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Here are the Australian and New Zealand beauty brands offering refills

IMAGE VIA @itsall.fluff/INSTAGRAM

WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT

Fill me up.

There’s something distinctly satisfying about reaching the end of a favourite beauty product. It’s the satisfaction of knowing you really did reach for it all the time, scraping the dregs of that wondrous cream – or oil, or balm, or blush –  ’til the very end. Good for your bank account, better for the planet.


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Now, what if I told you there was an option to take that packaging and fill it right back up again? Following the rise of climate-positive beauty initiatives, there’s a new market for refillable skincare and beauty. Reducing carbon emissions by up to 74 per cent, these are the local beauty labels doing their part.

Go-To Skincare

 

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Australian beauty brand Go-To Skincare introduced eco-friendly packaging options this year with a refresh of bright peach, recyclable packaging. Manufactured in Australia, the brand is known for its simple, effective products that are gentle on the skin. with the aim of being gentle on the skin. Their Very Light Moisturiser, formulated for oily, combination and acne-prone skin, is now available with their very first refillable packaging pod.

gotoskincare.com

Sabbia Co

Australian skincare brand Sabbia Co was created after its Founders Katie and Dave witnessed a devastating amount of single-use plastic items while holidaying on a remote Sri Lankan beach. As ocean lovers passionate about skin health and wellbeing, starting an ethical, refillable beauty brand to try to combat this issue seemed like a no-brainer. Sabbia Co’s products are also sustainable, biodegradable and Australian-made.

sabbiaco.com

Eye of Horus


Designed in Byron Bay, luxury beauty brand Eye of Horus has released a number of products with refillable packaging. Refill and exchange the pans in the brand’s sleek face and eyeshadow compacts when you have used one up, or order a refill of its Seven Seed Sacred Oil for the face. The brand also offers some compacts empty, so that you can use the refill pans to build your own palette.

eyeofhoruscosmetics.com

Ere Perez


Ere Perez committed to making their beauty brand sustainably packaged by 2023, listing a number of goals including 18 refillable products. The label now has a range of bronzers, blushes and eye colours with refillable pans, available in many shades.

ereperez.com

Asuvi

 

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Asuvi is a toiletry brand dedicated to natural science and eco-conscious thinking. The brand has a focus on sustainable ingredients and eco-friendly packaging, including a refillable deodorant with multiple options for scent.

asuvi.com.au

Ethique

 

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Instead of offering plastic or glass containers to be refilled, Ethique makes 100 per cent plastic-free, climate-positive solid hair, body and skincare. The brand’s range of solid bars includes serums, lip balms, shampoos, conditioners and more, made to be stored on trays or the Ethique Saver Bag (ideal for travelling).

ethiqueworld.com

Azur


Sydney-based beauty brand Azur offers skincare with a focus on organic ingredients, effective formulations and zero-waste packaging. Refills are available for all products, including the award-winning Swell Face Wash, Blue Tansy Face Oil and Marine Minerals Moisturiser.

azurpure.com

Fluff Cosmetics

Casual cosmetics brand Fluff is back with a limited drop model, re-releasing its loved Cloud Compacts for the first time in two years. The brand’s signature mirrored packaging is refillable, with its Lip Oil and Bronzing Powder (now in four shades) available in magnetic refill pans. Once used, these pans are totally recyclable.

itsallfluff.com

Baresop

Baresop’s Founder Prisca Ongonga-Daehn was inspired to start a sustainable beauty brand after she had a conversation with her daughter who expressed concern about the planet’s future. Realising that single-use plastic is one of the primary issues in the beauty industry, she created Baresop, a waterless, zero-waste and refillable skincare brand.

baresop.com

Emma Lewisham

 

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New Zealand-based natural skincare label Emma Lewisham has brought its distinctive pink-and-purple packaging to a range of refillable skincare products. Purchase top-ups of the brand’s face oils, moisturising creams, eye treatments and more.

emmalewisham.com.au

Foile

 

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Freshly launched skincare brand Foile was created for ease, expression and good skin. The range of vegan skincare products is designed to champion natural, nourishing ingredients; with each formula housed in its own glossy green or blue glass bottle. Refill pouches are available for each product, so you can use the adorable packaging again and again.

foile.com.au

Grown Alchemist

 

