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This guide is here to help set your brand up for success working with Sephora. To obtain Sephora’s Clean + Planet Aware seal, brands must meet guidelines in four areas: Sustainable Ingredient Sourcing and Formulation, Sustainable Packaging, Corporate Commitments, and Consumer Transparency.

In this guide, you’ll find an overview of Sephora’s sustainable packaging requirements, overall impact goals, inspiration for updating your packaging, and more.

For individual guidance about creating sustainable packaging that stands out at Sephora, contact us, and we’ll be happy to help.

Table of Contents

• At a Glance: Ulta Beauty’s Sustainability Goals
• About Ulta Beauty
• Deeper Dive: Ulta Beauty’s ESG Impact Initiatives
• Packaging Requirements for Ulta’s Conscious Beauty Brands
• Other Sustainable Packaging Initiatives
• Frequently Asked Questions About Ulta Beauty
• Sustainable Packaging Inspiration for Beauty Brands
• How EcoEnclose Helps Brands Working With Ulta Beauty
• Additional Resources

Sephora has no general sustainable packaging goals for the brands it stocks. Instead, it has established Clean + Planet Aware seals for brands that meet strict guidelines.

Unlike other retailers like Ulta Beauty and Target, Sephora requires that brands meet all must-have criteria and a certain number of additional criteria before receiving their seal.

There are three seals within Sephora’s sustainability initiatives:

Clean at Sephora Seal

Requires brands to be free from ingredients on their formulated without a list, which is regularly updated based on new research. Prohibited ingredients include formaldehyde and mineral oil. 

Brands with this seal include:

• Drunk Elephant
• The INKEY List
• Farmacy
• Tatcha
• innisfree

Planet Aware Seal

Requires brands to meet sustainable ingredient sourcing and formulation requirements, sustainable packaging, corporate commitments, and consumer transparency.

Brands with this seal include:

• Briogeo
• Ceremonia
• Amika
• The Rootist
• Nette

Clean + Planet Aware Seal

Granted to brands that align with both the Clean and Planet Aware programs. Brands must comply with a minimum of 32 mandatory criteria plus a certain number of additional criteria.

Brands with this seal include:

• Glow Recipe
• Skinfix
• Caudalie
• Herbivore
• The Outset

The responsible packaging portion of their Planet Aware program includes requirements under three main topics: reduce packaging, drive circular models, and use more sustainable packaging materials.

These seals are placed at the brand level, rather than the sub-brand or product level, reflecting Sephora’s desire to promote a commitment to holistic brand practices and improving transparency for customers.

Over 25% of Sephora’s Europe and US sales come from products with seals in their Clean, Planet Aware, or Clean + Planet Aware lines.

EcoEnclose is well-positioned to help brands design their packaging in ways that align with Sephora’s Clean + Planet Positive packaging framework. Reach out to us if you’d like support:

• Reduction: Eliminate components, find ways to achieve your functional and aesthetic goals with lower-weight materials and reduce material weight or thickness.

• Recycled Content: Get to 100% recycled poly films, paperboard, and pouch material.

• Recyclability and Recyclability Labeling: Minimizing unrecyclable materials, making different materials easy to separate, and helping secure How2Recycle® labeling.

Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products. The company stocks over 340 brands and its private label, Sephora Collection.

Sephora carries more than 45,000 curated products across categories like:

• Cosmetics
• Skincare
• Body Care
• Fragrance
• Nail Color
• Beauty Tools
• Body Lotions
• Haircare

Sephora’s North American headquarters is in New York City, with corporate offices in San Francisco and Montréal. They currently operate over 500 stores across the Americas, with more than 2,700 locations worldwide.

Sephora has a cult-like following among its fans, who have come to expect the retailer to be among the first to carry the latest beauty trends. Getting stocked at Sephora can be a significant inflection point in the growth trajectory of a small brand.

While it appears that Sephora has had specific goals around sustainability, community, and ethics in the past, there are no exact goals listed on its website at this time. 

