You should never bin your empty beauty products because most of the time, you can actually turn them into money.
recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC is a recycling scheme for your empty beauty products including makeup, skincare, perfume bottles, samples and sachets. We’ll go through what beauty empties can and can’t be recycled by LOOKFANTASTIC later on in this article.
According to the British Beauty Council, only 9% of cosmetic packaging is recycled which is a pretty shocking number. However, the reason this number is so low is because a lot of beauty packaging can’t actually be recycled due to the materials used.
So that’s where beauty recycling schemes like LOOKFANTASTIC’s recycle:me come in, who turn these hard-to-recycle materials like beauty sponges and mascaras into other products to save them from ending up in landfill.
In this article, I’m going to take you through what LOOKFANTASTIC recycle:me is, how it works, items that can and can’t be recycled and my top tips to really maximise your earnings. By the end, you’ll feel confident to start recycling and turning those beauty empties into money!
What is recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC?
LOOKFANTASTIC recycle:me is a free recycling scheme for your beauty and fragrance empties.
Lots of makeup, skincare and fragrance products are hard to recycle in your home bins, so LOOKFANTASTIC created their recycle:me scheme for you to recycle your beauty empties to give them a second life and keep them out of landfill.
As a bonus, you’ll actually be rewarded by LOOKFANTASTICfor using their recycle:me scheme with LF Beauty+ Plus Points so you can save money on your LookFantastic future purchases.
You need to recycle a minimum of 5 empties to receive £5 worth of Beauty Plus+ Points to your LOOKFANTASTICaccount.
Beauty recycling schemes like Recycle at Boots and recycle:me have been growing in popularity over the last few years which I think is brilliant. I love that companies are putting systems in place to make recycling empty beauty products accessible and easy for us, it’s raising much needed awareness and you’re being rewarded with points for doing so. It’s a win-win situation!
How recycle:me Works
You’ll be surprised by just how easy it is to use recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC and the best part is, you don’t even need to leave your house!
If you know me, you know I love explaining things thoroughly so I’m going to break this down step-by-step for you. I just like making sure you have all of the details you need so you can read this guide and then start recycling your beauty empties with recycle:me straight away.
So, are you ready and we’ll get started? Let’s get recycling!
1. How to Get The recycle:me app
First of all, you need to get the LookFantastic recycling app on your phone.
- Download the THG recycle:me app – it’s totally free!
- Create an account on the app. If you have a LOOKFANTASTIC account already, use the same email address so it can link the points you earn to your existing account.
That’s step 1 done – I told you it was easy! Okay, now let’s move to step 2.
2. How to Recycle Empty Beauty, Makeup, Skincare and Fragrance Products
You’ve got the app, so now we can upload your empties on the recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC app.
- Grab at least 5 empty, clean recyclables.
- Tap ‘Add Recyclable‘ and take a clear photo of one of your empty beauty products with the brand and product name shown (you don’t need to show the barcode).
- Label your item with the ‘Brand‘ from the drop-down list. You can use the search function at the top to find the brand name.
- Select the ‘Category‘ from the list, then select the ‘Form‘ of the product from the images.
- Submit your recyclable and it will be reviewed within 24 hours Monday-Friday, excluding public holidays.
- You can view the status of your empties in the ‘Recyclables‘ tab where you’ll see approved, pending and rejected.
Repeat the above process for all of your empties. You’ll need to upload at least eligible 5 empty products as that’s the minimum you can send back at once to get your £5 worth of LOOKFANTASTIC Beauty Plus+ Points.
If a product is not listed in point 3 or 4 above, then it means it is not eligible for the reward. In step 4 below, I’ll take you through what items can and cannot be recycled with recycle:me a little further down in this article.
The team are usually pretty quick to review submissions – I submitted 5 items on a Tuesday afternoon and they were all approved within an hour so it just depends how busy they are that day, but allow up to 24 working hours.
3. How To Send Back Your Empties to recycle:me
Once your recyclables are approved on the recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC app, you need to arrange to send them back. Luckily, you don’t even need to leave your house to do this so it’s super easy to recycle your beauty empties and make a difference to the planet.
- On the recycle:me app homepage, tap ‘Recycle Now‘.
- Choose either ‘Collection‘ or ‘Drop Off‘ as your shipment method – it’s handled by Royal Mail.
- For Collection, choose your address and collection time.
