This amazing planet-friendly brand upcycles coffee beans to create new beauty products
We love a beauty brand with a conscience. That's why we are very much here for UpCircle, who repurpose leftover coffee beans from cafes around London to make delicious soaps, face masks, serums and exfoliators.
A few years ago, brother-sister team Anna and William Brightman started thinking to themselves "What if we used some of the waste products from coffee shops to make lush soaps?" and made their environmentally-friendly dream a reality.
Once they'd teamed up with Urban Outfitters and started shipping their coffee bean products around Europe, it occurred to them that they might be able to use other all-natural products to make beauty goodies. That's when they started collecting leftover hemp seed husks from a place in Oxfordshire to make scrumptious face masks.
Then, last year, they started salvaging the spices used to brew chai tea. They now make soap bars out of the residual spices used to make Henny and Joe's Chai syrup. Spices like nutmeg, vanilla, ginger and cloves are ground into a fine powder and blended to make these luscious little bars of soap. They're gently exfoliating, they stimulate circulation and they smell incredible. They come in cinnamon and ginger flavour or fennel and cardamon - both delish (though, to be clear, don't eat 'em).
Speaking to GLAMOUR about the brand story, co-founder William Brightman, explained: "Back in 2015, we had a thought: if we’re throwing away a cafetière full of coffee grounds every morning, how much is going to waste from coffee shops all over London? A lot, as it turns out. So we decided to do something about it. We needed a way to give those coffee grounds a new lease of life. And UpCircle was born. Since then, we’ve saved approximately 35 tonnes of coffee from landfill, based on our current growth rates we estimate that we will have saved an additional 1000 tonnes in the next 5 years. Now that’s a lot of espressos!"
One of the most popular products on their site is the Hydrating Face Serum, which is made from the oil in coffee beans, plus jojoba, sea buckthorn and rosehip oils. It's rich in Vitamin C and promises to fade dark spots and brighten the skin on your face, if you use it morning and night. It can also be used a hair or beard oil.
Discussing how the products work, William added: "The ingredients we use retain their quality even after we’ve turned them into beauty products. The chai tea spices still smell amazing after brewing and the levels of antioxidants in coffee increase as it’s brewed – making it even better for your skin. Better for your skin, better for the planet – it’s a win-win! Most other scrubs are made with cheap, low-grade Robusta coffee. At UpCircle, we use the highest-quality Arabica grounds collected from specially-selected coffee shops and restaurants. If you wouldn’t want to drink it, why would you want to put it on your face?"
We love this whole set-up, just as much as we love feeling proud and smug as we lather up with environmentally-friendly beauty products.
Here are some other brilliant environmentally-friendly beauty buys we love...
Calvin Klein CK Everyone Eau De Toilette, £42, John Lewis
Calvin Klein’s CK Everyone perfume is the first of its kind to be awarded a Cradle To Cradle Material Health Certificate for its commitment to a truly sustainable offering at every stage of its supply chain. The perfume itself is clean, environmentally conscious and formulated with naturally derived vegan ingredients, while the bottle is made from recycled materials and is recyclable once finished.
Chantecaille Hummingbird Lip Chic, £38, Cult Beauty
Chantecaille’s commitment to give back to the earth has been a core focus of the brand since the beginning. The brand is involved in numerous projects and initiatives to protect the environment and its wildlife, including 27 conservation partnerships funded by some of the brand’s permanent collections and specially launched lines such as the recent Hummingbird collection, created to support the Amazon Conservation Team through proceeds.
Australian Glow 1 Hour Self Tanning Mousse Refill, £13.99, Superdrug
As well as being all-natural, vegan and bestowing a sunkissed tan, the bottle used for Australian Glow’s tan mousses are made from ocean waste plastic (reducing virgin plastic use by 83%) and you can top up with refillable pouches made from even less plastic.
