BEAUTY FORECAST: WATERLESS

In light of recent distressing environmental news, the beauty world is turning off the tap and setting its sights on a waterless alternative

- Alisha Azuddin

Aqua Free Zone

Waterless beauty doesn’t just stop at no water in the formula, it goes way beyond that. And as the beauty space starts to move toward greener, more sustainable options, from the packaging used to better-for-theenvironment ingredients, one area we'll start to hear more about is water consumption. Why? Because water is used in almost all beauty products.

DID YOU KNOW

Just packaging alone makes a significant water footprint. In the creation of water bottles, it takes about three litres to make a half-liter bottle. In other words, the amount of water going into making the bottle could be up to six or seven times what's inside the bottle. The same science can be applied for the creation of our favourite products in our skincare routine too.

For decades water has been a go-to inexpensive and readily available filler ingredient, but that’s not the case anymore. In fact, according to the World Wildlife Fund, two-thirds of the world’s population may face shortages by 2025, as only 1% of the earth’s water supply is accessible freshwater. While agriculture is the main culprit for water usage, the beauty industry isn’t falling too far behind - and as more consumers slowly start to become more aware of the harmful impacts on the environment, the more pressure it puts on beauty brands to change how they manufacture and formulate products to limit their dependence on water.

GO NAKED

Making packaging involves 100s, if not 1000s of litres of water, but we applaud the efforts of Lush as 35% of their products have absolutely no packaging at all!