Is waterless skincare the new way to do sustainable beauty?

Pick up a tube or jar of your favourite beauty product and take a glance at the label. In most cases, they are listed according to their quantity in the blend—the ingredient which forms the largest portion of your product is first and the list then goes on in a descending order. It’s common to find aqua or water as the first one on that list. It’s because a lot of your favourite serums, gels and moisturisers are basically water, with concentrated good-for-skin ingredients suspended in it. 

However, when a formula is made of mostly water, it will attract bacteria easily, which means that it requires more preservatives to give it a longer shelf life. Waterless or water-free beauty formulas use other natural ingredients and oils to reduce their water consumption and preservatives. But how do these formulas compete when it comes to efficacy? Dr Madhuri Agarwal, dermatologist and medical direction Yavana Aesthetics Clinic tells us everything we need to know about the beauty industry’s new, waterless, environment-friendly route.

What categorises a beauty formula as waterless?

UK-based brand Pinch Of Beauty is one of the only completely water-free makeup brands, and they use rose hip and jojoba oils, as well as mango seed butter to yield rich textures without the use of water. Their formula—like lip stains and eyeshadows—have anhydrous formulas and contain less preservatives to leave them shelf-stable. With skincare, this is even more important. Jars of creams and lotions are prone to bacteria growth, and K Beauty brands are using waterless formulas to prevent this. In the case of the Lotus Jeju Leaf Essence, lotus leaf extract is used instead of water, which leaves the formula viscous, spreadable and easy to apply without the need to add water to it. In fact, it makes the formula that much more potent. “Water is used as a filler in most products and doesn’t add any additional benefits to the product. Since water is inexpensive, most beauty formulations find it economical or profitable to use in their products, sometimes even constituting 80 per cent of the formulation. Waterless beauty formulas can provide more effective results since the H2O is replaced with stronger ingredients and beneficial extracts,” confirms Dr Agarwal.

Can waterless formulas help make the beauty industry more sustainable?

Water scarcity and droughts are on the rise, so waterless products do count as a conscious contribution towards the preservation of the environment. Leading beauty companies like L'Oréal and Unilever are taking it seriously too, with the former pledging to reduce its water consumption by 60 per cent per finished unit, and the latter attempting to halve the environmental impact and water usage of the making and use of its skincare products by 2030. Plus, “waterless beauty products are usually oil-to-powder or powder-to-water and limit the use of water to activate the beauty product such as those of shampoos and conditioners. This in turn cuts down the time taken for showering or shampooing while using the waterless products, also positively impacting the environment,” says Dr Agarwal.

Are waterless formulas cleaner than others?

Water encourages the growth of bacteria, so preservatives are required to increase its safety. “Waterless beauty formulas are free of water, so preservatives are not required to keep the product safe which also makes them fairly non-allergenic and -irritant. The preservative-free formulas also don’t strip away the natural microflora mantle of your skin, allowing its own nourishment to stay intact,” says Dr Agarwal. 

On the other hand, waterless products might need getting used to for some, as they might not absorb as easily, or feel as hydrating till you get used to it. There's also another issue. Irrespective of whether the product contains water, the manufacturing process usually requires water for equipment processing and cleaner. “In fact, oils and colour processing equipment will require more wash cycles as they are harder to clean, thus adding to the business’ water consumption,” says Dr Agarwal.

Transitioning to waterless beauty might come as unchartered territory for many, and while it might take time to adjust, it can also potentially help to decrease users' carbon footprints. Because the products are sold in more concentrated, compact packages, they can significantly decrease the amount of materials needed to house them (read: much less plastic!). What's more, shipping waterless formulas (which are lighter weight than their water-filled counterparts) requires less space and therefore less fuel. Want to try it? Look for a cream or emulsion with an oil-rich base instead, or switch out lathering hair cleansers and shower gels for bar soaps and solid shampoos.

Also read:

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