Rosewater Balancing Mist Intense Deluxe Edition, £49, Jurlique
Jurlique is dedicated to ensuring its products are sustainable. That’s why all of its ingredients are grown, hand-picked and replanted on its own biodynamic farm to make the supply chain effectively farm to face. The farm has sent zero waste to landfill since 2016, reduced 2-% of their transport emissions and single-handedly planted 12,000 trees since 2012. The best-selling Rosewater Balancing Mist is made with a glass bottle and now comes in a deluxe jumbo size so you can limit your packaging even more.
Scent Free Sun Lotion SPF 30, £24, Green People
Green People have been planet pals since way back in 1997 when the brand launched as pioneers in organic, vegan beauty. Since then, they’ve continued to find new ways to make their offering as sustainable and considerate as possible. They’ve teamed up with organisations like the Born Free Foundation (an initiative that educates kids on environmental matters) and The Marine Conservation Society which works to protect our seas, shores and wildlife. A direct donation from every sale of the Scent Free Sun Lotion goes directly to this product and in line with the brand’s principals, they’ve opted for marine friendly UV filters in their SPF. The latest step? The brand relaunched its entire suncare range in renewable sugarcane packaging that’s so efficient that for every 1kg produced, 3kg or carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. A move they plan to roll out across all packaging.
Kjaer Weis Cream Blush, £41, Cult Beauty
The original refillable brand, Kjaer Weis is a little slice of conscious luxury. The refillable blushers, powders, lip products and foundations come in long-wearing, refillable metal compacts and all formulas are certified natural or organic.
Natural Defence Hand Spray Refill, £10, Neal’s Yard Remedies
Thanks to treading lightly in countless areas of the brand, Neal’s Yard’s carbon footprint is as gentle as it can be. The brand spent years tirelessly campaigning to ban microbeads, as well as championing saving the world one bee at a time with their pioneering Bee Lovely Campaign. They offer in-store refills on two of their best-selling products (the Geranium & Orange Hand Wash and Bee Lovely Bath & Shower Gel) and offer £2 off if you bring your used bottles back to be recycled. They even manufacture their products in a solar-powered eco-factory and are carbon neutral. Full marks, NYR!
Origins Pretty In Bloom Longwear Foundation, £28, John Lewis
Not only does Origins offer a Return To Origins programme where the brand promises to recycle empties from any brand in any material, they've also partnered with National Trust to plant 25,000 trees across the UK and the American Forest Global Re-leaf, where they’ve planted 1.3 million trees since 2009. They’ve been upping their eco-credentials in their formulations, too. The Pretty In Bloom foundation is blended with re-claimed and re-purposed flower waxes from the perfumery world, which are left unused after extracting precious scented oils from flowers.
Patch Aloe Vera Bamboo Plasters, £6.99, Holland & Barrett
These planet-friendly graze and blister plasters are made from bamboo that’s been specially enriched with soothing aloe vera. It’s plastic-free, vegan-friendly and 100% home-compostable (including all packaging and the plasters themselves) and it comes in a range of other options, including a kid-friendly version featuring an adorable panda design.
Luminising Palette, £23, & Other Stories
&Other Stories has created an in-store recycling scheme designed to reward customers for returning empty beauty packaging and pre-loved garments with a 10% off voucher on their next purchase. The packaging is sorted by material in-store and then passed on to recycling stations, while the brand’s own packaging is considered and kept to a minimum.
Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum, £175, Cult Beauty
Adored by celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow, JLo and Tracee Ellis Ross, Vintner’s hero serum is created using 22 nutrient-rich botanicals responsibly sourced from individual farmers. Unused fruits are used to create the formula following a slow beauty method. Full plant ingredients are extracted through a precise, gentle and temperature controlled 21-day process to give a full spectrum of nutrition. Most skincare takes less than 6 hours to bottle making this a rarity in a fast skincare world.
HUMANKINDThe latest brand we're coveting is by Humankind - high-performing and purse-friendly personal care products with clean formulas that come in a plastic-neutral, refillable container. The brand send personalised refills on your subscription schedule so you can save the planet whilst getting ready in the morning. Genius.
