Plastic waste is becoming an incredibly insurmountable problem, with cosmetic packaging being one of its largest components. To solve the problem, Mi Zhou designed a solution that gives the packaging more function than just being a disposable outer vessel. “Product packaging has always been thrown away, no matter how well-designed or what material it is made of,” said Zhou. “I want to re-evaluate what packaging could be as well as help us to reduce our plastic footprint.”

Zhou’s solution is Soapack, an innovative series of liquid soap bottles, made from soap themselves. The solid outer bottle holds the liquids inside, and can eventually be used as soap once you’re done with it, leaving you with absolutely zero waste. The bottles are designed to look luxurious and desirable too, relying on soap’s inherent translucency along with beautiful perfume-bottle-inspired forms and a soft pastel color palette.

Bottles for the Soapack are formed by pouring vegetable oil-based soap into a mold. The insides of the bottles are coated with a layer of natural beeswax to prevent the liquid soap from interacting with and dissolving the solid soap bottle. The Soapack bottles can be either placed on cabinets, or even in a soap tray, and used as you go. With its perfume-bottle-inspired forms and a glass-like wall-thickness, Soapack was envisioned to look more appealing than traditional liquid soap and shampoo bottles made from plastic. The object was to create something so beautiful that users bought them and cherished them, eventually opting for a more sustainable lifestyle in the process. The bottles come with soap stoppers too, mimicking antique perfume designs, and are devoid of any label, barring a single tag that hangs from the bottle’s neck… and guess what, that’s made from soap too!

Designer: Mi Zhou