- For Drop Off, choose Post Office or Recycling Point.
- Select at least 5 recyclables from your approved list.
- Package them up in any packaging you have – keep in mind the maximum dimensions and weight which are shown on the submission page. For Collection, Royal Mail will bring a label with them.
- Check all of the Collection/Drop Off details are correct, then Submit.
And that’s it! It’s pretty easy to recycle your beauty empties with LOOKFANTASTIC, isn’t it?
After you’ve submitted, if you’d like to check any of the details of your deposit, just go to the ‘Recycle Now!‘ tab to view it.
4. How To Redeem Your £5 Points Reward
You’ve shipped your empty beauty products with LOOKFANTASTIC’s recycling app and now it’s reward time – woohoo!
Within 14 days of your beauty recyclables being received, you’ll get £5 worth of Beauty Plus+ Points (which is 500 Points) added to your LOOKFANTASTIC account. You can use these 500 points to spend on whatever you’d like on LookFantastic’s website – here’s how:
- Log into your LOOKFANTASTIC account and navigate to the LF Beauty Plus+ area.
- You’ll see the Points you have available to redeem and Credit options from £5-£25.
- Select the amount you’d like to redeem and this will be added to your account as Credit.
- Add the item(s) you’d like to your basket and apply your Credit voucher at the basket.
Psst! There’s also 15+ ways you can save money at LOOKFANTASTIC so make sure you’re maximising your savings on all of your purchases.
What I love about this LOOKFANTASTIC recycling scheme, is your Points are available for 12 months giving you plenty of time to use them. Once you’ve converted your Points to a Credit voucher, you’ll then have 30 days to use your Credit voucher to save money on your purchase – so I’d suggest only converting your Points into the voucher when you want to use them.
What Items You Can Recycle at recycle:me
I’ve said a few times that you can recycle beauty products such as skincare, makeup, fragrance, samples and sachets, but what exactly is included? Let’s go through the list together of what’s actually included to give you a better idea.
The LOOKFANTASTICrecycling scheme is aimed at hard-to-recycle products, which means items that you can’t put in any of your council bins at home.
To give you an idea, the products I included in my most recent recycle:me deposit was a mascara tube, roll on deodorant, pressed powder, mini cleanser and face cream – you can see a photo of these below. Here’s some other examples of items you can recycle at LookFantastic:
- After shave creams, balms, gels and lotions
- Body mists (non aerosol)
- Deodorant cases, roll ons, samples, sticks, tubes, tubs and non aerosol sprays
- Eyebrow gels, serums and waxes
- Face mask and body mask packets
- Fragrance bottles (that are decorated with plastic)
- Fragrance minis
- Hairbrushes and combs
- Lipsticks, lip stains and lipliners
- Makeup brushes and sponges
- Makeup jars, tubs, pots and tubes
- Makeup pallets and compacts without a mirror
- Mascaras
- Perfumes
- Refill pouches
- Samples and sachets
- Shampoo and conditioner tubes, with pumps or under 40mm wide
- Shower gel and body wash tubes, with pumps or under 40mm wide
- Skincare jars, tubs, pots, tubes and compacts
- Travel sizes
And there’s a whole bunch of other products you can recycle too! For the full list, go to the recycle:me app then the ‘Account’ tab then ‘Eligible Products’ and you can search for the product category and form.
To help you determine if a beauty product is classed as hard-to-recycle, check if it has these numbers or materials on the packaging:
- 3 – PVC
- 4 – LDPE
- 6 – PS
- 7 – Other
What Items Cannot Be Recycled at recycle:me
As the recycle:me scheme is aimed at hard-to-recycle empties only, there’s lots of items that are not included as these can usually be recycled in your council bins at home.
I’d suggest looking at these recycling symbols to know what can and can’t go in your bins at home. I wasn’t actually aware what some of these symbols even meant so I learnt something writing this article! I’d suggest you take a couple of minutes to have a look to familiarise yourself with them too.
Items that are not included for recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC are:
- Any plastic packaging that is labelled as recyclable or widely recyclable
- Aerosols
- Cardboard or paper packaging
- Dental products (see my Recycle at Boots guide if you have dental items)
- Electronic goods
- Food waste or non-beauty items
- Glass containers
- Medicines
- Full size shampoo and conditioner bottles without pumps
- Full size shower gel and body wash bottles without pumps
Additionally, if an item has one of these symbols it cannot be recycled with recycle:me:
- 1 – PET
- 2 – HDPE
- 5 – PP
If you’re unsure if your item can or cannot be recycled, you can try uploading it on the recycle:me app anyway. There’s a drop down list when you’re uploading your item and if the item is not on that list then it’s not available for recycling with LOOKFANTASTIC.
