When I google ‘beauty empties’, the first suggestion that comes up is ‘beauty empties recycle’. I’d interpret this as good and bad news: good news that we’re increasingly concerned about how to dispose of packaging responsibly, but bad news that there’s still confusion around how, what and where to dispose of beauty empties. Beauty packaging take-back schemes have cropped up in the last few years, aiming to remove our responsibility to sort through our own rubbish. A laudable initiative, but wouldn’t it be even better if we had the information at source, i.e. on the packaging? My last beauty empties post detailed how to recycle each packaging item, and although on-pack instructions are becoming increasingly easy to decipher (as opposed to having to know what a number in the middle of a triangle logo means), the more we talk about it, the more it’ll become second nature. So how easy are haircare empties to recycle?  

KLORANE Strengthening Shampoo

How to recycle: one of the most common packaging formats for haircare, Klorane’s shampoos come in a recycled plastic bottle with plastic cap. This means that the plastic used (in this case, half of it) has already had a previous life as another piece of packaging and has already gone through a recycling process – thumbs up to that. All you need to do once you’ve finished the bottle is rinse it, place the cap back on, and recycle it as part of your household recycling rubbish. Keeping the cap on ensures that even small packaging parts get picked up at the recycling centre, rather than getting incinerated.

And how was the actual product? Good! This strengthening but gentle shampoo is designed to revitalise fine or fragile hair, cleansing hair without removing its protective moisture barrier. I found the brown colour initially off-putting, but it did seem to reduce the amount of hair left on my hairbrush post-brushing.

KLORANE Strengthening Conditioner

How to recycle: probably the second most popular haircare packaging format, tubes can be trickier to recycle than plastic bottles. Whether they can be included in your household recycling will vary from one council to another. To remove any doubt, unfortunately at the moment it’s best to either place in your black bin (rather than contaminate your recycling) or take it to a Terracycle recycling point.

And how was the actual product? A rich, thick conditioner, that thankfully didn’t have the same brown colour as the shampoo. The scent is very subtle and instantly reminds me of their other naturally-scented ranges which I grew up using. Their Chamomile and Oat Milk range still remains one of my favourite Klorane collections.

Naturtint Nourishing Shampoo

How to recycle: same as the Klorane plastic shampoo bottle – rinse and place in your household recycling bin, cap on.

And how was the actual product? A 99% natural nourishing and repairing vegan shampoo that leaves hair feeling super soft and lightly scented with its organic orange, lemon and grapefruit waters.

Naturtint Nourishing Hair Mask and Naturtint Chia Protective Mask

How to recycle: same as the Klorane conditioner tube – bin it or take it to a Terracycle recycling point to avoid contaminating your household recycling, unless you’re sure your council takes tubes.

And how was the actual product? Naturtint’s Nourishing Hair Mask is specifically designed for dry and damaged hair. Certified natural and formulated with deeply nourishing organic shea butter, restoring milk thistle and Hydrolysed Wheat Proteins to restructure the delicate keratin and reduce breakage. Overall good, but… if I had to choose I’d go for the Chia Protective Mask which is designed to shield colour-treated hair from environmental damage – ideal for my highlighted hair which increasingly has a tendency to go straw-like if I don’t dowse it with conditioner or a hair mask after every wash (like cleansed skin without moisturiser). A smooth and silky result for touchable hair.

FLOURISH BEAUTY LAB LEMONGRASS + DANDELION WITCH HAZEL SCALP SUPPORT SHAMPOO

How to recycle: the aluminium bottle is an ideal candidate for refilling over and over again. It’s a hardy material so you’ll find that many bottles marketed as refillable are made of aluminium. I don’t know if this brand offers refills, but if not you can wash and refill with any other shampoo or shower gel. The label is very easy to peel off so you can re-label with whatever’s inside. Just remember to wash the pump thoroughly too by pumping soapy water through it a few times and leaving it to dry. If you don’t want to reuse the bottle then please do put it in your household recycling, as aluminium does tend to be recycled due to the material’s value. The pump can’t be recycled though, so that goes in the bin or to a recycling scheme.

And how was the actual product? A refreshing morning scent, soothing witch hazel for sensitive scalps, and clean and soft hair as a result. It gets a thumbs up from me.

SOOTSOAP DETOXIFYING & DEODORIZING SHAMPOO

How to recycle: another plastic bottle, technically this could go in household recycling, HOWEVER… black plastics cannot be picked up by the infrared light used in recycling plants, because they absorb the light and leave nothing to be detected. So unfortunately this one has to be binned or taken to a recycling scheme.  

And how was the actual product? Well this was a surprise – a pleasant one. The liquid that comes out of the bottle may look like tar thanks to the deep cleansing charcoal content, but it froths into a white foam to cleanse hair without stripping it. Shame about the black bottle.

LIVING PROOF PERFECT HAIR DAY 5-IN-1 STYLING TREATMENT

How to recycle: this one will need to go to a special recycling scheme like Terracycle. Top tip: the higher the number in the middle of the recycling triangle logo, the less likely it is to be recyclable. So if you see a 1 or 2 surrounded by a triangle made up of 3 arrows = good, if you see a 6 or 7 = bad. It looks like Living Proof have repackaged this as a tube now, not sure if it’s easier to recycle though.

And how was the actual product? A big 5-in-1 claim with this treatment promising to smooth, volumise, condition, strengthen and polish. But Living Proof are top of the haircare market for good reason: it actually delivers on all of the above. My hair looked sleeker yet bigger than if I’d just used conditioner, and it felt as nourished and soft as if I’d used one. I just braid my damp hair with the product on for soft and defined waves the following day.

Oblepikha Siberica Conditioning Spray

How to recycle: recycle the plastic bottle at home, take the mixed material atomiser to a special recycling point.

And how was the actual product? I love leave-in conditioning sprays for their ease of use: just spritz and go. This one smells a little too sweet for me, but the nourishing mix of sea-buckthorn, argan and flaxseed oils leaves hair soft, shiny and nourished.

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