Water is one of Earth’s most precious resources—one that’s needed not only for survival, but one that frequently forms the core of beauty products.

As many brands work to create more sustainable packaging options, some brands are looking further, questioning and editing their use of water as another effort to aid the planet.

Here’s what Babor, Lumene and Skin Authority are doing to help create a more sustainable, water-responsible world. 

Take a look at these brands -- and more -- in the slideshow: These Beauty Brands Are Conserving Water

Water Conservation is Critical to Babor

Water conservation is critical to BABOR, as sustainability is deeply rooted in the brand’s DNA. 

Founded over 60 years ago by biochemist, Dr. Michael Babor, BABOR (which started as Biomedizinische Naturkosmetik Dr. B, which roughly translates to bio-medical natural skin care) is considered Europe’s No.1 professional skin care brand. The third generation—owned company creates advanced-strength, precision formulas blending powerful natural ingredients with cutting edge science. 

Founder Dr. Michael Babor believed in the power of natural, plant-based oils and his philosophy is still alive at BABOR. “We at BABOR are dedicated to the beautiful—especially when it comes to protecting something as beautiful as our planet,” says Horst Robertz, managing director at BABOR and head of the sustainability board. He is shown above, bottom left. 

A Water Micro-Filtration System

Robertz acknowledges that “the production of our products needs lots of water, and we are well aware of the challenges that go with that.” Since 1998, BABOR has utilized a microfiltration system in production facilities designed to filter sewage and produce clean water. The system works to recycle water by separating oil and other waste from clean water, creating around 15,000 liters of safe, clean water per day.

The water micro-filtration system is one milestone of the brand’s sustainability mission. Robertz says, “We implemented the first system at our factory [back] in 1998. We are very proud that we often are ahead of our times and ahead of official regulations.” He adds that they are bringing their sustainability initiative into the future with a Green Agenda—their roadmap for the next five years. It defines milestones to become an even more sustainable company. “We specifically are looking into reducing our carbon footprint, creating cleaner packaging and more sustainable formulations,” explains Robertz.

“Look at our cremes, ampoules and serums, for example,” says Robertz. “Of course, they all have their individual packaging. A while back, luxury products had big complex packaging. This has changed. Today our experts are discussing how we as a luxury skin care label can re-define luxury packaging—especially when it comes to avoiding plastic. Our goal is to reduce the use of plastic by 30% by 2023. Our goals are even more complex when it comes to ingredients…”

Robertz adds: “Sustainability is in our mindset… not only when it comes to our environment, but as our company’s philosophy. We are a family-owned company and as such, sustainable management is important to us. Climate change, plastic in the ocean—this affects us all. Also, our customers are looking into how products are produced and what ingredients they contain. The decision as to what they buy is based on that. To me it is important that we create transparency when it comes to sustainability. We are not perfect, but honest. That is why we want to talk about what initiatives we already have and the ones that need more looking into. Today, we cannot avoid all carbon dioxide emissions, for example. But we are working on reducing them by 50 percent by 2025.”

Lumene Makes Its Skincare-Infused-Makeup with Nordic Ingredients

Lumene is a “natural” beauty brand from Finland, whose mission is “to bring sustainable Nordic beauty products with wild-crafted potent Nordic ingredients for consumers looking for naturally luminous beauty.” Lumene’s product portfolio in the USA consists of skin care and skin care-infused-makeup products, all designed and manufactured in Finland.

Tiina Isohanni, VP R&D and sustainability (shown above, top right), Lumene, says, “We are inspired by Nordic Women, created with Finnish Nature and born of Arctic Light. We formulate products as naturally as possible, prioritizing ingredients developed from wild Nordic plants, as well as ingredients developed from industry side streams. We are committed to sustainably bring the power of wild Nordic nature to help everyone achieve their own idea of beauty.”

Lumene's WaterSmart Program

In 2010, Lumene launched the LUMENE WaterSmart program to help reduce water consumption. Between 2007 and 2019, the brand reduced the use of water in their production by 40%. As a company, they sustainably gather Arctic Spring Water from the heart of Finland to utilize in their ingredients. Noted as the cleanest water in the world by UNESCO, the PH of this arctic spring water is much more “skin friendly.”

Participating in a circular economy is Lumene’s way of mitigating climate change, according to Isohanni. She says the brand approaches circular economy in a comprehensive manner examining the entire life cycle of a product; starting from product concept design, to development, sourcing of natural raw materials, all the way through production, manufacturing, logistics, and the use of product and its post-consumer phase.

“We adopted the idea of circular economy approximately twenty years ago through the introduction of upcycling of side-streams from Finnish food industry,” explains Isohanni. “Since then, we have also focused on other circular economy efforts such as reducing the use of water, utilizing renewable energy and increasing the recyclability of product packaging.”

