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Shannon Goldberg knows beauty. With nearly two decades in the cosmetics industry working with luxury brands such as MDNA SKIN and Peter Thomas Roth Clinical Skin Care, it's no surprise that Shannon founded Izzy, a high end makeup brand. However, the mission behind Izzy–to be the world's first truly zero waste makeup brand–was unexpected. 

 

While Shannon has always had a passion for the beauty industry, she considered herself a novice in sustainability. That all changed in 2020, when she learned the beauty industry produces 120 billion units of packaging each year–the vast majority of which ends up in landfills or oceans. 

It’s no secret that the beauty industry is by far one of the most significant pollutants in the world today. It produces a staggering 2.2 billion tons of waste each year. Unfortunately, much of this waste comes from packaging that can take hundreds of years to decompose. While a growing number of beauty brands have pledged to use cleaner and safer ingredients, some have taken their environmental activism a step further by introducing zero waste makeup. But what exactly does the term “zero waste makeup” mean?   What Is Zero Waste Makeup? In a nutshell, zero waste makeup is designed...

Like food, most beauty products are perishable and have an expiration date. While many of us may resist throwing out our favorite shades of lipstick, eyeshadow palette pans, or half-filled tubes of mascara, the truth is that most cosmetics need replacement regularly.   Bradley S. Rosen, M.D., a consulting ophthalmologist for Izzy Zero Waste Beauty, highlights the need for regular replacement of your mascara. “Bacterial buildup over time is common in mascara products,” explains Dr. Rosen. “Replacing your mascara every three months reduces bacterial growth and can help with dryness, allergic responses, redness, and irritation.    Additionally, Dr. Rosen points...

Think about your makeup bag for a minute. What do you see? Most likely plastic products. From mascaras to foundations and eyeshadow palettes, plastic has been the go-to packaging solution for the beauty industry. But the industry has a plastic problem that may have no solution if we don’t act quickly.  Yes, we’re doing better in terms of recycling and using post-consumer materials to produce packaging. But only about 9% of plastic gets recycled! If plastic can’t break down, where is all our beauty packaging ending up?   Of course, we consumers are to blame for not following the recycling...