Featured image for Dove Launches Refillable Deodorant

Dove Launches Refillable Deodorant

by Bill McCool on 01/06/2021 | 3 Minute Read

Refillable deodorant is all the rage, and plenty of millennial-Gen Z chasing DTC brands have reeled in consumer dollars with beautiful design (and a higher price point). But many of the largest brands are still packaging their wares in plastic and have yet to catch up with the cool kids.

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Now, Unilever’s Dove is working alongside A Plastic Planet to reduce their plastic footprint and introducing a refillable deodorant, a first for the iconic brand. Joining ranks with the “refillution” —not my pun, promise—Dove believes they can remove as much as 300 tonnes of plastic waste by the year 2023, and they’ll do it with a beautiful, stainless steel container. Ergonomic and durable, the vessel carries Dove’s logo and looks exactly like the kind of article from the FUTURE you want gracing your bathroom sink with its sleek industrial design. Better still, you can actually buy it from a store many people go to, as the newest deodorant will be available from retailers like Target and Walmart.

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Dove worked with A Plastic Planet and Dutch design consultancy VanBerlo to select the materials used for the packaging. The refills use 54% less plastic than the brand's Zero stick packaging, and they plan to winnow this number down as they continue to make their products more sustainable. Additionally, the plastic utilized in the design comes from 98% recycled content.

The outer packaging puts the container front and center, making it the star of the show, along with a colored banner indicating the smell. And hey, looky there, they even promise one refill!

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“Imagine a world where nothing hits the bin, where we can use the products we love without the guilt of creating more waste,” said A Plastic Planet co-founder Sian Sutherland. “As one of the biggest beauty companies in the world, Dove recognizing this, and leading the way to make refillable personal care products widely available to all, is a major step forward for the beauty industry.”  

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“The ergonomic design, the smooth weight in your hand, elevates a simple everyday product to something of beauty and permanence,” she added. “Everything we make begins at the design phase, and this is a perfect example of how we can design differently in the future."  

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“Our refillable deodorant represents a new, more sustainable way of consumption, reinventing the daily deodorant for a planet in crisis,” said Augusto Garzon, Dove global vice president of deodorants. “Thanks to this sleek, minimalist design, we’ve created something more sustainable and more desirable.”