We are excited to share one of our latest partnerships within the personal care universe, with re:love – a cosmetics company transforming what’s left from coffee into high-performing, organic skincare products by giving spent coffee grounds a new life. All of this by using Kaffe Bueno's Upcycled ingredients (Kaffoil and Kaffibre) derived from the spent coffee grounds, using green chemistry and biotechnology.
“Using upcycled coffee grounds and coffee oil in our beauty routines has a positive effect on our skin, the economy as well as our environment.” - Elnura Ashimova, re:love founder.
Kaffe Bueno [KB] had a chat with Elnura [EA] to learn more about why re:love was created, how it benefits people, the planet and the industry, and what products re:love is launching.
KB: What decision came first, creating natural products using coffee or use coffee to create natural products?
EA: I think it was both.
I discovered a coffee scrub-making-ritual for myself a few years ago and started making them for friends and family. During my pregnancy, I recognized as a new mom that I was limited to using many products due to the lack of natural availability. I started researching many ingredients, and found out that spent coffee grounds have even more skin benefits than I was aware of. Being a coffee-lover myself & clean beauty enthusiast I full heartedly stand behind our products with the mission to reach as many people as possible to try and turn to natural products.
KB: How do you ensure being environmentally friendly and natural, not only in regard to the ingredients used but throughout your whole value chain?
EA: Our products are made in Germany, and we try to use ingredients that grow mostly locally within the EU with a few exceptions. For instance, we decided not to use coconut oil as a base for our scrubs, we use sweet almond oil instead. By producing locally and using minimalistic formulations we want to raise awareness for less CO-2 emission & sustainability. And of course, by using spent coffee grounds in our products we are proud to inspire others to join the circular beauty movement and fight waste in the beauty industry.
KB: Why should consumers choose re:love products over cheaper, effective synthetics?
EA: Products that contain synthetic chemicals are easily absorbed into the human body and can be skin irritants, skin penetrators, endocrine disruptors, and can even cause cancer. Whereas synthetics are able to preserve the products and keep them in a certain shape, unfortunately, many of them are not safe for our health in the long term. In our formulations, you won’t find any preservatives because we put health first. Plus, Kaffee Bueno’s Oil that we use in our face oil contains high levels of tocopherols which is also known as Vitamin E, providing a natural preservation effect which we are proud of.
Our products are minimalistic, vegan, cruelty-free, and mindfully formulated using high-quality oils. We refrain from using synthetic colorants, fragrances, and preservatives, mineral oils, silicone oils, and microplastics. We put your health first.
KB: Where do you see the upcycled beauty in 10 years and your role in it?
EA: Upcycled Beauty is just beginning its journey but already getting a lot of attention even from big players in the beauty industry. I think there are a few other factors that co-shape the upcycled beauty movement, such as zero-waste beauty, sustainable packaging, or carbon-neutral production. There’s still so much to be done, but there are some very inspiring initiatives in the beauty and personal care space right now that will move the upcycled beauty forward.
We’re excited to see that consumers are taking more responsibility for their health and the beauty industry is becoming more transparent.
I’m positive that in 10 years by-product beauty formulations will be an easier and more accessible choice for everyone. And that by-product formulations could become certified ‘upcycled’ in the future and just as commonplace and well-known as ‘organic.’
We hope to co-shape the circular beauty movement with other initiatives in this space. And one of our important tasks is educating consumers that naturally sourced ingredients, including the ones we consume (by-product), are better for our skin and can be creatively reused.
KB: Why did you decide to use Kaffe Bueno upcycled ingredients?
EA: Being a startup ourselves, we’re excited to partner up with fellow entrepreneurs and such an impactful startup as Kaffe Bueno. For us, it was important to make sure to source high-quality, certified ingredients, backed by studies & research. Kaffe Bueno’s products are Cosmos Ecocert certified ingredients that comply with all quality standards set by ECHA. Every batch is controlled by running the microbiological analysis to ensure there is no cross-contamination. We also like the fact that Kaffe Bueno has done numerous proprietary studies on coffee oil which serves as proof for anti-ageing efficacy, moisturizing, and skin-barrier enhancing properties.
And we‘re happy to see the progress that Kaffe Bueno has achieved so far within circular beauty and sustainability.
KB: Anything else you’d like to add?
EA: Thank you for the opportunity to share our message with you.
We’re excited to finally launch this year!
We’re thankful to all our supporters and partners that have accompanied us on our journey so far. We think that change can only happen when we work on it together.
Get re:love cosmetics products HERE.