Lush's New Naked Lipsticks Are The Beauty Revolution You Never Knew You Needed

Although the facts about plastic are pretty clear to most of us, it can still be difficult to change your habits, either because buying environmentally-friendly products can become a real financial drain or because said products just aren't readily available. This is especially true in the beauty world where make-up often comes housed in excessive plastic packaging. But Lush's new naked lipsticks prove that there is a way to produce environmentally friendly makeup.

The latest arrival to Lush's makeup line is a set of lipsticks. Each of the 40 shades revolve around three colours: nudes, reds, and greiges (which is a combination of grey and beige) and come in different undertones to suit all skin tones. The most impressive feature, however, is that you can buy each hue in recyclable packaging or as a naked refill.

While the standard lipsticks cost £13.50 each, the sustainably-minded refills cost £8.50 and are dipped in wax that can easily be removed. Once the wax is off, all you have to do is slot the lipstick into an old container. By buying lipsticks like this, you'll be reducing a lot of plastic waste, which is crucial given that Lush estimates that one billion lipstick containers end up in landfill each year.

Saving money on packaging also means Lush has been able to make its lipsticks using high-quality ingredients. Each contains orange peel wax and organic jojoba oil to moisturise and broccoli seed oil to hydrate and condition chapped lips.

Lush states that 40 to 50 percent of the cost of beauty products actually relate to packaging. “Having that extra money to spend on ingredients really does make a difference. The final thing you get is a good price, good amount of content, no wastage at the end, and it just works incredibly well; it’s the way to go," the brand's product inventor and co-founder Mo Constantine said in a statement.

This is the latest addition to a long line of package-free products sold by Lush. According to Constantine, this production method wasn't deliberate. “I began unintentionally making naked products and I’ve gone down that route ever since," she said, adding: "My first invention was the shampoo bar in the late '80s. Since then, we’ve taken the concept much further.”

In June, Lush released a packaging-free foundation using the same wax found on the new lipsticks. The egg-shaped products also came in 40 varying shades and, like many Lush products, are 100 percent vegan. Kayley Thomas, project manager at Lush, told Mintel that they wanted to take on the challenge of coming up with a new and innovative way to house makeup.

"Truth is, make-up is one of the worst offenders when it comes to plastic — with just a couple grams of product kept in a bulky case," she said, adding that Lush are well aware that naked makeup can be a little messier than standard options. However, the brand is currently producing a makeup bag that will be specifically designed for naked products.

Lush's new lipsticks are available online and in the brand's Oxford Street and Birmingham stores. With more shades set to be added, this range is definitely one to watch.