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A simple guide to making your beauty routine more planet friendly.

From the introduction of bamboo toothbrushes into our bathrooms to banning straws, there is no doubt that single-use plastics are out, and plastic-free is in. Sadly though, while supermarket shelves remain lined with disposable wipes and dense plastic bottles, the call to make beauty more sustainable can feel inaccessible, expensive and all-round hard work. On top of this, some plastic beauty products can be difficult to recycle and therefore hopelessly destined for a lifetime (or several) in landfill.

During the Great British Beach Clean in September 2021, the Marine Conservation Society found an average of 12.5 wet wipes found within every 100 metres of beach they de-littered. Almost 6% of all the litter collected in that week was made up of ‘sewage related debris’ – anything from wet wipes to cotton buds and period products.

“A lot of the litter we find on our beaches comes from the UK’s sewer network. That means whenever something is flushed that shouldn’t be, it can end up on our beaches and in the ocean,” says Lizzie Prior, Beachwatch Manager at the Marine Conservation Society. “No matter where you live, or how far from the coast you are, what you flush can and does have an impact on the ocean.”

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Champions of a circular economy, the Marine Conservation Society believes in extending the lifetime of products that are too often seen as single-use and disposable.

“Opting for reusable items wherever possible is the best way of reducing single-use plastic in the bathroom. Whether that’s reusable face clothes, or refillable products, extending or eliminating single-use containers is a great first step. There are also loads of products, like shampoo, conditioner and of course soap that come in solid bar formulas, which eliminates the need for packaging altogether.”

Adopting these small beauty shifts at home may feel just a drop in the ocean, but it is important to remember that tiny waves collectively build a current.

“As consumers, we all have the power to encourage change at a greater scale,” Lizzie explains. “By opting for refillable, reusable items, you’re voting with your wallet – showing businesses that it’s worth offering sustainable options. It also shows that businesses can feasibly make these changes, that they are welcomed by consumers, and this then helps to support calls for legislative improvements.”

An empty bottle’s journey from bathroom shelf to sandy beach begins at home; these are the simple changes you can make to your beauty routine to reduce your plastic waste and improve your personal impact on the planet.

Nivea is working in partnership with the Marine Conservation Society on its #CutbackOnPlasticPollution campaign. Visit NIVEA’s Little Steps hub for more tips.

If simple formulas and lather-less washes have made you shy away from solid cleansers and shampoo bars in the past, let us reintroduce you.

Zero-waste beauty has come a long way and most of your products can now be replenished with a solid alternative. What was once a line-up of soaps and shampoos has blossomed into a sea of solid conditioners, exfoliators and serums. These plastic-free counterparts are not only on par with traditional textures in terms of efficacy, they also come 'naked' or in 100% recyclable packaging and often have more versatile uses than an average liquid housed in a single-use bottle.

Saying goodbye to convenient single-use beauty tools can be difficult, particularly when our current beauty regimes can rely heavily on wet wipes, cotton buds and sheet masks. Luckily, the sustainable beauty scene is flourishing with reusable substitutes that are not only built to last a lifetime, but also look beautiful on your bathroom shelf.

Available in adorable colour schemes and decadent designs, these forever tools can be rinsed and reused over and over and are developed to work in combination with your existing beauty routine. Face Halo, for example, is an advanced alternative to cotton pads that removes heavy makeup by simply adding water. You can also get the most out of your favourite balms and creams by layering one of Dieux or Pacifica’s reusable sheet masks over top, a simple switch with a lot less waste.

Sometimes beauty is a love-at-first-use kind of thing. When we find a product that feels like it was made just for us, loyalty comes easily, and we repurchase again and again and again. Sadly, once we finish that beloved cream, foam or fluid, we are often left scraping the bottom of a single-use plastic tub.

Fortunately, this problem has not gone unnoticed, and many beauty brands are taking the leap to be more sustainable by offering refills. The same formulas you know and love can now be delivered in reduced plastic packaging, and this means they usually cost less.

Knowing you are making a difference feels good, but there’s no reason you can’t also be rewarded for your efforts. From sustainable small businesses to the giants of high street beauty, there are plenty of initiatives already in place that treat you for recycling your plastic beauty buys.

Loved for their vibrant bath bombs and naked makeup must-haves, Lush are pioneers in making beauty more planet-friendly. Their Bring It Back scheme encourages shoppers to bring their full-sized products back to store when they’ve scraped out their final use and Lush will take care of the rest. In return, for each plastic Lush item returned, customers will receive a 50p deposit to spend on their basket that day.

You can read more about Lush’s sustainable beauty initiatives and how to claim your rewards here.

John Lewis’s BeautyCycle rewards My John Lewis members to £5 off their next beauty purchase when they recycle five used products from any brand. The incentive includes a hefty range of beauty goods, with the exception of electrical items and home fragrance. The best part? You don’t even need a receipt. As long as the items were purchased alongside your My John Lewis Member card, you can return them to where you bought them for a discount on your next haul.

Want to know more? Visit their website here.

If your empty beauty products are difficult to recycle it can be tempting to just toss them in your general waste bin. To help their shoppers combat this, Boots have launched their Recycle at Boots programme, which is now available in over 700 stores. Recognised as the most accessible beauty recycling scheme of its kind in the UK, it offers customers 250 Boots Advantage Card Points (worth £2.50) for every five products they recycle in store.

To find out what is included and where to find your nearest recycling bank, visit their website here.

Upcircle is the eco-conscious beauty brand going the extra mile to make skincare more sustainable. Not only do its nourishing formulas give plant-based ingredients a second life by upcycling extracts that would usually go to waste, but its returns programme also allows you to post your empty Upcircle beauty products back to them to be sterilised and refilled for 20% off. This service is available across 90% of their range, excluding solid soaps which cannot be physically refilled, and their efficient service means that your fresh batch should take little over a week to come back to you.

You can learn more about Upcircle refills here.