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Meet our startup: Closing the loop on sustainable beauty care with Beautyfil

Finnish startup Beautyfil has developed a planet-conscious concept to provide in-store refills of natural beauty products in reusable aluminium bottles.

The popularity of soaps and shampoos made from natural ingredients has never been higher. Yet these products still typically come in the same disposable plastic bottles as their mass-market counterparts. It’s a lost opportunity for sustainability. Beautyfil is now stepping into this gap in the market.

Anna Krazhan, Beautyfil
Anna Krazhan, Beautyfil CEO and founder

The company has developed a way for people to get natural body wash, shampoo and conditioner in reusable aluminium bottles from zero-waste refill stations in stores. You simply step up to the machine, select the product you want, and it’s dispensed into a correctly labelled aluminium bottle that you can use again and again.

The concept is the brainchild of CEO and founder Anna Krazhan, who started the company together with her husband. Both have considerable experience from fast moving consumer goods industries.

“We wanted to create something that would have a positive environmental impact and start transforming people’s mindsets in the right direction,” says Krazhan. 

“Research shows that some 20% of people are mindful shoppers who are prepared to go one step further in terms of changing their behaviors. These are the people we are appealing to.”

Only natural ingredients

Beautyfil is sourcing its products from a specialized organic producer that uses natural ingredients like sea buckthorn, and has based its processes on cruelty-free production.

“We searched hard to find a producer that really knows their craft and cares about what goes into their products,” says Krazhan. 

“We’re starting with body wash, shampoo and conditioner, as these are the three products that have the most traction with self-care. But the refill stations are also able to carry face wash and body creams,” she says.

The stations are less than two meters wide and a meter deep – putting valuable retail space to good use. They leave no residue and meet all relevant hygiene standards. 

Beautyfil is currently building a prototype that will be ready in 2022, and the company is already talking to several of the largest Finnish and Swedish retailers about getting the concept into their stores.

Going to market

Beautyfil was selected to join the Aalto Startup Center in April 2021. Krazhan says the experience has been helpful in many ways. 

“Through Aalto we are getting access to the R&D expertise we need – specifically for the design and production of the aluminium bottles – as well as training in entrepreneurship,” she says. “The university is also helping us with pushing our concept out into the broader Nordic region.”

“The market for this is huge – we can be anywhere. It’s just a matter of desire and of people being open to change.”


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