PB Approved: Skincare Products Made From Collecting Coffee Ground Waste From Artisanal Coffee Shops In London: Check Out Upcircle Beauty

1. Names?
Anna & Will Brightman, siblings and co-founders of UpCircle Beauty (available at Ulta.com)

2. Where are you located?
We are based in London. It all started in 2015 when 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? A lot, as it turns out. We decided to do something about it. We needed a way to give those coffee grounds a new lease of life. Thus, UpCircle was born. We whizz all over London collecting coffee grounds from artisan coffee shops to turn into our sustainable skincare products.

3. Tell us about UpCircle Beauty and the brands launch at Ulta?
At UpCircle, we make skincare products, which are natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, palm oil-free, sustainable, handmade in the UK and housed in 100% recyclable packaging. We launched our range into more than 700 Ulta stores at the start of this year. It’s a huge step for us, and we couldn’t be more excited. Our launch with Ulta lets us get our products into a lot more people’s hands, which is wonderful.

4. What are the ingredients that you use?
We use the highest-quality ingredients, for the best possible results. As mentioned, our first products were made with repurposed coffee grounds. When coffee grounds are sent to landfills, they rot to produce methane (a greenhouse gas). Our coffee range has rescued over 250 tonnes of coffee from this fate. (Note: a tonne is a non-SI metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. In the U.S., it is known as a metric ton.)

Based on our current growth rates we estimate that we will have saved an additional 1000 tonnes in the next five years. Our palm oil-free soaps are made with residual chai tea spices left over after making chai tea. The UK produced 23,000 tonnes of fruit stone waste in 2012 alone, so we knew something had to be done there too. We’ve now released our “fruit stone range,” within which each product is made with the powder of a different discarded fruit stone. Nothing is safe from being UpCircled; only our imagination can limit us! Next up, we’re saving flower petals from florists and wedding venues.

5. What inspired you to launch the brand?
If we can provide competitively priced, high-performing products from upcycled ingredients then we are demonstrating that the beauty industry can become less wasteful. This is an innovative approach and a fresh perspective. It’s important to stand out and to shake things up! “Natural” is the new “normal”, so we go a step further with our waste-fighting formulations. What other beauty brand can claim that their products have saved literally hundreds of tonnes of valuable ingredients from ending up in landfills?

6. How are you sustainable and cruelty free?
We believe that all life is sacred. That’s why we use only the finest plant-based ingredients, and we never test on animals. Every UpCircle product is made with a core repurposed ingredient. We bring them back to life as beauty products your skin will love. Our brand name encapsulates our core purpose: sustainability and promoting the power of the circular economy. UpCircle also hints at ‘upcycling’, the process of making something better from things that already exist.

7. Why is this important to you?
Because we’ll never compromise on our mission to leave the world better than we found it. That’s the UpCircle promise.

8. Tell us about some of your products
Absolutely, I’ll pick two:

a. Our Clarifying Face Mask is made with the fine powder of discarded olive stones. Olive stones are a by-product of olive oil production, we source them from Benamejí (Andalucia) at the heart of the Spanish olive growing region. The olive powder is combined with rejuvenating white kaolin clay, coconut powder, and baobab oil. The olive powder acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory and a source of antioxidants. The presence of the powder in our face mask formulation helps to create its gorgeous texture. It has a light, mousse-like consistency and the powder helps with the ease with which it can be spread across the skin. Our Face Mask can be used to fight blackheads, minimize pores, and prevent breakouts, leaving the skin cleansed, refreshed, and balanced!

b. Our organic Face Serum with coffee oil is our best-seller. It’s a versatile oil, which is suitable for all skin types. It is delicately scented with geranium and rose essential oils, so you get all the benefits of coffee without an overpowering scent. High in caffeine and antioxidants, coffee oil fades dark spots and under-eye circles. The serum is packed with powerful actives, so it leaves you with soft, dewy, nourished skin.

9. I love your blog, tell us about some of your recent postings? What are they about?
Thank you, that’s great to hear! We like to share our ideas for making things better. At UpCircle, we’re not trying to save the world, or scold others for not doing more. We're never preachy about what we do. We're conversational and down to earth. That's why people listen to us, and it’s how we make an impact. We use our blog to share everything from waste-fighting tips. UpCircle guides and interviews people and brands who inspire us. We are all about back-to-basics, simple but effective natural skincare, and we encourage people to have a go at creating their own DIY skincare recipes; it’s a lot of fun. We share lots of our favorite skincare recipes on our blog; all of the ingredients you most likely have in your kitchen.

10. What is your motto in life?
To live without boundaries and always to be kind.