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Organic Australian-born beauty brand Grown Alchemist takes a “holistic scientific” approach to skincare, “identifying the mechanisms that regulate the aging process of the body and skin”. Loved by skincare enthusiasts across the globe (including Goop girlie Gwenyth Paltrow), the brand is innovative in its sustainability. You can shop Eco Refills for its best-selling products.

grownalchemist.com

The Body Shop

 

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Since 2019, The Body Shop have offered product refills across many of its stores, with 400 more introduced globally in 2022. Refills extend to much-loved products across haircare, shower gel and handwash ranges. In-store refill options have been offered as part of The Body Shop’s overall sustainability commitments as a BCorp organisation – awarded to businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability.

thebodyshop.com

Zero Co

 

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Zero Co is on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic from Australian households, offering reusable products for your kitchen and bathroom needs. If you purchase the brand’s body products or hair care, you’ll receive a ‘forever bottle’ crafted from ocean, beach and landfill plastic. This ‘forever bottle’ can be refilled from Zero Co’s reusable pouches, which you can get delivered to your door.

zeroco.com.au

Eco Minerals

 

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Byron Bay brand Eco Minerals creates 100 per cent cruelty-free, vegan and natural mineral cosmetics. If you’re after refillable makeup, this brand has you covered; its refill sachets are plastic-free too.

ecominerals.com.au

Leif

 

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Botanical beauty brand Leif creates simple, effective skincare formulas ‘designed to elevate the everyday’. Leif reflects the beauty of the Australian landscape in its use of native plant ingredients, with its formulas free from sulphates, parabens and animal cruelty. The brand offers different sizes of refills for all its products.

leifproducts.com

The Secret Skincare

Made-to-order brand The Secret Skincare launched its Sustainability Range in a bid to make its products even more eco-friendly. The waste-free model means their products are dispensed in recyclable packaging that is designed to be refilled once it’s empty.

thesecretskincare.com

Aesop

 

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Aesop is in the process of implementing more sustainable packaging, with the aim of making all of its packaging refillable, compostable or recyclable by 2025. The brand has begun trialling a system for reusing packaging, which is currently only available across three of its popular products: the Parsley Seed Facial Cleanser, Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash and Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser.

aesop.com/au

Lush

Lush has offered an incentive for bringing back your empties for years, though it’s given that model an update after listening to customer feedback on ways the system could be improved. The brand now offers money back for each empty container you return, as well as transitioning towards refill-friendly packaging and an in-house recycling scheme.

lush.com/au

Tailor Skincare

 

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Not only is Tailor Skincare’s packaging cute, but it’s also compostable, recyclable and refillable. The cardboard packaging is biodegradable while the glass bottles are made from blue glass that can be topped up or recycled.

tailorskin.co

Kora Organics

 

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As of 2021, all new Kora Organics products will use recycled, recyclable or biodegradable materials in its packaging wherever possible. The skincare label is also working on replacing all existing products with sustainable packaging across the next few years, including refillable options. Kora currently has three refillable products – its Berry Bright Vitamin C Eye Cream, Active Algae Moisturiser and Tumeric Glow moisturiser – each of which arrive in a glass jar with a removable, recyclable pod.

koraorganics.com

Australian Skin Institute

Australian Skin Institute is in the process of transitioning to 100 per cent recyclable and reusable packaging across its range, with its popular moisturisers now available in refillable capsules. Its circular packaging model is very user-friendly – the moisturisers come with a reusable pump that can be recycled at the end of its lifespan and a completely recyclable, removable internal capsule that can be replaced when it’s empty.

australianskininstitute.com.au

Adorn

Creating luxury guilt-free products has always been a top priority for Adorn. It’s an ethos that encompasses everything from its cruelty-free, vegan formulas to ensuring the packaging its products come in doesn’t hurt the planet. The label has been championing sustainability since 2008, with refillable packaging and ‘naked’ products at the core of its zero-waste mission.

adorncosmetics.com.au

Medik8

 

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Medik8’s goal of ensuring all packaging is reusable, refillable or recyclable by 2026 has seen the label implement refillable bottles for two of its products. Because the pump dispenser contains various parts and mechanisms in order to function, creating a fully recyclable pump proves to be quite tricky. So, Medik8 has opted for refillable bottles that attach to a reusable pump – genius!

medik8.com.au

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