Sustainable Spotlight: UpCircle Repurposes High Quality Organic Ingredients into Innovative Skincare Products

UpCircle products.

UpCircle is a natural, organic skincare brand on a mission to make a positive environmental impact. Products are made from repurposed ingredients and feature packaging made from recycled materials. The brand’s story began in 2015 with this realization by its founders: “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?”

#BeautyBoss: Anna Brightman, Co-Founder of UpCircle

Since then, UpCircle has not only repurposed coffee grounds from coffee shops into beauty products, but also offers products made from a wide range of upcycled organic ingredients including chai spices, chamomile stems and more. The brand is constantly coming up with creative and innovative new ways to make sustainable products!

We caught up with Anna Brightman, Co-Founder at UpCircle, to learn more about the story behind the brand and their latest offerings. 

UpCicle Co-Founder Anna Brightman

Can you share a little about the story behind the brand?

It all started at our local coffee shop when we realized there was a ton of wasted coffee grounds sent to landfills. We realized we needed to find a way to breathe new life into them and thus began our journey making face and body scrubs from repurposed coffee grounds collected from artisan coffee shops. Seeing the value and success in that idea, we then moved on to other food by-products like chai spices, fruit pits, date seeds, chamomile stems, and more.

Today, we are the only skincare/beauty brand that we know of that has centered its entire concept around the idea of up-cycling ingredients. We’re all about preventing skin-loving ingredients from going to waste and we do this by transforming by-products from other industries into our products. 

UpCircle products.

Is there anything you want people to know about the ingredients or how they are sourced?

I would sum up our ingredient transformation process as fresh, efficient, and innovative. We intercept ingredients from other industries before the point of them being thrown away and give them new life as UpCircle products. For example, we upcycle brewed coffee grounds and chai spices from the food and drink industry. 

It’s also important to our brand fabric that we repurpose ingredients that are of no lesser quality than fresh ingredients with real benefits for your skin. For example, research has shown that the level of antioxidants in coffee actually increase as it’s brewed. Antioxidants fight free radicals, which contribute to the signs of aging. So, it can be argued that the coffee brewing process makes the coffee even better for your skin. The performance of the ingredients within our skincare formulations is essential. No amount of pretty packaging or clever marketing can make up for a product that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do!

Can you share a little bit about UpCircle’s product offerings?

We’ve got a broad range that has products to suit all ages and all skin types, from gentle cleansers including our palm oil-free Chai Soaps and Apricot Cleansing Balm to detoxifying products like our Olive and Kaolin Clay Face Mask. We have products that you can use for a full skincare routine tailored for your specific skincare needs or skin type. We even create skincare bundles, which group together our top picks for different skincare concerns—two of the best-sellers are our Acne Bundle and our Sensitive Skin Bundle. Not only that, we also have a full range of plastic-free accessories which includes our best-selling Safety Razor, reusable Hemp Makeup Pads and biodegradable Bamboo Cotton Buds—plus lots more!

UpCircle Face Serum.

Is there a signature or most popular product?

That would have to be our certified organic Face Serum ($20)! It has won multiple awards and is our highest rated product. It’s made with antioxidant-rich coffee and rosehip oils, which fade dark spots and brighten the complexion. I think one of the reasons for its success is that it’s extremely reasonably priced. Only $20 for an 100% natural certified organic serum is pretty hard to come by.

It’s also very multidimensional as it’s suitable for all skin types—light enough for those with oily skin, whilst nourishing enough for dry skin too. Similarly, it can be used morning or evening. In the morning, you can use it to nourish and brighten the skin through the day. At night, it can be used to fight wrinkles and repair skin damage.

How does UpCircle help “close the loop” when it comes to making packaging sustainable?

I’ve spoken about our circular approach to ingredients, but we also treat packaging in the same way. As a brand designed entirely around circular economy principles and extending the life of by-product ingredients, it only makes sense for us to take the same approach with our packaging. 

Following the success of retailing our range in bulk packaging-free refill stores, a packaging return scheme for our own online store here in the UK was always the next check box for us to tick off. We’ve designed our packaging return scheme to be simple and streamlined. We want as many UpCirclers as possible to make use of the scheme, so we’ve ironed out any pain points! There’s a separate “Refills Collection” on our website where all prices are subject to a 20% discount vs. the usual retail price. We also automatically email a Freepost return label, so it’s as simple as could be! Circular ingredients, circular use of packaging. It just makes sense! We can’t wait to roll it out in other countries.

The reaction to the recent announcement of our new packaging return scheme was more than we could’ve predicted. The press coverage was incredible!!

What should we watch out for next?

The products that are set to launch before the end of the year include a Night Cream made with repurposed blueberry extract and a Hand + Body Wash and Lotion pair, which are infused with up-cycled kiwi and bergamot juice. We’ve also got a range of ocean-friendly tinted SPFs and a hand cream all lined up to launch before Christmas—we’re keeping very busy behind-the-scenes! We’re eager to be able to offer a full skincare offering to cater to whatever skincare concern you may have, so new product development is a big focus for us. We’re highly motivated to continue sourcing varied ingredients that are ending up being thrown away prematurely.

Some other by-product ingredients that we’re experimenting with include flower petals from the floristry industry which we’d like to use in bath products and gin distillery by-products that we’d like to use in a Hand Sanitizer. Lots to look forward to!

As if this isn’t enough, we’re also relaunching our candles and our face scrubs with new and improved plastic-free packaging and a fresh new look. Our candles for example have been renamed as “Chai Latte” and “Espresso Martini” to echo the repurposed drinks industry by-products that they are infused with, namely coffee grounds collected from cafes and brewed chai spices that were originally used to make chai syrups!

[Images courtesy of UpCircle]

Lizzy Sherman is an award-winning digital content writer/editor. She has been a featured guest speaker at Cal State University Northridge, Digital LA and The National Association of Audience Marketing Professionals. When she's not writing, Lizzy enjoys yoga and playing guitar. Follow her on Instagram: @zillizy