Ground-breaking, right? And not least because only 3% per cent of the earth’s water supply is now accessible freshwater (the rest is trapped in glaciers and snowfields) and moisturiser and serum is typically made of 70-90% distilled water.
While paper moisturiser may be the future, waterless beauty – an umbrella term for products that eliminate the need for water or allow you to add only the necessary amount at home – is becoming increasingly popular.
Sbtract’s Vitamin C Booster is the first solid vitamin C serum that not only feeds lack-lustre skin a bevvy of antioxidants via rosehip and sea buckthorn oils, but is also perfect for hand-luggage as it doesn’t count as a liquid. Or become your own skincare alchemist by dropping Mono Skincare‘s tablet into the reusable bottle, filling it with water at home, and then watch as your new skincare serum appears before your eyes.
Water-soluble packaging is also fast becoming the beating heart of innovation for niche brands. PLUS is the first-of-its-kind dissolvable body wash – you simply add water to lather up and wash the sachet down the plug. And if you’re a fan of K-beauty, keep Deardot on your radar, a brand that is already famous for its water-free sheet masks that transform into a light foam upon contact with water. It will soon be launching two new versions that will be packaged in pollution-free sachets, which dissolve in water within seconds.
And finally, new beauty brand Ulé, which has just landed in Space NK, is using 95% less water to grow its ingredients than traditional methods by using vertical farming (where ingredients are grown indoors on vertical pillars under LED lights powered by renewables). We love the Oh La Plump Quenching Serum in the range.
Ferda Demir
2. Go down the biotech beauty route
Traditionally, natural beauty has involved planting flowers or herbs on an industrial scale, then using water, energy etc to farm them. All of which takes time and puts a strain on resources. The trouble is, demand for natural ingredients is outstripping supply (the global natural cosmetics market expected to be worth £48 billion by 2025), which is where biotechnology is stepping in to lower the environmental impact.