A Diminishing Water Footprint

How did Lumene go about reducing the use of water in products and production?

Isohanni says there are two different interpretations for the origin of the brand’s name. “The first one is related to light as it is pretty obvious, when hearing our brand name. The other connection is water.”

“In the middle of Finland, we have a lake named Lummenne, a source of inspiration for the Lumene brand. Even though Finland is the country of thousands of lakes and full of pure, high quality water, we want to protect our source and pay attention to how we consume water. In 2010, Lumene launched the LUMENE WaterSmart program with the aim of reducing water consumption. Through the program, Lumene encourages both consumers and cosmetics companies to develop a more sustainable attitude to water and to diminish their water footprint.

We didn’t reduce the amount of water in our products, because water is a vital ingredient in skin care products (because high quality water is excellent carrier for different water-soluble hydrating ingredients), but instead, in production, we invested in new water purifying systems with much better yield (less wasted water), and renewed our cleansing procedures for manufacturing equipment and filling lines. Those were the most important actions to reduce our water consumption.”

But Lumene faced challenges in their efforts.

“In the beginning,” says Isohanni, “it was quite easy to find the best ways to reduce our water consumption but going forward it is more a question of taking small steps to continue to be able to reduce the water consumption. In order to maintain an excellent level of hygiene in our production, we can no longer significantly reduce our water use.

“Water is the elixir of life—and the most important ingredient in skin care products,” says Isohanni. “That is why we can’t compromise the quality or amount of water we use in our products, but instead, have approached this part of our sustainability commitment by reducing the use of water in our production."

Water also plays an important role in Finnish culture. "The sea surrounds Finland in the south and west, and the small country boasts a staggering 188,000 lakes and 33,000 natural springs. The water we use in our products, comes partly from a lake located in the Lummenne watershed, and partly from one of these springs, located in the remote wilderness, close to the Arctic Circle,"  Isohanni, explains.

"There, the water has been filtered through layers of sand and gravel formed after the Ice Age, deep inside a rock dating back millions of years," Isohanni  continues. "Ask anyone, you won’t find purer water anywhere else, and as a matter of fact, two independent international studies (UNESCO World Water Assessment Program, 2003, and World Water Council, 2002) have ranked Finnish water the purest in the world. Due to water being so especially important to us, we feel it is our responsibility to protect our source and pay attention to how do we consume water.”

Skin Authority Is Inspired By San Diego's Landscape

Skin Authority takes inspiration from its San Diego life sciences community, continuously scanning the research landscape for breakthroughs that help us live well longer.

The brand mission is to translate that knowledge into products which benefit skin, as well as build a company that makes an impact in lives and our community. At the heart of the brand is the 1-1 human connection of a live coach to hear consumers’ unique needs and customize simple routines that reflect their desires and lifestyle.

“Every industry needs to look at how it needs to evolve,” says Celeste Hilling, CEO and founder of Skin Authority (shown above, bottom right). “We want to not compromise the performance of our products, but still have a conscience.” This year, Skin Authority launched SkinSuit, its first formulation crafted and packaged completely without the use of water. 

Hilling, says, “With a growing global population and only .04 of the 3% of the Earth’s fresh water sources readily available, it is so important to preserve this precious resource. Also, waterless products contribute to the health of the planet in other ways as they tend to be more compact, so you utilize less packaging which reduces the amount of materials we have to consume as well as puts less waste in the landfills. Because the formulas are also lighter, it saves on the fuel needed for shipping and the space required to store products.

Reducing & Replacing the Water

Hilling explains how they went about reducing the use of water in products and production. “We replace the water with marine and plant-based hydrators, we also utilize hydrosols which are produced when essential oils are distilled. Not only does it make our formulas more concentrated which provides greater product performance with smaller quantities per use, but the formulas are also less susceptible to bacterial growth.”

For example, Skin Authority’s first waterless product was a lip protector, “as lip products tend to experience the highest levels of contamination as bacteria gets introduced to the water in the formula with each use. The waterless formula significantly reduces the bacterial exposure as well as allows us to use less preservatives or chemicals in the product process.” She says there is a misconception that waterless formulas don’t need preservatives, but they do, just not as much.

However, reducing water can significantly increase the cost of manufacturing, says Hilling.  “Water is one of the least expensive ingredients you can use so when you replace water with quality natural botanical hydrators or oils, it can impact your profit margins and consumer pricing. It is also important to ensure the ingredients you use to replace the water are going to add to the performance and not effect consistency of the formulas or cause separation, opaqueness, etc.”

Still, Hilling says water preservation is critical. “Being based in California, we see firsthand every year the devastation drought causes in wildfires based on shrinking water reserves. Each of us, individually and as businesses, needs to look at how we can make substantial changes to preserve our water supply. I love that by reducing our use of water, Skin Authority is also able to deliver safer products improving the wellbeing of our community.”