Cosmetic ingredients and upcycling: is it a match?

How do upcycling and cosmetic ingredients work together?

The emulation fostered around sustainable cosmetics including clean beauty, green beauty, slow cosmetics, farm-to-face cosmetics and zero waste cosmetics has led to a key trend: upcycling beauty.

The trend introduces some recovery processes resulting in recovered substances from waste or by-products without going through the recycling process again. The objective of such a recovery process lies within the reuse into higher value of available resources rather than seeking new ones.

For the beauty industry, by-products are usually organic and come from the food industry most of the time (water, fruit, vegetables, etc).

As of today, many beauty brands use recovery processes in their formulations, particularly into their cosmetic ingredients.

Why is upcycling cosmetic ingredients the next big thing?

Incorporating upcycled ingredients into the development of its product range is first and foremost a response to consumer demand to consume less but better!

3 benefits of upcycling cosmetics:

• It reduces the amount of newly manufactured raw materials to conserve the environment
• Combating waste by recycling materials
• It promotes a circular economy.

How to develop a complete line of performing products using cosmetic ingredients from upcycling?

Driven by its willingness to act sustainably and highly committed to its corporate social responsibility, French cosmetics manufacturer ALPOL Cosmetique has developed a full line of skincare range called Upcycl’Care.

The Upcycl’Care range includes everything you need for a complete beauty routine:

• Upcycl’Cleansing oil : It is composed with more than 50% upcycled raw materials from seeds recycled by the food industry into sesame oil. This oil is designed to remove all types of make-up, even waterproof. Its texture transforms into milk on contact with water for a gentle cleansing of the skin without drying effect.
• Upcycl’Cleansing foam : It is composed of three upcycled fruit waters from the recovery of evaporation water from fruit drying for the food industry. Designed to remove impurities and make-up residue, this creamy, enveloping foam gently cleanses the face.
• Upcycl’Serum : It is composed of upcycled active ingredients such as lemon water extract resulting from the process of drying fruit for the agri-food industry, nuts recycled by the agri-food industry into oil such as macadamia oil or sesame oil and rambutan leaf extract. This gel-cream serum is formulated to fit perfectly into a daily skin care routine.
• Upcycl’Day Cream : Composed of upcycled active ingredients derived from prunus seed cake, grape water resulting from the fruit drying process for the agri-food industry or nuts recycled by the agri-food industry into oils such as macadamia oil or sesame oil. These ingredients have been chosen for their moisturising, anti-wrinkle and anti-pollution properties. This delicate, smooth cream is formulated to suit all skin types.
• Upcycl’night mask : Composed of upcycled active ingredients such as extracts of rambutan bark or nuts recycled from the food industry into oils such as macadamia oil or sesame oil, this night care is formulated for an application as a “sleeping mask”.