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The Beauty Edit

The Best Sustainable Beauty Refills

It’s time to make your beauty routine more sustainable with one of these refillable products.

The sustainable beauty industry is booming, but it isn’t just about the ingredients list; more and more brands are reducing their packaging and producing refillable bottles, tubs, and vessels. From smaller, niche brands like Experimental Perfume Club and Emma Lewisham, to iconic houses like Chanel and Hermés we’ve rounded up 12 brands who are offering refillable beauty products to minimise waste, and cut back on your spending too…


CHANEL

When the N°1 DE CHANEL collection launched earlier this year it was a game-changer for this heritage luxury brand. 80% of the product packaging in the range are made of glass, and the use of plastic has been limited, whilst many of the lids contain recycled or bio-sourced materials, and the paper leaflets are gone too. The Revitalising Cream is the brand's first foray into refillable packaging. As for the cream itself, it is wonderfully moisturising in a velvety texture. Centred around the potency of the red camelia, the formula is made from 95% natural ingredients, working hard to give skin a youthful glow.

NOBLE PANACEA

Refillable beauty is a key pillar of Noble Panacea's sustainability ethos.The reusable, starch-based boxes are both design-led and eco-conscious. Not only are the invidual daily doses recyclable, but they make going hand-luggage only a breeze: containing the exact amount of product required per application, so you won't waste a drop. This also works to ensure the ingredients are kept in their most potent form. The Brilliant Prime Radiance Serum is our favourite, comprising bakuchiol to boost skin elasticity, and glycolic acid to reduce the appearance of lines, wrinkles, and uneven skin tone.

HERMÉS

Hermés' lipsticks are creamy and highly pigmented, but it's the colour-pop lacquered cases, designed by Pierre Hardy, that really capture the eye. Naturally, with such a sculptural thing of beauty, you won't want to get rid of the case once you've used the final sweep of lipstick, so thankfully these paintbox-bright bullets are refillable with your choice of lipstick or balm.

OUAI

OUAI, founded by celebrity stylist Jen Atkin, is the gateway to cool girl, undone hair, and now you can get the superior swish more sustainably with their refillable shampoo and conditioner pouches. Made with 60% less plastic than bottles, the refill can easily be decanted in the sleek, minimalist original bottle. The Fine Hair Shampoo adds volume to even the whispiest of hair, leaving it stronger and thicker too. The delicous floral Mercer Street scent is an added bonus: think an ethereal blend of rose, iris, and lily. 

EXPERIMENTAL PERFUME CLUB

Described best as a ‘lab-boutique’, Experimental Perfume Club offers an accessible, warm approach to bespoke fragrance. Showcasing EPC’s six eponymous scents, customers can purchase a scent off the shelf, or partake in a blending consultation, in which two/three perfumes are combined in front of their eyes to create their own personalised scent. Their 100ml refill cartidges are now available online, giving customers two mess-free refills of their original 50ml fragrance – whether it is one of the essentials or a signature blend, saving customers 60%. The cartridges themselves are 100% recyclable and made from violet glass to protect the juice from oxidising – very clever indeed.

 

CHARLOTTE TILBURY

Charlotte Tilbury is championing a more sustainable approach by introducing refillable versions of some of her most cult-worthy products from Magic Cream and Air Brush Bronzer to the wonderful Brow Lift eyebrow pencil. When your pencil runs out, simply twist and click the refill into your tool to continue to shape, fluff up, and fill in brows.

KJAER WEIS

Kjaer Weis was one of the original pioneers of refillable beauty when it launched in 2010. The brand's lipsticks and mascaras are designed to be refilled, as is the iconic Cream Blush. Available in 12 shades, the refill seamlessly pops into the sleek shimmering metallic case for on-the-go touch ups. The Certified Organic formula, blended from ingredients like sweet almond and jojoba seed oils, melts seamlessly into skin with a dewy fresh pop of colour that is wonderfully lightweight and buildable. The multitasking hero can be used on eyes, lips, and cheeks, so saves plenty of room in your make-up bag too.

SUSANNE KAUFMANN

Susanne Kaufmann's innovative refills have been developed to reduce packaging waste and carbon emissions, prolonging the shelf life of the glass bottles of three of their best-selling products. The Cleansing Gel is a wonder product that works with all skin types, to invigorate, hydrate, and minimise pores. Comprised from a cocktail of plant-based ingredients, it includes sugar surfactants made from renewable raw materials for a deeper cleanse.

HOURGLASS

We've all had an eyeshadow palette we've wastefully cast aside once our favoured shades have been used, usally with one dud colour barely touched. Hourglass' refillable five-shade palette allows you to curate your perfect look from 40 creamy and vegan-friendly formulas, across four finishes – from subtle daytime shimmer to full-on nocturnal glamour. The black and gold palette itself is suitably luxe too.

 

TATA HARPER

Queen of green beauty, Tata Harper packs the most potent of natural ingredients into her farm-to-formula products and has pushed her sustainable credentials further with the soon-to-be launched Restorative Eye Crème refill pod. Each refillable pod has 96 pumps of the elixir, allowing two months of daily eye care. As for the creme itself it is packed to the gills with 30 high-performance botanical ingredients, and offers a hard-hitting remedy for the key eye concerns: wrinkles, puffiness, dark circles, and dehydration. 

Tata Harper – RESTORATIVE EYE CRÈME REFILL£113 Starter Kit £53 for refill Shop Now
EMMA LEWISHAM

Hailing from Zew Zealand, Emma Lewisham was born out of a desire to find luxurious natural skincare that was as efficacious as it was sustainable. The brand sells refillable pods for all products, reducing carbon emissions by up to 70%, as well as dramatically cutting down energy and water use. The inner component of each container can be removed when empty and replaced with a full one that has been cleaned, sterilised, and refilled – which is why the brand ask you to send back empties. Our hero product is the Illuminating Exfoliant: packed with AHAs and BHAs, it polishes away impurities, resurfaces, and brightens for a luminous, smooth complexion.

ISLE OF PARADISE

Isle of Paradise's refills are made with 81% less plastic, offering a more sustainable way to glow. The vegan and cruelty-free tan has accrued many fans for its easy application, which hydrates skin and doesn't block pores. The clever green colour correcting actives cancel red tone, and the deliciously fresh cucumber and eucalyptus scent means no tell-tale signs your tan is anything but natural.

 

Image: Emma Lewisham

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