5 Ways to Make Your Beauty Routine Eco-friendly
A lot of times when you hear the terms "natural", "green", or "eco" in the beauty world, they reference what's in a product - the ingredients. This is SUCH a key part to having a non-toxic beauty routine but it's not everything. Being environmentally friendly is more than just using safe ingredients. It's also about reducing our waste. Today on the blog I want to share 5 super simple ways you can help the environment by reducing your beauty footprint.
TIP #1: USE WASHABLE FACE WIPES TO REMOVE MAKEUP
For many years I used cotton pads to remove my makeup. After continually buying and throwing away these pads year after year I started to rethink my process. I was creating a lot of waste... There had to be a better way! I found out that some women would use a cream or oil based makeup removing cleanser with a fresh washcloth every day to wipe away the cleanser and makeup. This seemed messy to me. Wouldn't you end up with a bunch of makeup stained washcloths and a pile of laundry? I kept searching until I came across these Bamboo Velour face wipes handmade by Sew The Love In (find them here on Etsy). I ordered a set of 12, 3.5x5" wipes for $19. I use micellar water in conjunction with the wipes, just like I used to do with the cotton pads. This size is just about right for removing makeup but if I order another set I'll probably try the next size up. You can also pick the color of the trim which is really nice. I chose raspberry but she has many other options to choose from. I wash the used pads with my regular laundry and have been using them now for about two months. I'd definitely recommend these!
TIP #2: BUY PRODUCTS STORED IN GLASS NOT PLASTIC
This may be a no-brainer. It's well known that plastic leaches chemicals. That's why it's important to use glass or stainless steel water bottles. This rule applies to your skin care and makeup too! Remember, your skin is your largest organ so what you apply to it goes right into your blood stream. Many clean beauty brands already use glass packaging: Rooted Earth Farms, Gressa (blog post on this foundation coming up soon - spoiler alert - I'm loving this stuff!), Luminance Skincare, Herbivore, etc. Not only is glass better for you, it is also easier to recycle. I like to reuse many of my glass containers. Some can be refilled and used as travel bottles. Small jars from moisturizers or face masks are great for holding things like tea candles, rings, loose change, bobby pins, etc. Larger containers like those from body scrubs can be used to store your makeup wipes (reusable ones of course), sample beauty products, lipsticks, etc. The possibilities are endless!
TIP #3: PURCHASE PRODUCTS WITHOUT PACKAGING
This tip is a little bit harder to do because in today's world, what beauty product isn't packaged? One way I avoid packaging is by using bar soap like Alaffia's Good Soap. When you purchase them, you can store the soap in a recyclable brown paper bag. That's it! It's so much more environmentally friendly than body wash that's packaged and stored in plastic tubes. I haven't tried them myself but some companies also make shampoo bars or lotions sans packaging.
TIP #4: PURCHASE GOOD QUALITY MAKEUP BRUSHES
You probably already know that better quality brushes last longer. Instead of buying some that are only going to last a year or so, invest in good quality brushes. They will last SO much longer. You'll actually end up saving money in the long run and reducing waste because you won't have to keep replacing them. I love brushes by Lily Lolo and Ecotools. I have some brushes that I've owned for 10+ years! Seriously, they're worth the extra money.
TIP #5: BUY FROM BRANDS THAT OFFER REFILLS
This last tip is something I recently discovered by accident and am so happy that there are brands that do this! Last year during one of my Vitacost orders I decided to try out the Honeybee Gardens pressed powder foundation. This stuff is so good by the way! Vitacost offers the refill version which is basically just the pressed powder in a protective recyclable plastic packaging. (Ironically I never bought the real packaging for this foundation but plan to soon.) The cool thing about this is that you can take out the old, used foundation tray and pop in the refill! Alima Pure does the same thing. I ordered their cream concealer off Credo Beauty recently. The original packaging is sturdy enough to be used multiple times so it makes sense to not throw it away and instead just purchase the refills. I think this is such a great idea!
Do you guys already follow some of these tips? Do you know of others that maybe I didn't think of? I'm excited to see what the natural beauty world comes up with next!