The LookFantastic team manually review all uploads to the app, so if you’ve entered any of your items details incorrectly or the item isn’t eligible, then it will be rejected and show in the ‘Rejected’ tab on the app.
My Top Tips For Recycling With recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC
Now you know how to use LOOKFANTASTIC recycling app, here’s some of my bonus top tips so you can maximise your savings.
Once you’ve finished using an eligible beauty product, pop it in a bag or box in the cupboards that’s just for your empties. This means you always have a pile of empty skincare, makeup or fragrance products waiting for when you’re ready to upload them to the recycle:me app.
If you live with other people, ask them to get involved with recycle:me too so they can save some money. Or if they’re not interested, just pinch their empties for yourself! That’s what I do – I’ll often pinch my husband’s empties or my mum’s when I go over to her house and pop them in my bag in the cupboard at home to save them ending up in landfill.
Be organised and scan and deposit your recyclables in advance. This means when you have a last minute purchase to make from LOOKFANTASTIC, you have your Beauty Plus+ Points waiting for you on your account so you can redeem them to save money. Remember, Points+ could take up to 14 days to be added to your account and they’re valid for 12 months so being organised will really help you maximise your earnings/savings!
Make sure you’re getting the best deal on the beauty products you’re buying – I’ve got a guide with over 15 ways you can save money at LOOKFANTASTIC.
Have you been using recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC app? Let me know how you’ve found using it and how much money you’ve made from it so far!
What Happens To recycle:me Products After Depositing?
Good question and I’m glad you asked! All recyclables from recycle:me are passed onto MYGroup which is LOOKFANTASTIC’s recycling partner based based in the UK who offer full traceability.
Hard-to-recycle materials such as mascara tubes, eyeliners, face mask packets and makeup sponges unfortunately can’t pass through traditional recycling routes. However, they can be processed by MYGroup to become other products like street furniture or shop fittings, or even MYBoard which is an alternative to wooden plyboard used by many joiners, shop fitters and builders. You can find out more information on their website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Times Can I Deposit On recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC?
You can use recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC up to 4 times per month and create 1 shipment or deposit per day. So you can be rewarded a maximum of 4 times per month which is £20 worth of points! It was previously up to 8 times per month, but this was changed on 1st April 2025 to up to 4 times per month.
Why Should I Use recycle:me Instead Of Household Bins?
Lots of beauty, skincare, makeup and fragrance products can’t be recycled in your bins at home which means they can end up in landfill. By using a recycling scheme such as Recycle at Boots or recycle:me, you’re doing your bit for the planet and giving these beauty empties a new lease of life, whilst also being rewarded for it.
How Many Empty Beauty Products Can I Send Back To recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC?
You need a minimum of 5 empty beauty products per recycle:me deposit to earn your £5 reward. However you can actually send back up to 10 products per package. You’ll be given 1 reward per recycle:me submission, so if you send back 10 items in one package you’ll only get 1 reward.
How Long Do I Have To Use My recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC Reward?
Your Points will be added to your LOOKFANTASTIC account within 14 days of receiving of your recycle:me deposit. You’ll then 12 months to use your Points. To use them, you just need to convert your Points into a Credit voucher and you’ll have 30 days to use this voucher at the checkout to save money on your LOOKFANTASTIC purchase.
Is There A Minimum Spend To Use My recycle:me Reward?
You’ll be rewarded with £5 worth of LOOKFANTASTIC Points for using recycle:me and the minimum number of Points you can redeem on an order is £5. You just convert your Points into Credit and redeem this Credit at the checkout within 30 days.
How Do I Check My LOOKFANTASTIC Beauty Plus+ Points Balance?
You can check your Beauty Plus+ Points balance at any time in your LOOKFANTASTIC account. Just log into your account on the LOOKFANTASTIC website, tap the ‘Account’ icon then ‘Your LF Beauty Plus+’ to see your Points balance, your Points history and pending Points.
Have you got another question about using recycle:me at LOOKFANTASTIC? Just pop your question in the comments below and I’ll get back to you.