Instead, their current communication talks about broad topical commitments and their progress in these spheres of sustainability and positive impact. 

The three general areas of impact include:

While Sephora does not appear to have strict sustainable packaging requirements for approval to be sold in their stores, they have a Clean + Planet Aware Seal for brands making efforts to make their packaging more sustainable. They encourage brands to strive to meet these requirements and highlight qualifying brands in their Buying Guides. 

Dozens of brands currently bear this seal, including:

• Caudalie
• Farmacy
• Biossance
• Youth to the People
• Sephora Collection
• Tata Harper
• Selfless by Hyram
• REN
• Herbivore
• Alpyn Beauty
• The 7 Virtues
• Prima
• Maison Louis Marie
• Susteau
• Saie
• Athr Beauty
• Ellis Brooklin
• Briogeo

To obtain a Clean + Planet Aware seal, brands must meet 32 Must-Have Criteria across four areas: Sustainable Ingredient Sourcing and Formulation, Sustainable Packaging, Corporate Commitments, and Consumer Transparency.

There are also additional criteria, and brands must meet a certain number depending on their product lines and size. 

The Clean + Planet Aware standards are fairly rigorous and include the following mandatory “Must-Have” Criteria.

Sephora x Novi Connect

Sephora has partnered with Novi Connect, a procurement and supply chain software solution, to track supplier efforts and data against these standards. However, some have critiqued Sephora’s lack of investment in actively auditing its brands against these standards.

Source: Sephora

In May 2023, Sephora teamed up with the nonprofit Pact Collective to roll out the Beauty (Re)Purposed recycling program at more than 600 stores across the U.S. and Canada. The program allows consumers to give a second life to hard-to-recycle beauty and wellness packaging waste. 

Pact bins are located in Sephora stores (excluding Kohl’s Sephora). Customers can drop off these clean, empty packages: 

• Plastic bottles + jars smaller than a fist
• Plastic + aluminum squeezable tubes
• Ceramic + porcelain containers
• Colored glass bottles and jars
• Caps + closures
• Pumps + dispensers
• Droppers + applicators
• Compacts + palettes
• Lipstick/lip gloss tubes + applicators
• Mascara tubes + wand
• Plastic pencil components for eye/lip liner + brow pencils
• Toothpaste tubes + dental floss containers
• Silicone containers
• Pouches

Through Pact, these items are mechanically recycled, chemically recycled, or converted into energy - recognizing that waste-to-energy is the least preferred alternative and is not a true form of recycling. 

It is important to note that packaging that can be recycled through the Pact partnership - but is not “readily recyclable” through curbside or thin-film recycling - does not qualify for certification through the Clean + Planet Aware Label at Sephora. 

While working to meet Sephora’s Clean + Planet Aware standards, we also encourage brands to consider: 

• Maximizing recycled content across all materials, especially post-consumer content

• Choosing responsibly sourced and/or certified virgin inputs when required

• Designing for ready recyclability, including curbside and thin film recycling

• Avoiding "compostable" plastic packaging that is rarely environmentally preferable

• Evaluating opportunities for reusable packaging thoughtfully

• Reducing waste through swaps like zero waste label release liners

• Piloting innovative materials like Black Algae Ink or Seaweed Film Windows

Sephora does not have any specific sustainable packaging requirements for selling products in their stores.

However, they do have rigorous requirements for brands that want to qualify for the Planet Aware or Clean + Planet Aware Seal. These requirements span several categories:

• Reduce packaging
• Drive circular models
• Use more sustainable materials

 Some of the requirements apply at the brand level, while others only affect products launched starting in 2024.

Sephora partners with Pact to take back and recycle hard-to-recycle beauty empties. They now have “Beauty RePurposed” collection bins at 56% of storefronts. These empties are then sent to Pact for either chemical, mechanical, or waste-to-energy recycling.

Sephora has banned four chemical categories in packaging, effective December 31, 2025.