Floral Street Neon Rose Eau De Parfum, £55, John Lewis
We already love this kickass fragrance brand for providing us with fine fragrance at an accessible price, but we love it even more for its biodegradable (but super chic) pulp carton.
Hydra Life Jelly Sleeping Mask, £54, Dior
Dior's Hydra Life range is as impressive for its luxurious skincare benefits as it is for its environmentally-friendly ethos. They've ditched the cellophane and product leaflet to cut down on waste and the ink is naturally sourced, too.
Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser, £37, Cult Beauty
All of Tata Harper's farm-to-face formulas are housed in these recycled green glass bottles. Plus, any plastic used is all recycled, and the ink on the cleanser label is made from soy.
REN Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Body Wash, £22, Cult Beauty
Later this year, Ren's cult body wash will come in new 100% recycled bottle containing 20% reclaiming ocean plastic, with other products following suit by next year.
Face Halo Makeup Remover Pad, £7, Boots
Pie off your plastic wrapped face wipes and cotton pads for this reusable, microfiber makeup remover. Just add water and a little bit of elbow grease to see mascara, foundation and more lift off before your eyes. No chemicals down the sink or waste in the bin. Curious? Read our full Face Halo review.
Soaper Duper Nourishing Coconut Body Wash, £15.99, Amazon
As well as being free-from parabens and harmful chemicals, all of Soaper Duper's formulas are microbead-free and contained in either recycled or recyclable plastic (the reason the bottles are green is due to recycled milk bottle tops). Oh, and every purchase helps to support Water Aid, providing water to communities who need it.
BYBI Babe Multi-Purpose Beauty Balm, £22, Revolve
As well as providing a multi-tasking, makeup bag must-have, BYBI, have packaged their balms in totally plastic-free tubes. Instead, they're made from sugarcane and are entirely biodegradable.
Filthy Clean Biodegradable Capsules, £35, Bolt Beauty
This carbon neutral capsule skincare brand offer up pre-dosed cleansers, moisturisers and treatments cocooned in a fully biodegradable shell (it melts away in hot water or can be disposed of in your compost heap). The jars are completely recyclable and the brand is working on refills distributed in completely compostable bags (coming soon).
Hemp-Infused Blemish Recovery Oil, £34, BySarah London
This blemish-friendly oil is made from upcycled hemp seeds, grown and harvested in the UK by hand. The brand rescued the large proportion that don't meet the specification for food use from going to waste and landfill and then cold-press them into plant oil. The supply chain is short and considered and the oil itself contains 52% more antioxidants than standard hemp seed oil.
Codex Earth Day Soap, £17, SUSTBeauty
Sustainable brand Codex stretched its eco credentials one step further with a multi-coloured soap made especially for Earth Day. Created by upcycling leftover soap shavings from its Bia Soap bars, it’s a zero waste option exclusively available on eco platform SUSTBeauty.
Smoothing Cleanser Complexion Purifier, £18, Tropic
Tropic is so sustainable, it’s actually carbon neutral. All of the brand’s limited carbon emissions (from its product deliveries to powering its HQ and, even the team’s commutes into work) are doubly offset by conservation work the brand funds in the Amazon rainforest and in Indonesia. Its Smoothing Cleanser Complexion Purifier is a best-seller and a hit among eco-minded beauty buffs.
It's safe to say that Lush is a true eco-warrior. They sell many products 'naked' (meaning no packaging whatsoever) like these clever shampoo bars, or else in recycled or biodegradable packaging. They are also vegetarian, ethically-sourced and anti-animal testing.
Peppermint toothpaste tablets that are dentist and eco-friendly. Pärla toothpaste tabs come in a glass jar with an aluminium lid, cleverly designed to reuse indefinitely. The brand can also send out refills to you in completely compostable starch bags and recycled cardboard mailers that fit neatly through your letterbox.
