FORGO ‘just add water’ hand soap eliminates plastic

swedish design studio form us with love has launched a new subscription-based cosmetics brand that avoids plastic and minimises carbon emissions. called FORGO, the brand’s first product is a mix-it-yourself hand soap in the form of concentrated powder.

images courtesy of form us with love

the powder contains the essential ingredients needed to turn regular tap water into a full bottle of foaming hand wash. a single sachet contains 12 grams of powder and makes 250 millilitres of the final product. it comes with a simple glass bottle alongside the re-fill sachets.

form us with love worked with a lab specialized in natural cosmetics to develop the powder, which includes six core ingredients that have been around since the eighties. the FORGO handwash comes in three scents — neutral, citrus and wood — all packaged in the studio’s signature minimal aesthetic.

‘we have defined our mission as design real change, our guide to influence everything we do here at form us with love. this ambition is very time-consuming,’ says jonas pettersson, CEO at form us with love. ‘it means we have to dig deep to influence entire industries, and make better products in terms of innovation, sustainability, quality production to make things long-lasting solutions.’

‘we see so many products designed to be wasteful and inefficient,’ adds john lofgren, creative director at form us with love. ‘liquid personal care products are mostly water, an ingredient you probably have at home. so why ship it around in plastic bags and bottles when it’s possible to do better?’

FORGO’s aim is to create a sustainable subscription base for all personal care products starting with hand wash. after the initial delivery, customers can order refills that come in a set of three within a paper envelope.

‘for us hand wash is just the beginning. we’re here to make all personal care more sustainable with less,’ concludes allon libermann, design manager at form us with love, and co-founder of FORGO.

FORGO launched during stockholm design week, during an exhibition held at bergrummet, a repurposed wartime bunker turned toy museum. last year, form us with love presented a series of biodegradable acoustic panels made using cellulose fibers from swedish pine and spruce trees.