In February, US-based Krave Beauty launched its first colour product, the Plumptuous Lip Jelly, which features refillable component with a reusable stainless-steel applicator.
With the refillable part, the product eliminates 76% of plastic waste.
After seven years since the brand first launched, founder Liah Yoo remarked that finding sustainable packaging solutions remain challenging.
“I don’t think [it has become easier], to be honest. There are many supposedly sustainable options on the market. The existing refillable ones tend to be too bulky, requiring more material and generating more waste. If people don’t purchase a refill, the carbon footprint of producing just one unit can actually be higher,” she told CosmeticsDesign-Asia.
“I love that the industry is moving in a more sustainable direction, introducing refillable jars and other innovations. But I don’t think they’ve fully figured out how to meaningfully reduce the carbon footprint.”
She added that current solutions on the market see more like a “showcase” of sustainability rather than an efficient solution.
Yoo told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that the company developed the Plumptuous Lip Jelly packaging on its own and the process took around 12 months.
“When we were looking for refillable options, there were literally none for lip oils. We had to custom-mold it. Designing a refillable item was our first challenge. We had to design it from scratch and go into all the technical aspects of packaging design… The formula itself took the least time. The packaging development was almost 12 months because you can’t have even have half a millilitre of error.”
Yoo emphasised that this was the company’s first time designing its own refillable packaging system.
“This is not our expertise; we haven’t done anything like this before… I am very proud of the team for pushing the boundaries. I’m not going to be humble about it because the effort we put into this – it was a lot of work!”
The company is in the process of tracking the sales of Plumptuous Lip Jelly refills.
“I want to have that data to see how many people purchase the refills, whether the buy different shades… It will be cool to see the customer behaviour. And I also want to be able to share that data with other brands,” said Yoo.
Pushing sustainable solutions
Sustainability has always been at the forefront of Krave Beauty and it is known for going the extra mile despite being a smaller brand.
The brand went viral last year for incorporating the patented Innerbottle system in two of its products, Oil La La and Great Barrier Relief.
The packaging contains a balloon-like insert to contain the product, ensuring that the outer packaging shell remains clean and ready to be recycled easily.
Its consumers have given very positive feedback about its Innerbottle packaging as well.
“Honestly, they love it. First and foremost, you get every ounce of the product and that is rare for any skin care packaging. Eliminating that little bit of waste already makes your customer very happy because they get more bang for their buck. They are very satisfied and very intrigued by it. You don’t have to clean it out before recycling, so they really appreciate eliminating one more barrier towards recycling,” said Yoo.
She added that the initial response to the Plumptuous Lip Jelly packaging design has been very positive as well.
Ethical ingredients
Moving forward, Krave Beauty will focus on how it can improve the sustainability of its formulations.
“I think we’re doing the best we can packaging-wise. But there’s so much more opportunities with formulation and using sustainability-sourced ingredients. Improving the supply chain, transparency – that’s our focus for the next phase of our sustainability roadmap. We call it the seed-to-shelf pipeline.
“The beauty industry has a direct impact on nature, resulting in a significant carbon footprint and environmental damage. I’ve realised that the beauty industry takes so much from nature that it poses an ethical question of if its right for it to take so much when we can use the same land for food.”
The company already partnered Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) to source tamanu oil – a very important ingredient to the brand – and support tamanu farmers in Indonesia
According to Yoo, it has helped these women farmers to achieve more than a 50% increase in income.
In addition to ethical and sustainable sourcing, the company is also turning to upcycled ingredient.
According to Krave Beauty, 55% of the Plumptuous Lip Jelly ingredients are upcycled.
It includes upcycled plum oil sustainably sourced from French plum kernels – a byproduct from the food industry. The formula also contains Triolein, an emollient derived from olive oil by-products.
“In the grand scheme of things, I want to approach beauty in a way that takes less from nature. It’s not about avoiding natural ingredients altogether, but rather finding better ways to use them without disrupting biodiversity.
“That’s why we’re also looking at industrial waste—such as byproducts from the wine, food, and farming industries. The goal is not just to reduce our impact on nature but also to help other industries minimize waste by transforming their byproducts into something valuable. Upcycling in a more meaningful way is our biggest focus right now."
