Sbtrct

Sbtrct solid beauty formulation bamboo case / Source: Sbtrct

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5 MINUTE READ

Nadine Smith

WHAT WE SAY:

Waterless beauty has been gaining traction among conscious, clean and travel-hungry consumers for some time. Waterless products don’t require the use of preservatives, offer a longer shelf life than their water-full counterparts, and can be easily packaged in anything but plastic.

It’s a concept that requires both challenging and re-thinking traditional liquid beauty products. Sbtrct is taking this waterless movement to the skincare industry, offering an array of solid skincare products that will allow even the most ‘skintellectual’ consumer to adopt a water-free and, therefore, plastic-free routine. We’re excited to see how and when this brand moves beyond its UK shores.

KEY FACTS:

Founded in 2020, UK-based skincare company Sbtrct produces six solid skincare products: a foaming cleanser, facial balm, exfoliator, night balm, make-up remover and vitamin C.
Each comes in bar form and has nominal or no water content. They are easily activated when put under the tap for a couple of seconds – a trend being coined as Bring Your Own Water (BYOW).
Unique to the Sbtrct offering is its Rejuvenating Night Balm, which contains 2% Granactive Retinoid. Typically, solid bar beauty products have not contained retinol – an unstable vitamin formulation. The bar was a market-first when it debuted in 2021 and represents a notable step forward in the possibilities of solid beauty.
Solid beauty products don’t require added preservatives to prevent bacteria growth, but it is important that Sbtrct’s bars are able to dry quickly and fully between uses to prevent contamination. To facilitate this, the brand offers a range of diatomite dishes – a form of fossilised Algae and plaster. The dishes are porous, absorbing excess water, and the material is naturally mould-resistant and antibacterial.
Thanks to the waterless formulas, the solid bars are packaged in cardboard boxes and don’t require plastic to keep them intact. Plastic is also not needed to stop seepage at a bottle opening.
Cardboard is used for shipping, storage and at point of sale, making Sbtrct entirely plastic-free. The brand’s ultimate goal is for its packaging to leave no trace.
All packaging is either home compostable in 90 days or recyclable depending on local availability. This includes any shipping cartons, packaging tape and product protection.

Sbtrct’s skincare collection / Source: Sbtrct

Diatomite dishes and bamboo pots / Source: Sbtrct

DIVE DEEPER:

Water use is rife in the beauty industry. According to Natrue, the average beauty product contains anywhere between 60% to 85% water – a number that can go up to 95% for rinse-off products.
It’s predominantly added as a cheap carrier – serving little to no purpose and designed to water down active ingredients to create higher volumes of product at a lower cost.
This needs rectifying for two key reasons. Firstly, water scarcity issues are on the increase, with the UN predicting that by 2025, two-thirds of the planet’s population will be living in water-stressed conditions.
Secondly, when a beauty product contains water, it needs to be housed in a vessel, with many people choosing plastic as the packaging material. If we remove the water, create solid formulas and offer bars of product, this vessel can be as simple as a cardboard box, or no vessel at all.
Sbtrct’s formulas have nominal water content, with a maximum of 0.5%. This extremely low water content means they don’t need to be packaged at all, and the brand’s choice of secondary cardboard packaging facilitates shelf-presence and branding.
In addition to their lack of water, Sbtrct formulas are 100% palm oil-free and contain no palm oil derivatives. They are also suitable for vegans and Leaping Bunny-certified.
All Sbtrct products are manufactured in the UK and are currently only available in the region. Prices start from GBP 15 (USD 18) for the mini Discovery Set, up to GBP 32 (USD 40) for the night balm.
Sbtrct products have received multiple awards including the Beauty Shortlist 2021 ‘Best Eco Brand’ and 2022 ‘Best Zero Waste Brand’ award.

"If you strip out everything that you don’t need in your life, you’re more able to love and value the things that you’ve made a conscious choice to keep."

Benjamin Grace – Founder, Sbtrct – as quoted in AnOther Magazine

Key Design Considerations:

Designing for travel

Sbtrct’s carry cases – made from Bamboo – are ideal for storing its skincare bars, but when travelling, their bulk is likely to put consumers off. Consider creating smaller, travel-sized variations of the bars, which come in one compact case as a set, suitable for use on-the-go and in carry-on luggage.

Localised production

Sbtrct manufactures and sells its products in the same country, reducing carbon emissions from shipping and ensuring a local supply chain. This works for a small-batch brand, but when scaling up it becomes more challenging to limit global connections. Mid-range brands should consider the viability of local production hubs in each region they serve, minimising emissions while creating local employment hubs.

‘Naked’ packaging design

As demonstrated by global beauty brand Lush, solid beauty products don’t need to be sold in packaging at all, and can in fact be sold ‘naked.’ Consider if the visual communication of a secondary box is worth the environmental impact of production and, if going down the ‘naked’ route, how products will be transported throughout the supply chain without these boxes.

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Sbtrct

WHAT WE SAY:

Waterless beauty has been gaining traction among conscious, clean and travel-hungry consumers for some time. Waterless products don’t require the use of preservatives, offer a longer shelf life than their water-full counterparts, and can be easily packaged in anything but plastic.

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

Water use is rife in the beauty industry. According to Natrue, the average beauty product contains anywhere between 60% to 85% water – a number that can go up to 95% for rinse-off products.

It’s predominantly added as a cheap carrier – serving little to no purpose and designed to water down active ingredients to create higher volumes of product at a lower cost.

This needs rectifying for two key reasons. Firstly, water scarcity issues are on the increase, with the UN predicting that by 2025, two-thirds of the planet’s population will be living in water-stressed conditions.

Secondly, when a beauty product contains water, it needs to be housed in a vessel, with many people choosing plastic as the packaging material. If we remove the water, create solid formulas and offer bars of product, this vessel can be as simple as a cardboard box, or no vessel at all.

Sbtrct’s formulas have nominal water content, with a maximum of 0.5%. This extremely low water content means they don’t need to be packaged at all, and the brand’s choice of secondary cardboard packaging facilitates shelf-presence and branding.

In addition to their lack of water, Sbtrct formulas are 100% palm oil-free and contain no palm oil derivatives. They are also suitable for vegans and Leaping Bunny-certified.

All Sbtrct products are manufactured in the UK and are currently only available in the region. Prices start from GBP 15 (USD 18) for the mini Discovery Set, up to GBP 32 (USD 40) for the night balm.

Sbtrct products have received multiple awards including the Beauty Shortlist 2021 ‘Best Eco Brand’ and 2022 ‘Best Zero Waste Brand’ award.

Benjamin Grace – Founder, Sbtrct – as quoted in AnOther Magazine

Key Design Considerations:

Designing for travel

Localised production

‘Naked’ packaging design

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