MONO Skincare is here to show the beauty industry how to make their sustainability goals a reality
The beauty industry has been actively making strides to adopt sustainable practices in recent years. Skincare companies have dominated this shift towards clean beauty, with sustainable skincare brands making up 28.5% of the global clean beauty market.
An emerging brand in the clean skincare market is the up-and-coming Hong Kong-based startup MONO Skincare. The company’s founder Laurie Mias has been vocal about the pressing need for the beauty industry to take account of their contributions to packaging waste.
“I was sick of over-consumption of single-use plastic. I could not believe that even my most expensive skincare still came in single-use plastic containers wrapped in a box itself wrapped in a plastic film,” says Mias in her interview with Cosmetics Design Asia.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at what sets MONO apart from its competitors.
What makes MONO Skincare different?
Each of MONO’s products comes in the form of highly concentrated tablets. These tablets contain a blend of inulins, ceramides and emollient ingredients like aloe and other botanical extracts. The company’s formulations also contain prebiotics such as preBIULIN AGA.
These tablets contain a high concentration of active ingredients with very small molecules to facilitate quick absorption into the skin. Unlike traditional beauty products, MONO Skincare’s tablets are water-based and do not contain any petrolatum or mineral oil.
MONO Skincare produces a small range of skincare products at present. Their products include a face cleanser, night serum, a pH balancing toner, a face moisturizer, deodorant, a body mist and a yoga mat cleaning spray.
How MONO is geared towards sustainability right from the get-go
The company’s tablets are 100% zero-waste. They are in aluminum packaging shipped in a paper-padded mailer made from recycled fibers.
MONO’s shift away from plastics is significant, particularly considering that the beauty industry consumes 120 million packaging units each year, accounting for 146 million tonnes of plastic. “I wanted this new skincare brand to also allow us to cut back on plastic consumption and reduce my contribution to the overabundance of plastic waste in the beauty industry,” says Mias.
The absence of oil in their products is also a positive step. Most beauty products today use some form of oil as one of the ingredients. Palm oil, used as an ingredient in 70% of beauty products today, is responsible for about 2% of global tree loss. Mineral-based oils also adversely affect the environment. They are not readily biodegradable and also accelerate climate change during the oil extraction phase.
By cutting out both oils and plastic packaging, MONO is setting itself apart in the beauty industry.
MONO’s plans for the future
The company is in its pre-order stage at present and is set to launch in October. MONO ships to the USA, Europe, the UK, South East Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia. It plans to expand to a global scale if it can get adequate funding.
Mias is mindful of the important role businesses like hotels can play in reducing the use of single-use plastics. “For that reason, we are going to launch our body and hair care tablets as hotel amenities refillable solutions too,” she says.
With startups like MONO Skincare taking the environmentally friendly approach, traditional brands have no reason not to take the plunge to adopt sustainable practices. IPCC’s recent warning has heightened the concerns of climate change. In such a scenario, adopting clean business practices is rapidly becoming the only way forward.
Header image courtesy of MONO Skincare’s Facebook page
