce. The tubes are constructed from bio-resin sugarcane plastic, which has been shown to biodegrade in 180 days in soil and 60 days in compost. Canisters are crafted from 100% aluminum.

© Agencies

MIX:BAR

MIX:BAR offers a new way of self-expression through fragrance with thoughtfully designed fragrances that can be worn alone or layered and cocktailed together – allowing endless possibilities to create unique, personalized scents. The collection is free from parabens, phthalates.

© Agencies

BioBlender by EcoTools

BioBlender by EcoTools, the world’s first 100% biodegradable makeup sponge. Using groundbreaking technology, the BioBlender by Ecotools collection of makeup blenders comprises a biodegradable foam material composed of five earth-friendly 100% biobased and vegan ingredients. Use wet or dry with a liquid and cream foundation to give you a flawless makeup base without harming the planet.

The blender will biodegrade within 180 days a home compost environment, compared to typical blenders, which will sit in a landfill for over 50 years. Also, the brand leaned into its eco-credentials and created new packaging that is beautiful and beneficial to the planet, all while achieving an 88% plastic reduction – that’s equivalent to almost 14 million plastic bags, or nearly 6 million plastic water bottles.

© Agencies

Sand & Sky Australian Pink Clay Smoothing Body Sand

The 4-in-1 formula for instant golden hour glow, this botanical-based body scrub means business and targets cellulite, stretch marks, and ingrown hairs. Formulated with purifying Australian Pink Clay, exfoliating and smoothing Coconut and Macadamia Shell, and moisturizing Virgin Macadamia Oil to detox, smooth, moisturize and illuminate skin.

The formula includes Cosmetic Bioglitter Pure which is the first glitter to meet the requirements of ECHA’s microplastic proposal and officially certified OK Biodegradable WATER by TÜV. It has received international recognition and claiming awards, including the top prize in the green and sustainable category at the PHCI Fountain Awards 2019 and Gold for innovation at the world’s most prominent cosmetic raw material event, in-cosmetics global 2017 and 2018.

© Agencies

Saje Mindful Pocket Farmacy

This kit features core and new blends that support emotional wellness. Packaging made from RPET from 1-2 recycled water bottles. Saje products are 100% natural, containing ingredients that are biodegradable, renewable, and minimally processed. All Saje essential oils and ingredients are harvested sustainably and ethically.

© Agencies

Mustela

Mustela offers a complete range of specially formulated skincare to best address the changes in the delicate skin of newborns, babies, children, and mothers. The brand is vowing carbon neutrality by 2030 and sourcing plant-based ingredients in compliance with the UEBT. Using 100% green electricity in the production process and ensuring all their containers are recyclable and, whenever possible, biodegradable.

© Agencies

Nails.INC

Plant Power Plant Power is the first-ever 21 plant-based nail polish that is also free from formaldehyde, acetone and parabens and 18 other ingredients. Made from 73% bio-sourced ingredients (ingredients derived from plant sources), the formula is UV reactive to boost glossiness and extends wear for up to 10 days. The Plant Power packaging is designed with new recyclable and sustainable components including Nails.INC’s staple Venetian glass bottles topped with an eco-friendly 100% Forestry Stewardship Council certified ash wood cap.

© Agencies

Garnier SkinActive Cleansing EcoPads

Each package comes with three reusable microfiber pads, intended to be used with any of Garnier’s Micellar Cleansing Waters to effectively cleanse and remove dirt, oil, and makeup with no greasy residue. Simply press the eye pad onto the skin for a few seconds, activating micelles to lift away makeup and impurities, then wipe away and see the proof on the pad. Once done, toss the pads into the laundry or wash by hand – durable for up to 1,000 washes.

© Agencies

ANISA Beauty

ANISA Beauty are beauty activists redefining 21st Century standards by creating innovative and inclusive products that take care of consumers, communities, and our environment. The brand proudly paves the way for more responsible beauty tool manufacturing.

They continue to find ways to do so without harming the environment and providing fair wages to the artisans who make them. Creating better products means less waste, cleaner production, and safe and supportive working conditions. This translates to you knowing where and how your brushes were made. Every brush is PETA Certified Cruelty-Free and sustainably produced by the global ANISA team.