What is sustainable beauty?
It’s a lifestyle that involves making conscious choices about the products you buy, how you live your life, and what impacts your actions have on the environment. We provide tips to help you adopt this eco-friendly lifestyle so that you can enjoy great looking skin without harming the planet.
Sustainable beauty is about using organic and natural skincare and toiletries to reduce negative effects on the environment. We don’t just want you looking good, we also want your skincare routine to be guilt-free!
Sustainable beauty focuses on reducing environmental damage caused by personal grooming routines like shaving or waxing with organic ingredients so that both people’s looks are maintained while taking into account their impact upon nature too.
It’s a new term that means using natural and organic products in your makeup routine. The idea of the trend is to care for our planet by minimizing waste, which can be done through small changes like reusing old containers or buying items with less packaging.
Why sustainable beauty is important
We are now at a time in history where we can change the world. We need to stop thinking about ourselves as individuals and start looking at what is happening on an island or even within our own country because it really does affect us all if something happens somewhere else. And that’s why sustainable beauty products matter so much- they’re not only better for your skin but also help with keeping everything going around you strong enough for everyone alive today to enjoy living tomorrow too!
Sustainability is the future of beauty. There are a number of reasons why we should care about being sustainable in our lifestyle including environmental, economic and social values that affect us all on this planet.
Nowhere else can these issues be better seen than within skincare products from face creams to soaps used by both men and women across the world each day. The reality for most people however is they do not realise or simply choose to ignore it as an issue despite more often than not there already being awareness surrounding sustainability practices when buying food shopping at farmers markets etc.. This has led many companies such as Lush Cosmetics who have been successful with using recycled packaging containing no plastic which also saves them money alongside other initiatives via Fair Trade
The earth’s resources cannot support the current rate at which we consume them, so it’s up to us as individuals to make better choices for ourselves and our planet. By using less plastic in your daily routine, buying from companies that take environmental impact into account when manufacturing their items or by just recycling whenever possible you can do some small things that add up quickly!
Sustainable beauty brands are more prevalent and popular than ever before. Sustainability is now at the forefront of many conversations in our daily lives. Specially vital for the beauty industry. But what does it actually mean?
Some attributes we consider vital for a product to be a sustainable beauty product:
Plastic Free
Ensure your beauty products are plastic-free or even better zero waste. Plastic beauty packaging is a huge problem for the beauty industry as they continue to wrap chemical products in plastic bottles in plastic packaging! Although many products claim to come in recyclable plastic or even recycled plastic, many of these items still end up in landfills or the ocean as plastic waste – and that’s not sustainable or eco friendly, so always look for plastic-free options.
Packaging is something we don’t think about too much when buying cosmetics, but it really can be a big problem depending on where you buy your products from and what they’re packaged in! It may seem like an easier option to choose the item in the plastic tube or bottle but it’s actually harmful to our planet and that means you might not be doing your face any favours either.
Vegan
Vegan-friendly cosmetics do not include any animal by-products or contents derived from animals. Beeswax, glycerin (some are produced using animal products), honey, Lanolin, and tallow are examples of non-vegan ingredients found in beauty products. Although that said, we don’t personally consider it vital for a sustainable product to be vegan.
Cruelty-free
This means Beauty products that have not been tested on animals. It does not necessarily mean vegan! To demonstrate their commitment to animal protection, some companies have a “Leaping Bunny Certified” badge. Sustainable beauty brands ensure their products are cruelty-free as well. For us, cruelty-free is a must for any beauty brand. Find out more about cruelty-free and vegan here.
Non-toxic ingredients
Parabens, fragrances, silica and mineral oils are all examples of synthetic chemicals used in skincare products. Plant-derived components are the best option because they are natural and better for you and our planet. Sustainable beauty brands ensure sustainable beauty without sacrificing quality or the environment. It’s easy to switch from fake parfum to essential oil which is so much nicer and kinder for skincare.
Fair Trade
Responsible ethically sourced natural ingredients include looking at the farming and harvesting of the ingredients used. This means looking for products that meet fair-trade standards.
