Zero waste beauty lets us go green and glam while keeping the planet pretty and plastic-free, all at the same time.
And it’s never been easier to be a conscious cosmetics consumer.
With so many zero waste beauty products available these days, there’s no reason to buy plastic products filled with ingredients you’d want to avoid in skincare.
So that’s what we’ve curated for you in this list. Products that are created by brands who not only prioritize responsible materials but also safe ingredients and ethical sourcing.
Naturally, being plastic-free (or at least mostly) is the principal consideration for this article, but in the near future, we’ll be employing our new Brand Rating System which will assess brands against a range of eco-related criteria, like chemical use and transparency. Learn about our selection criteria here.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
Plastic-Free Beauty Products We Use On The Daily
Axiology is one of the lowest-waste beauty brands we’ve ever tried. In fact, there’s zero plastic in sight thanks to their multi-use cardboard and paper-wrapped beauty sticks and crayons.
While Meow Meow Tweet mixes it up with their line of beauty products packaged in glass jars, aluminum bottles, and cardboard tubes.
Index: Zero Waste Beauty Brands & Products
- Activist Skincare Jump to brand
- Axiology Jump to brand
- Meow Meow Tweet Jump to brand
- Rainwater Botanicals Jump to brand
- Ethique Jump to brand
- Fat & The Moon Jump to brand
- EmpireSquid Organics Jump to brand
Activist Skincare
Activist Skincare’s Beauty Product Refills
Activist Skincare icarries a wide variety of cleansers, toners, serums, balms, oils, and sunscreens—available in bundles, sets, and travel kits.
We’ve tested several products, but one of our favorites is the Sea to Skin Cleansing Gel. The soft, decadent cleanser is formulated with grapeseed oil, cucumber extract, and bright blue spirulina. If you already have a natural makeup remover, you can leave the gel on for ten minutes as an all-natural face mask.
It’s shipped in a low-waste, refillable glass container, and refill pouches are available in biodegradable cello bags.
About Activist Skincare
Activist Skincare stays active in the sustainability space by donating 5% of its revenue to different organizations, like Rainforest Trust, Earthjustice, and 1% for the Planet.
They utilize natural, and clinically proven botanicals without any lanolin, silicone, sulfates, mineral oil, parabens, or phthalates. The refillable pouches can be recycled through Activist or TerraCycle, and all products are delivered in plastic-free shipping mailers.
Axiology
Axiology’s Beauty Products
Axiology’s selection may be fairly small but you know what they say about small packages…
In fact, it includes just just their Balmies Crayons and Multisticks (for lips, eyes, and cheeks), Shape Sticks (for contouring and blemish coverup), and zero waste lip balm. Each one is vegan, cruelty free, palm oil-free, and come wrapped in paper or in cardboard tubes.
Aside from simplifying packaging and disposal problems, each one is also designed to simplify your makeup routine thanks to their multi-use functionality, with equally simple, ~70% organic ingredients.
About Axiology
This PETA-approved brand is a top pick. Axiology never tests on animals and some of their common ingredients are sourced fair trade.
They’re also palm oil-free and donate to Orangutan Foundation International, which helps these animals who are now endangered due to deforestation from industries like palm oil.
My Personal Review of Axiology’s Makeup:
“I can’t get enough of Axiology’s 3-in-1 makeup crayons. Living in my (literal) tiny house, I’m all about products that do double (or triple or more) duty. These lipsticks are super versatile—I can use them on my lips, cheeks, and eyes. With just nine simple ingredients for the Balmies and ten for the Multi-Sticks, I know I’m using something clean and safe. Plus, they’re the perfect size to just toss in my purse for quick touch-ups on the go.
When I don’t have the need for colored tint, I reach for their Vegan Lip Balm with it’s simple recipe of just seven natural ingredients. I especially like to apply it before bed and let the power of the rich coconut oil and meadowfoam seed oil work its nourishing and hydrating magic overnight.”
Review by Amber McDaniel, SJ’s Head of Content
Meow Meow Tweet
Meow Meow Tweet’s Beauty Range
With small-batch crafting, unrefined plant oils, and cold-pressed essential oils, Meow Meow Tweet provides fresh, next-to-nature products for your zero waste beauty routine.
Instead of cosmetics, they focus on the basis of beauty: skin. Their natural face wash, exfoliants, face masks, repair balms, make-up remover, and more are designed to heal and clarify the skin, creating a palette for cosmetic creations.