• Halogenous compounds: PFAS, PFOS, PTFE, etc.
• Bisphenols: BPA, PBDE, etc.
• Silver Salts: Silver, silver chloride, silver nitrate, etc.
• Mineral Oils: MOSH, MOAH, etc.

Beyond these ingredients, the company requires brands seeking the Planet Aware seal to eliminate packaging materials that are toxic to ecosystems but has not currently elaborated on specific materials to remove.

Sephora does not require third-party certifications to sell products in their stores. However, some of the Clean + Planet Aware requirements at Sephora align well with third-party certifications like Cruelty-Free, How2Recycle, or FSC®.

Clean at Sephora seal. Source: Sephora

The "Clean at Sephora" seal is for brands that meet a specific set of ingredient standards and be free from certain substances like:

• Phthalates
• Formaldehyde
• Mineral oil
• Insoluble plastic microbeads

Minimal trace amounts are allowed, but the overall formulation must align with Sephora’s Formulated Without List. The company regularly updates its list of excluded ingredients and priority chemicals.

Planet Aware at Sephora seal. Source: Sephora

The “Planet Aware at Sephora” seal is for brands that have met specific criteria for ingredient sourcing and formulation, packaging, environmental commitments, and consumer transparency.

Clean + Planet Aware at Sephora seal. Source: Sephora

The “Clean + Planet Aware at Sephora” seal is reserved for brands that meet the requirements of both the Clean at Sephora and Planet Aware at Sephora categories. There are 32+ mandatory criteria, as well as additional criteria for each category that apply in certain scenarios.

Sephora uses Range Me to manage new product submissions. To get started, brands should create a profile and register their products. Sephora merchants will then review the products and contact brands directly for next steps.

Is your brand currently working with Sephora or actively looking to be carried at Sephora?

EcoEnclose can help you develop retail packaging solutions that meet their sustainability guidelines and help you put your best foot forward - so you can stand out to conscious beauty customers on-shelf and online.

Here are specific ways we’ve helped supplier brands for Sephora:

Reduction

One of Sephora’s biggest responsible packaging pushes related to source reduction of material and elimination of unnecessary packaging components.

EcoEnclose works closely with your brand to review your packaging to identify opportunities to eliminate components, find ways to achieve your functional and aesthetic goals with lower-weight materials, and reduce material weight or thickness.

Recycled Content

Sephora focuses on maximizing post-consumer waste, and there are many ways to do so!

EcoEnclose can help you get to 100% recycled poly films, paperboard, and pouch material.

Recyclability

Designing for maximum recyclability typically means creating packaging out of readily recyclable mono-materials (paperboard, glass, aluminum, PE, and PET plastics) or - when two materials are needed - making it easy for them to be separated.

EcoEnclose reviews your secondary packaging and replaces existing non-recyclable designs with readily and widely recyclable options.

How2Recycle® Labeling

With Sephora’s commitment to clear recyclability labeling, EcoEnclose helps brands navigate the How2Recycle® request and labeling process.

Our unique Sustainable Packaging Framework helps streamline decision-making, and our rigorous standards for all products ensure your packaging goes well beyond the sustainability requirements set by Sephora. We leverage our experience working with hundreds of brands, from the smallest startups to the most robust enterprise brands, to help you create a packaging strategy that works.

To get started, you can request free samples, explore our extensive resource library, or get in touch for a free consultation.

• Sephora: Clean at Sephora
• Sephora: Formulated Without List
• Sephora: Public Chemical Policy
• Sephora: What are Clean + Planet Aware standards?
• Cosmetics & Toiletries: Sephora x Pact Collective Launch Packaging Collection Program in US, Canada
• Glossy: Sephora Is Expanding Its Take-Back and Refillables Programs
• The Wellness Feed: Breaking Down Sephora’s Sustainable Packaging

EcoEnclose is the leading sustainable packaging company that provides eco-packaging solutions to the world’s most forward-thinking brands.

We develop diverse, sustainable packaging solutions that meet our rigorous research-based standards and customers’ goals. We drive innovative packaging materials to market and consistently improve the circularity of existing solutions.