mbg Beauty Refresh Awards 2024: Innovations In Sustainability 

A significant part of advancing towards a more sustainable future in the beauty industry is embracing change. Embrace the idea that your hair might not feel as silky without silicones.

Embrace the notion that your lip balm may have a slightly different texture without petrolatum. Embrace the new and improved bottle your favorite fragrance comes in because now it’s recyclable. 

In this effort, brands lead the way by reworking existing products and launching new ones that don’t make you feel like you’re sacrificing anything by going for the more eco-friendly option. 

It truly is a group effort. 

Refillables have been around for quite some time, but they come with several drawbacks. So in reality, most beauty consumers don’t actually refill their refillable products. But recently, we’ve seen brands create refillable products that puts practicality at the forefront.

One issue with refills, is that the "refill" container has only one refill, maintaining the same consumption rate—albeit with a different vessel. While the "refill" packaging is more sustainable than the initial packaging (consider, for instance, a glass jar for the original purchase versus a compostable refill bag), it still necessitates shipping materials such as boxes, packaging wrap, and transportation.

On that front, Josie Maran answered the call. The brand really set the bar high for what it means to offer refillables: Starting with their cult-favorite Original 100% Pure Organic Argan Oil, Sugar and Argan Body Scrub, and the Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter now all come with jumbo-sized refills. 

Unlike many on the market, these refill containers hold two-to-three refills worth of product, which adds up to savings between 20% and 40% —a worthwhile investment. 

Plus, the brand made this process as easy as can be. To refill the Body Butter or Body Scrub, you simply unscrew your refill pouch and squeeze into your glass jar. For the Argan Oil, your refill tin comes with a recyclable and reusable funnel to ensure a mess-free experience. 

Another praise-worthy moment from 2023 was the anticipated launch of influencer and actress Claudia Sulewski’s brand Cyklar. With her single-product launch, the Body Cream, Sulewski decided to take on the reusable packaging challenge from a refreshing angle. 

Many products out there tout that their packaging is reusable (meaning you could house anything in it—cotton rounds, jewelry, use it for travel, etc.) The problem? These containers come adorned with permanent branding or vivid colors, limiting their versatility for household use.

A few years ago, I met with the brand Good Time on a virtual call—a sister brand to the beloved recycled toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap. Good Time introduced me to their collection of elevated bar soaps that span across shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving, and more, all with alluring scents and dreamy packaging. 

They shared with me their ambition: to achieve a plastic-free shower experience without sacrificing quality or performance in any way.

“Wow! What a great goal!” I thought to myself. But while I was excited to test these luxe bars, I asked the team: How are you all storing three, four, or five bars of soap in your shower without everything slipping and sliding? They told me not to worry because they were actively working on a solution.

Flash forward to 2024, and we now have the Magnetic Bar Holder, which can store up to three bars of soap in one row. Simply install the adhesive stone-colored bar to your wall, insert the magnets into your bar soaps, and boom—all of your soaps are lined up, ready to use, and even get a 360-degree ventilation experience so they dry quick and evenly. It truly could not be easier. 

Even on the go, you can bring plastic-free shower staples with you, thanks to the new Blu and Green hair care tablets. The brand was started by editorial hair stylist James Pecis with the goal of delivering effective, clean products through a plastic-negative development. 

The Daily Shampoo and Daily Conditioner tablets come in a travel-friendly tin with 50 tablets each. Bring one small tablet into the shower, break it up in your hand, add a bit of water, and you now have a full hair wash system without the plastic. Plus, they’re just $32 a tin, which is comparable to high-performance shampoos with plenty more uses per tin. 

I know people who never use plastic water bottles, compost all of their food scraps, and yet still use traditional makeup wipes. While oil cleansing has picked up in popularity over the years, so many people still prefer the convenience of a travel-friendly wipe—and Fig. 1 took on the challenge of revamping that item to be sustainable with their dissolvable Micellar Oil Wipes. 

I was astonished the first time I used these wipes. I swiped away heaps of sturdy mascara and long-wear foundation with ease and then watched the wipe dissolve as I held it under the faucet of my sink. Now this is a makeup wipe I can get behind. 

Beyond the dissolvable aspect, these wipes also come individually wrapped in a compostable sachet for even easier travel. The sachets are housed in a biodegradable carton that dissolves in just 14 days, too. So yeah, your guilty pleasure is now just a pleasure thanks to Fig.1.

Another worthy launch this year came from Rahua—a brand that responsibly utilizes rahua oil from the Amazon rainforest, giving back to the tribes who cultivate the ingredient and preserving the very forests that had been threatened by petroleum manufacturers. 

In the past year, Rahua launched the Rahua Enchanted Island Collection which includes a shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body serum, and body lotion—all of which truly do smell like an enchanted island as the name implies. 

With every purchase, the brand gives 10% to the Pink Flamingo Project, which helps to protect and preserve many miles of Galapagos coastal areas. In turn, the vital habitats and nesting grounds are clean for flamingos, penguins, marine iguanas, sea birds, and more.