Kaolin Beauty is an ethical, non-toxic, zero-waste makeup and self-care company that strives for both spiritual and environmental excellence.
If this sounds familiar to you, that’s because it is the first sentence of Kaolin Beauty’s mission statement. As a 100% plastic-free makeup and self-care product company, we are joining the fight in bringing about a plastic-free world. A reason why? The makeup industry alone creates 120 billion units of plastic packaging annually, and 95% are one time use. That means that 114,000,000,000 units serve their purpose, then tossed in the trash. Were plastic recycled on a large scale basis, this may not be an issue. However, only 9% of all plastic ever created has been properly recycled! The problem is that plastic does not and will never break down on its own unless the proper recycling procedure is followed, and for many reasons, it can’t keep up. Therefore, it’s absolutely imperative that cosmetics and personal care companies cut down on their use of plastic packaging and explore alternatives to find reusable, refillable, or compostable solutions.
For example, here at Kaolin Beauty we have taken a variety of measures to be completely plastic-free, and this is found in our sustainable packaging systems. Our makeup products, such as our cheek and lip tints and luminizers, come in glass jars with aluminum lids. Glass is not only recycled more effectively, but can be used in a variety of ways after its initial purpose is served. Likewise, aluminum can be recycled efficiently. These are then packaged in plantable seed paper. This neat invention uses biodegradable eco-paper that was made with post-consumer recycled materials and embedded with seeds. Not only are trees not involved in making the paper, but when planted in soil, the paper composts away while the seeds grow to be flowers or herbs! There are a variety of flower, herb, and vegetable options as well. We use this paper for packaging our makeup products, but keep them in mind for any invitations, cards, or other paper products!
Kaolin Beauty also sells self-care products, in particular, face masks. These are packaged in a pouch that has three layers -- paper, metalized PLA, and PLA. The metalized PLA layer provides high-barrier protection from oxygen and moisture, which maintains the mask’s quality. The pouch is closed by a zipper that, like the rest of the pouch, is completely biodegradable and compostable. PLA is short for Polylactic Acid, which is a thermoplastic polymer made from renewable sources like corn starch or sugar cane. This means that not only is it made from natural and renewable sources, but it is also biodegradable because of this composition. It is also completely safe, as PLA is what is used in 3D printing to make plates, bowls, or cups.
We highly encourage all our customers to recycle the packaging when you’re finished with these great products! Our packaging solutions are sustainable because they are recyclable, refillable, or compostable. More than that, they are 100% plastic-free. When purchasing for sustainable companies like ours, you are helping to cut that 120 billion unit annual figure down, and eventually, we could be living in a plastic-free world!
If you want to learn more about plantable seed paper, check out Botanical Paperworks!
Sources Used:
https://www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/learn-about-polylactic-acid-pla-prototypes
https://www.beatthemicrobead.org/plastic-free-beauty-the-new-normal/
https://botanicalpaperworks.com/how-plantable-paper-works/
