Who will refill my cosmetics bottles?

December 13, 2007 3:09 AM

Is there anywhere in the UK that will refill empty cosmetics bottles? You used to be able to take empty bottles back to The Body Shop to be refilled from jumbo tubs behind the counter, but since they stopped I've never found anywhere else that does it.

I know you can get plastic bottles recycled, but the recycling process itself uses up energy, and it just seems so stupid to stick a perfectly good empty bottle that I've only had for a couple of weeks in the recycling bin then go buy another identical one full of product. I'm particularly looking for shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, but also interested in anything else.

posted by penguin pie to Shopping (5 answers total)

I don't think it's exactly what you're after, but you can often get Ecover refills from health food shops. Ecover is more related to cleaning products, though their shower gel/shampoo is lovely.
posted by Solomon at 4:19 AM on December 13, 2007

Best answer: Lush encourages container re-use. There's a little blurb about their philosophy towards packaging here.
posted by sanitycheck at 4:59 AM on December 13, 2007

Possibly Aveda? I vaguely remember something about it, but no love on their website.

If you're using up shampoo in a couple of weeks, maybe buy in larger containers to begin with, or use less product? I get 1-liter bottles of shampoo and conditioner and they last through about 300 washings.
posted by libraryhead at 6:42 AM on December 13, 2007

I don't know if they do this in the new Whole Foods in London, but in all the Whole Foods I'm familiar with you can buy or bring in your own containers (they will even weigh them first for you so you don't get charged for container weight), and then fill them with bulk lotion, conditioner, or shampoo.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:06 PM on December 13, 2007

Have you thought about buying some of these products in bulk yourself then offering a refilling service?
posted by Kioki-Silver at 2:30 PM on December 13, 2007