Proverb Skincare pledges to make entire collection refillable by 2023

Proverb Skincare, a UK-based natural skincare brand, has committed to making its entire collection refillable by 2023.

The pledge will see the brand move to aluminium packaging for its bestselling Cleanse & Shave Nutrient Mud and Energising Facial Scrub products, while product refills will be housed in 100% plastic-free pouches. 

Made from layers of paper and wood pulp cellulose biofilm, the sachets are home-compostable at ambient temperatures and are designed to break down into water, CO2 and biomass, leaving no eco-toxicity in the soil, within 26 weeks. 

“To date, nobody has held an emulsion in a paper-based pouch that will home-compost,” said a brand spokesperson. 

The new pouches act both as product refills and samples for customers who would like to try the products before buying the full size. 

Proverb Skincare co-founder Kirstie Sherrif said: “For us as a brand, it was a no-brainer. The ethos of Proverb is ‘get out what you put in’ – so when it came to creating a skincare range, we wanted to give people products that they know are doing good for their skin and the planet.” 

“Next year, we’re hoping to bring out our entire skincare range in a one-time purchase glass bottle that can be refilled with our compostable skincare pouches. It’s been a two-year-long process of getting a lot of things wrong, but we are so proud to finally get it right.” 

The move represents an important step for the beauty industry, which, according to Inside Beauty, is currently one of the highest generators plastic waste, contributing a reported 120 billion units of packaging every year.