Sustainable Beauty: What You Can Do in Your Beauty Routine?

With the myriad of beauty products packed in large cosmetic jars and their cardboard boxes, the earth is slowly dying away. Not to mention the use of depletable resources and high-energy manufacturing processes, which adds to the burden on the environment. 

People are switching to sustainable beauty products to avoid contributing to the destruction of the earth. This article offers a few tips on adopting sustainability in beauty to help you become part of an environmentally conscious population. 

Without further ado, let us learn what you can do to achieve sustainable beauty.

Table of Contents:

• Part 1: What is Sustainable Beauty?
• Part 2: How to Make Your Beauty Routine More Sustainable?
• Part 3: Challenges and Misconceptions About Sustainable Beauty

Part 1: What is Sustainable Beauty?

In the simplest terms, “sustainability” means the efforts and practices of humans to coexist on the earth with their environment, including animals, plants, and the earth itself. Sustainable beauty is defined as using eco-friendly products in a socially responsible manner.

The main components of sustainable beauty include, 

• Obtaining raw materials from ethical resources 
• Using eco-friendly packaging 
• Ensuring that there is little to no waste from the manufacturing process 
• Raising awareness about the beauty products and their impact on the environment 
• Using products responsibly 

Environmental and Ethical Considerations 

With unlimited beauty products and cosmetic brands, the waste created during the manufacturing process and packaging of the products produces landfills, and carbon footprints, and depletes natural resources. 

Consequently, the earth is dying and the environment is being polluted. Sustainable beauty focuses on using replenishable resources, refillable packaging, and eco-friendly manufacturing processes. 

Part 2: How to Make Your Beauty Routine More Sustainable?

To play your part in saving the earth and your habitat, here are 7 tips that can help you create your own sustainable beauty routine. 

1. Tips for Reducing Wastes in Your Beauty Routine 

While reducing waste in the manufacturing and packaging process is not in your hands, you can surely take the following steps to reduce the waste created in your beauty routine.

• Instead of using shopping bags provided by the brands, carry your own biodegradable shopping bag and reuse it as the branded plastic shopping bags often end up in landfills.
• Instead of disposable razors, cotton pads, and wipes, use reusable metal razors, cleansing pads, and towels. 
• Repurpose your product packaging. 
• Turn off the tab while applying face/body wash and turn it on only when water is used. 
• Try a semi-permanent method of hair removal like IPL hair removal devices instead of temporary methods like shaving, hair removal creams, and waxing. 

2. Choosing Multi-Purpose Products to Minimize Consumption

Yes, a 10-step skincare routine sounds luxurious and you might already have tried it. However, the more products you use, the more it burdens the environment. Furthermore, there is also the chance that not all of the products you use are absorbed into your skin because of excessive amounts. 

So, we suggest you believe in less is more and use multi-purpose products. Not only will it reduce your consumption and money, but it will also reduce the load on the earth. Some examples include,

• Two-in-one shampoo plus condition 
• A moisturizing sunscreen 
• A face wash with both water and oil cleansing ingredients 
• Lip and cheek tints 

3. Embracing Refillable, Recyclable, and Reusable Packaging 

Packaging of your products also plays an important role in determining their sustainability. Most of the product packaging made of plastic is harmful to the earth because they are neither reused nor biodegraded. 

So, opt for the brands that sell their cosmetic products in sustainable packaging. Below are some options for ensuring that your product packaging is eco-friendly.

• Go for products packed in glass and biodegradable plastic packaging.
• Buy from the brands that provide product refills. 
• Reuse your product packaging for a different purpose. For example, cosmetic cream jars can be used to make your DIY scented candles. 

4. Opting for Cruelty-Free, Vegan, and Ethically Sourced Products 

One way to know if your beauty products are safe for the earth and its creatures is to know where they come from. Several brands keep animals away from their natural habitat in a laboratory to give them optimal conditions for obtaining a specific ingredient. 

Additionally, other brands use animals to experiment with the products. In both cases, animals are misused. Considering that animals are as living beings as humans are, it is important to opt for cruelty-free, vegan, and ethically resourced products to adopt sustainable beauty practices. 

5. Choosing Brands in Sustainable Beauty 

Although some brands only focus on making money regardless of how they impact the earth, many are working towards making sustainable beauty products. These brands not only carefully monitor and manage their processing sustainably but also contribute to awareness and environment protection campaigns. 

