Here Are 8 of Our Favourite Waterless Beauty Products

Pick up your moisturiser and flip it over. Chances are, you’ll find that the first ingredient on the list is water, or perhaps ‘aqua’.

For the longest time, water has been used in formulating beauty products for a few reasons; most water-based products contain up to 70% H2O. Not only is water a good carrier that helps dissolve potent skincare ingredients, but it’s also an inexpensive ingredient.

The only problem is that about 40% of the world’s population face water shortages and two-thirds of the world’s population will face this by 2025. More and more beauty brands are coming up with innovative ways to create more sustainable products, and the natural next step seems to be removing water from their products.

What is waterless beauty?

Just like any other skincare trend lately, waterless products first gained traction in the land of K-beauty. However, skincare innovators were more interested in increasing a beauty product’s potency instead of advocating it as a sustainable alternative.

By getting rid of ‘aqua’ at the top of the ingredient list, you can include more actives, and in place of water, they use various butters, oils or waxes and oil-soluble actives as ingredients. Because they’re not diluted in water, you need fewer preservatives too—if any.

Want to give waterless beauty products a try? Here are 8 of our favourites.