While you may have chosen a green lifestyle in biking to work, buying organic and watching your energy consumption, you may not be doing enough if you're still using high-waste, filler-laden cosmetics and beauty products. A variety of beauty and cosmetic companies now offer green and earth-friendly products. Paired with beauty solutions and changes that you can make yourself at home, you can go green with beauty products and do your part to preserve the planet while looking beautiful.
Step 1
Swap your regularly packaged items for sustainable materials that you can reuse. You're tossing plastic in the trash if you go through a powder compact every few months. "Harper's Bazaar" suggests using a compact made of a sustainable material, such as bamboo, that has removable inserts. Instead of throwing it out when it's empty, replace with a new makeup insert to save on waste.
Step 2
Make your own beauty treatments at home, using items from your kitchen. For instance, you can mix a cup of brown sugar with a 1/4 cup olive oil for a body scrub in the shower. You could also mash an avocado and mix with an egg for a hydrating hair mask. Sara Wells of Our Best Bites website suggests mixing a 1/4 cup strawberries with 3 tbsp. cornstarch and a squeeze of lemon for a pore-tightening face mask. These beauty products are natural and don't have wasteful packaging.
Step 3
Recycle your old cosmetics. Some stores offer exchanges, where you bring in empty makeup containers, such as a lipstick tube, compact or eyeshadow palette, and are reimbursed with a new lipstick, sometimes for free. Check with local retailers to see whether recycling exchanges are possible for samples of new products. Some salons offer receptacles for used plastic bottles of shampoo or conditioner and hair products.
Step 4
Choose makeup products that use natural ingredients, suggests "Women's Health" magazine. Typical foundations include fragrances, fillers and parabens, but mineral makeup uses natural ingredients such as talc and titanium dioxide to make you look flawless. Not only are they better for the environment, but the zinc and titanium dioxide block harmful UVA rays for protection from the sun, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Step 5
Go with air drying instead of running your blow dryer and flat iron, using up electricity in your home. Blot your hair dry with a towel, without scrubbing, hairstylist Sarah Potempa tells "Cosmopolitan" magazine. Apply a dollop of texturizing cream and then slide a smooth hair band over the crown of your head for extra volume. Allow to dry naturally and shake out when you're finished.
Things You'll Need
- Brown sugar
- Olive oil
- Avocado
- Eggs
- Strawberries
- Cornstarch
- Lemon
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