Investigations into illegal child labour used at a mine to harvest mica have been uncovered in India. Child Labour has also been employed in the cultivation and production of shea butter, vanilla silk, copper and cocoa. Carnauba and carnelllia wax derived from palm trees and shrubs are connected with exploitative working hours in Brazilian and Mexican. They are often used as ingredients in hair care products like mascara and lip balms.
Sustainable beauty brands strive to reduce or offset the environmental impact of their products throughout the design process. They pay a fair price for their ingredients and conduct third-party audits of their supply chains on a regular basis, such as the Soil Association and Fairtrade Foundation.
Sustainably Sourced
Responsibly sourced products that are renewal and don’t take away from our planet’s resources, like bamboo are great options. Sustainable beauty brands ensure their products are sustainable as well.
For some beauty products, the packaging may be more detrimental to our planet than the product itself. This means looking at your whole product line and making sure each component is sustainable! It may mean removing packaging or using recycled packaging. Many sustainable beauty brands are now using recycled water bottles in their packaging for their skincare items.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals established by world leaders in 2015. These factors include things like having no poverty; zero hunger; decent education. They also include concepts such as clean drinking water and sanitation, responsible consumption and production, fair employment and economic growth, industry, innovation, and infrastructure. In fact, there is so much more that a brand may do to be sustainable.
Compostable/Biodegradable
Any material which will decompose naturally when discarded or disposed of is compostable. Biodegradables are materials made from organic compounds, usually containing large amounts of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Their degradation involves either microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae or large invertebrates.
Green packaging
This means that the product is packaged in a way to reduce environmental impact by using recycled materials, reducing carbon emissions during transportation etc.. This also helps cut down on waste in landfills! Post-consumer recycled is a great way to ensure the product is recyclable and won’t sit in a landfill forever!
Packaging that can be recycled locally should also be given priority. If you’re unsure, ask what your local recycling facility accepts or look it up online for additional information. Consider old fashioned glass bottles which are making a comeback in beauty packaging!
Recyclable Packaging
Recycling is the process of converting the materials used in products back to raw material. This is done by passing it through a mechanical or chemical process that breaks down and changes its molecular structure into new, reusable objects with different properties from before recycling.
We would love to see more brands embrace the refill revolution and provide more refillable skincare options. This is a true zero waste eco option and most body cream, body wash or shampoo can be a refillable item (bonus points for using recycled plastic refill containers!)
Carbon Neutral
Some products travel around the world before they get to you, raising a huge issue about their carbon footprint. Sustainable skincare should only include products where the whole supply chain is considered. Whilst it’s great to use natural organic raw materials if they have to go around the world on a plane, we need to ensure they are not contributing to climate change.
It is important to go carbon neutral because every time we travel by plane, every product that passes through customs and is grown or imported the carbon footprint of our products goes up. If a brand is using sustainable ingredients but is then having a huge carbon footprint shipping products around the world , it is not sustainable.
A product or service becomes carbon neutral when the amount of CO that would be released into the atmosphere if a company burned fuel to create its products, provide its services and run its business over an entire year is offset by purchasing credits from another organization which has managed to remove this much CO out of the air through various means, such as tree planting.
Best sustainable beauty brands
The good news is that many in the beauty industry are now taking sustainability seriously. Whilst some big brands may be accused of ‘green washing’ with only token efforts, there is a whole new movement within the beauty industry to really change things.
Here are some of our favourite sustainable beauty brands:
Burt’s Bees – Burt’s bees is one of the first natural personal care companies to start. Their products include ingredients from sustainable sources, are 100% natural and of course, they don’t test on animals!
Janni Bars: a small artisan brand in Ireland with a fabulous range of eco-friendly sustainable hair and beauty products. A gorgeous based skincare brand made up of natural plant extracts that help your skin look its best without any nasties.
Three Hills Soap – for the best shampoo and natural soap bars all in plastic-free packaging. It is a family business that started in Ireland which uses organic and fair trade ingredients, with no synthetic preservatives or fragrances. They are also against animal testing.
Ben & Anna – Vegan company based in Germany, they make all-natural skincare products that are fresh and high quality with no petroleum or chemicals used! Their deodorant is a must-try for everyone who struggles with these issues on a daily basis!
These brands have all made big strides towards creating a truly sustainable beauty market. But as you can see, it’s not just about the ingredients in skincare products anymore!