Therefore, it is time to start buying from sustainable beauty brands. In this way, you can support the bigger cause. Here are a few sustainable beauty brands, 

• RMS Beauty 
• Tata Harper 
• ATHR Beauty 
• Lush 
• Axiology 
• Eco roots 

6. Look for Sustainable Ingredients in Skincare Products 

When you look for the ingredients in your beauty products, you often see what those ingredients can do to your skin, right? You might have never considered that the ingredients used in your skincare products can also impact the earth. 

So, carefully read the ingredient list of your skincare products and study the effects of those ingredients on the environment. Then, opt for eco-friendly and natural ingredients while ditching the toxic and harmful ingredients. 

Here are some skincare ingredients that can harm the earth,

• Chemicals in chemical sunscreens find their way to water bodies and harm small fish and coral reefs. So, go for physical sunscreens. 
• Fragrances can cause allergies.
• Phthalates are associated with developmental and reproductive issues 
• Parabens might disturb your hormonal status 

7. Go for DIY Beauty as an Eco-Friendly Alternative 

Lastly, you do not always have to buy your skincare products from the stores, especially the expensive ones that will be bad for the earth in the long run. Rather, go for DIY beauty as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic products.

Thus, you can,

• Make your at-home facial masks using rice powder, turmeric, gram flour, tomato, and other ingredients 
• Make your exfoliating products with coffee powder
• Use fresh aloe vera gel instead of a pre-made one 
• DIY laser hair removal with at-home IPL devices 

Part 3: Challenges and Misconceptions About Sustainable Beauty

Reading the tips mentioned above, you might have assumed that achieving your sustainable beauty goals is going to be a piece of cake, right? 

However, the earth would not be dying if it was this easy. So, let us talk about some challenges and misconceptions about sustainable beauty.

Myths And Facts About Sustainable Beauty 

Myth: Plastic is Unacceptable in Sustainable Beauty 

Fact: While you can reduce the use of plastic in beauty products, its complete elimination is not yet possible. Therefore, instead of avoiding plastic, it is better to look for biodegradable plastic and other types of plastic that do not create waste in the long run.

Myth: Natural Ingredients cannot be Harmful 

Fact: Natural and organic beauty products are often preferred as they have mild side effects when compared to synthetic ingredients. However, even carefully developed synthetic products can become completely harmless while some natural ingredients like tea tree oil cause allergic reactions.

Myth: Sustainable Beauty is Too Expensive 

Fact: Most high-end beauty brands sell expensive products in the name of “clean” beauty making people assume that sustainability comes with a price. However, many economical brands provide affordable yet sustainable cosmetic products. 

Myth: Sustainable Beauty is not for all Skin Types

Fact: People consider that they have to compromise on the compatibility of the products with their skin types if they buy sustainable beauty products as they only suit normal skin types. In reality, sustainable beauty products are customized to all skin types as well.

Ways to Balance Performance and Sustainability in Beauty Products

You do not have to compromise the performance of your skincare and makeup products for sustainable beauty. Here are some ways to balance performance and sustainability. 

• You cannot shift from using your regular beauty products to sustainable beauty in one day. So, take your time and replace your regular products with sustainable beauty products one by one. 
• Just like you check the formulation of your regular products before buying, look for the ingredients and their uses in sustainable beauty products. 
• To ensure that your product is sustainable, buy from brands with certifications like USDA-organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and more. 
• Packaging plays an essential part in sustainable beauty. So, always buy eco-friendly cosmetic packaging.  

Cost Implications and Long-Term Benefits

Giving up on your inexpensive or economical beauty products for seemingly expensive sustainable beauty products can initially seem expensive. But, you can make this transition slowly and do your research before buying the products so that you only pay for the products that are worth their price.  

Looking at the bigger picture, investing in sustainable beauty products can give you a sense of satisfaction while providing the same results as you need. 

Conclusion

One of the ways to save the environment and earth is to adopt sustainable practices. Also, one of the sustainable practices that you can easily adopt is using sustainable beauty products. 

From using natural resources near depletion to making your cosmetic products and packaging them in eco-friendly packaging, this article shares 7 ways to make your beauty routine more sustainable. 

Therefore, it is time for you to slowly start using earth-friendly products in your beauty routine.