This Makeup Looks Good Enough to Eat, and It Was
Beauty is both in the eye of the beholder, and in the interest of our environmental well-being and safety. As other industries, including fashion and tech, have worked on becoming more sustainable, so are beauty companies. A recent study by Whole Foods that showed a handful of beauty trends for the year had upcycled beauty and other eco-friendly beauty trends as top trends for this year.
Upcycling, as defined by upcycledbeauty.com, involves the reuse of discarded materials or objects in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. Companies like Full Circle have committed themselves to accessing plant-based by-products and upcycling them into new cosmetic ingredients.
Things that were once considered waste have are becoming more common for beauty ingredients including coffee grounds, banana peels, and plum kernels. Repurposing food has become one of the biggest components to upcycled beauty products, and companies are making efficient use of plant-based waste. One person’s trash is another person’s beauty regimen; take “ugly” bananas for example.