Pick up any bottle of shampoo, and you’ll notice the top ingredient is something you’ve already got coming out of your taps at home: water. According to chemicals company Univar Solutions, a typical bottle of shower gel or shampoo contains 95% water – or “aqua” as it’s known in the cosmetics industry. If you want to lather up and rinse off, even more water needs to be added. And it’s not just our bathroom cabinets that are guzzling water. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, cleaning products are also 90% water.

The problem? Cosmetic, household and other products that contain large volumes of water need strong packaging that won’t disintegrate (normally made from plastic) and are bulky to transport. In other words, they’re not very environmentally friendly. Now brands are experimenting what happens when you remove the water altogether – creating innovative alternatives which they say have significantly lower carbon footprints. Just don’t forget to rehydrate.