Everything comes packaged in glass jars, aluminum bottles, or cardboard tubes.
About Meow Meow Tweet
Meow Meow Tweet wants to make it easy for people to choose better beauty priducts—so more people do it. They’re a New York City-based vegan skincare company certified cruelty free by Leaping Bunny.
Rainwater Botanicals
Rainwater Botanicals’ Beauty Store
Rainwater Botanicals makes “responsibly sourced, natural-derived skincare, ethically created, never tested on animals (and also amazing for you)”.
A certified member of the Safe Cosmetic Business Network, you won’t find harsh chemicals or toxic synthetics in their range of facial serums, cleansers, moisturizers, concealers, eye shadows, color correctors, foundation, blush, sustainable perfume, and more.
As for packaging, products come in compostable cardboard tubes, bar form, or glass with either aluminum or plastic dropper lids (intended to be reused).
About Rainwater Botanicals
This beauty brand started with just one product: a simple, natural multi-purpose healing salve.
Fast forward two decades and a lot of product demand later, Rainwater Botanicals offers a huge (but still handmade) selection, including a larger range of body care products like deodorant.
Ethique
Ethique’s Beauty Line
Ethique was one of the first plastic-free beauty brands to hit the market and we’ve been using and recommending their revolutionary products for years.
While their zero waste shampoo and conditioners first caught our attention, the rest of their products are equally as noteworthy, including moisturizers, scrubs, and deodorants. All Ethique products are cleanly made and sustainably packaged.
In addition to their classic naked bars, they recently added compostable cardboard tubes.
About Ethique
Ethique is originally from New Zealand daring consumers to #giveupthebottle. Across the whole natural product line, they’re palm oil-free, vegan, natural, cruelty free, and nasties (i.e. SLS, phthalates, parabens, etc) free.
The company as a whole is certified climate-neutral and a Certified B Corp.
Fat & The Moon
Fat & the Moon‘s Beauty Products
Fat & the Moon offers an assortment of “adornment” cosmetics (think: organic eyeshadow and lip stains), as well as deodorant creams, soothing balms, dry shampoo, anti-fungal creams, and more.
Each one is free of palm oil, synthetic colors and fragrances, parabens, and phthalates, and comes packaged in reusable tins. They’re also shipped with packaging as minimal and non-superfluous as possible
About Fat & the Moon
Fat and the Moon strives for the quality and care once achieved by naturalist healers. They stay grounded in those inspired roots by calling many of their recipes “potions”. Handmade to order (because “body products, like food, are not meant to last forever!”) using ethically harvested and largely organic ingredients
All products are palm oil-free and cruelty free, but not quite everything is vegan—speaking to their lip stains and eye coals that contain ethically sourced beeswax.
EmpireSquid Organics
About EmpireSquid Organics’ Beauty Products
EmpireSquid is another beauty company with a funky name and a double-take product lineup.
They specialize in zero waste skin care, including sunscreen, toners, anti-aging serums, and natural acne treatments. Each product is made of “amazingly wholesome” and nourishing all-natural ingredients that don’t include palm oil.
About EmpireSquid Organics
As a family-run brand, EmpireSquid provides affordable and responsible skin care for men, women, and children through quality, handmade-to-order items.
Their Fair Trade-sourced ingredients are currently sitting at ~70% organic, though it is continually growing. A handful of products (such as their sunscreen) are not vegan by default but send them a simple request and they’ll make any non-vegan product with a vegan recipe.
Do you factor in shipping/transportation impacts in your evaluations of products? I love Ethique’s products, but wonder about the shipping impact by air or ocean versus trying to buy closer to home.
Hi SR, absolutely, you need to factor in shipping and transportation into your evaluation based on where you live. Not sure where you are based but if it helps, I believe the Ethique products are made in New Zealand and they do now have a warehouse in the USA (so ship in bulk to USA to reduce emissions for US customers). I found this info on the Ethique site here. And if you visit the UK site, there is a pop up that says the products ship from their warehouse in Liverpool so they have a local warehouse there too. Hope that helps!
What are your requirements for the category “ethically sourced?”
Hi there, take a look at this article which explains how we think about these terms: https://www.sustainablejungle.com/sustainable-beauty/sustainableconsumer/
Cheers, Joy
LOLI Beauty is another great company.
Thanks Braden!
Gran Tas just launched!