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This Zero Waste Eyeshadow Palette Leaves NOTHING Behind After You Hit Pan

by Kali Borovic

Just about every beauty lover has at least two makeup palettes in their collection. But have you ever wondered where they go, after you have hit pan? The answer would normally be to the landfill — but not anymore. Aether Beauty created the world's first zero waste eyeshadow palette, proving that you can look great and still help the planet.

Zero waste is having a moment. There's a bigger push than every to save items form the landfill and make the world a cleaner place. Although it's hardly the first product to be zero waste, it is the first eyeshadow palette to be created to be completely reused and recycled. The palette uses recycled paper, water-based inks, and takes out all the materials that make the typical shadow set un-recyclable.

"I've worked in the beauty industry for over 7 years and I just knew the industry could do better," Tiila Abbit, founder of Aether Beauty, tells Bustle. "I want to show what is actually possible since brands always want to appease their customer with beautiful packaging, but I believe you can still have beautiful packaging and be 100% recyclable. It's all about rolling up your sleeves and getting creative."

Up until now, the most Earth-friendly way to apply eyeshadow was to use individual pans. But even the Z-palettes that you put them in aren't recyclable. Aether Beauty decided to put a little more thought into the design, and create a 12-shade eyeshadow palette that can be completely recycled or reused.

Courtesy Aether Beauty

The Rose Quartz Crystal Gemstone Palette looks like your average eyeshadows at first glance. There's 12 gorgeous neutral-shade shadows that work well for everyday and can easily transition to nighttime. The only big difference between this palette and others is that it doesn't have a large mirror or magnetics to hold it shut.

"A little unknown fact is that mirror glass itself is not recyclable, so even if you were to pop your mirrors out of your makeup components, you would not be able to recycle the mirror. The same goes for magnets, they are not recyclable. Both of these products just end cycle products that unfortunately take a lot of environmental resources to create and just end up in landfills."

Other than taking out the un-recyclable products from the package, the brand went above and beyond to make this palette as eco-friendly as possible. The actual palette is made from recycled paper, the outside box is FSC certified paper, and everything as been printed with water-based soy ink. The pans can also be popped out and recycled after you hit pan.

The only part of the palette that isn't recyclable is the elastic band that holds the closes the product. The brand suggests using this as a hair-tie that won't pull your hair.

Courtesy Aether Beauty

Getting creative is something that Abbit knows a lot about. The founder of Aether Beauty has been working with Sephora for seven years. She's an award-winning makeup creator, who dreams up the best palettes for the brand. That combined with her love for the planet makes the perfect ingredients for the world's first zero-waste palette.

There really is no reason not to try out the product. Even the price is right around the same that you'd pay for a regular, non-recyclable palette. The entire palette is made and produced in California, and you can buy it right now on the Aether Beauty website for $58.

This is the first zero-waste beauty product from the brand, but there are plenty more on the way. According to Abbit, the entire year of launches is already scheduled out and ready to go. That includes another zero-waste eyeshadow palette for the holiday.

Courtesy Aether Beauty

This is bigger than just a new makeup launch. This is a product that is good for you, your beauty collection, and the Earth. Any brand can give you great color and pigmentation, but none other goes above and beyond like Aether Beauty.