IS THE FUTURE OF BEAUTY WATERLESS?
DENIZ AKKAYA
If you check the ingredient list of any skincare or personal care product in your bathroom cabinet, chances are you’d find ‘aqua’ listed as the first ingredient and here’s a crazy statistic: the average person in the western world now consumes 140 litres of water a day!
The pressure to live more sustainably can be overwhelming, but when you hear that two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages by 2025, it’s not something you can ignore. As individuals, it’s time to consider the little things we can do to lower our own usage. As consumers, we do have power to contribute to the change, however, brands need to address their consumption rates too. After agriculture, it’s the beauty industry that’s lapping up the most water – and it isn’t a never-ending commodity.
A growing trend, waterless beauty means incorporating water-free products into your beauty routine. The push to reduce water consumption in personal care has caught on in recent years, as the detrimental effects of climate change have become abundantly clear.
But what is waterless beauty?
Traditionally, waterless beauty refers to products that don’t contain water. This practice originated in Korea, more for the benefit to the skin than as a conservation effort. By removing what often serves as a filler ingredient, healing oils like coconut, jojoba, and argan can more effectively treat your hair and skin. Moreover, because they are typically more concentrated and more potent, waterless cosmetic and skincare essentials also tend to last longer as you can get away with using less.
Aside from personal benefits, our ‘water footprint’ has become a sustainability buzzword worth understanding. As per the Water Footprint Network, the term “measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use”.
However, it’s important to note that not all water-free products are created equal. Just because a product is formulated without H2O doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. Therefore, it’s best to research about the brand you’re interested in—how it obtains its ingredients, where they are sourced from, what kind of preservatives and packaging they use, etc.—before adding anything to your cart.
