The World's First Zero-Waste Beauty Brand Has Some Seriously Impressive Products

Sustainable beauty has become a hot topic recently, and now zero-waste beauty brand Ethique has launched in the UK. The eco-friendly New Zealand company aims to combat the world's plastic crisis by offering plastic-free, guilt-free beauty products. And they look so good! Ethique claims to be the first zero-waste beauty brand in the world, and now us Brits finally have the chance to try it, with the announcement this natural range is being shipped to British shores.

Us consumers are thinking about sustainability now more than ever. And, luckily, there are loads of brands catering to those of us who want to be eco-friendly.

Whether it's by making sure I bring a bag for life on shopping trips, purchasing reusable products like menstrual cups, or buying more of my clothes from second-hand shops — being eco-friendly is something I really try to consider in my day to day life, and beauty products are no different.

With over 40 products, Ethique have found a way to make beauty essentials sustainable by completely ditching the plastic. They offer face cleansers, makeup removers, moisturisers, shampoos, conditioners, and hair masks, all in the form of solid bars. On top of that, the products are cruelty-free, vegan and use sustainably sourced ingredients.

How on earth do you use a shampoo bar? Well, just like you use a bar of soap. Instead of traditional liquid-based products, the hard bars just need lathering up with water or can be used directly on your scalp.

But wont the products get all gunky and sticky lying around in the bathroom you ask? Well, Ethique have thought of that too. They have created compostable in-shower containers made from bamboo and cornstarch that still look and work like plastic! So you can protect your conditioner bars in the shower. And the best thing is, you can pop them into the compost.

The sustainable brand started back in 2012 when Brianne West, the founder of Ethique, began creating the natural beauty bars in her science degree lab. The brand claims to have stopped over 3.3 million plastic bottles from being made and disposed of into landfills so far. Speaking to Glamour about their eco-friendly products, West said:

"Our supply chain is completely free of ingredients like palm oil and practices like child labour and animal testing. It’s immoral and despicable to produce cosmetics products that use animal testing or contain animal products."

According to Ethique, 80 billion plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles are disposed of around the world every year, and only 9 percent of the world's plastic is actually recycled. And, as a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation shows, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. This is a scary statistic, but it's a necessary wake up call illustrating the damage of mass consumption and plastic usage across the globe.

Small changes made to our daily routines can really help save our planet. Everyone has responsibility to do what they can. Luckily Ethique are making it even easier for us all to make ethical choices in our purchasing habits.