How To Make Your Beauty Routine More Eco Friendly

If you know me, you probably also know that I’m constantly trying to optimize my day to day life to lead a more eco friendly life. Because I really do care about the environment. And I firmly believe that if we all do a few little things to be more eco friendly, it can make a big difference. It’s not going to stop climate change or drastically reduce the plastic that’s floating around in our oceans. But it can still make a difference. Plus, a lot of the tips I’m going to share with you can save not only the environment, but your money as well! So let’s talk about how to make your beauty routine more eco friendly…

1. Know what works for you

This tip is a big one both for the environment as well as you wallet. And it’s such a simple one: know what works for you. Meaning which brands or products agree well with your skin, hair, etc. and which don’t. That way you don’t end up buying a lot of stuff you don’t need or can’t use. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with trying out new stuff, I do that myself all the time. But I have figured out my skin- and hair type and only get products made for that. If you have oily skin, you’re not going to benefit from beauty products made for dry skin. Sounds obvious, but I think a lot of us don’t really pay attention to that. It can (and is supposed to) be very tempting to buy the product with the prettiest packaging, but we should really chose it based on it’s ingredients.

2. Don’t buy single use items

This one I am guilty of myself and really need to improve. As I have mentioned in my night time skincare routine, I love the Schäbens hyaluronic face masks. The one downside to it: there is A LOT of plastic for not very much product, which is anything but eco friendly. Depending on how much you use, you get about 2-4 applications from a pack. And if you’re like me (and my boyfriend) you go through a lot of them every week. Accordingly, there’s a lot of unnecessary plastic. Instead, we should try to get products that come in bigger tubs or tubes, rather than individually packaged. I promise to do better on that one, I actually already swapped in the Origins face mask, which comes in a bigger container.

The same goes for things like razors, which are sold as single use items. I haven’t read any studies on the topic, but I don’t think they have any advantage to “normal” razors. Opt for a good quality one, that way you don’t have to swap out the blades as often.

3. Speaking of razors…

Even if you get good quality razor blades, they can get dull quickly if you’re not careful. For example, don’t leave them in the shower if you’re not using them. The more they get wet, the more the blades and the moisturizing strip will wear off. So instead, keep it out of the shower, or at least in a place where it doesn’t get wet all the time.

4. Recycle properly

A big part of being eco friendly is to recycle empty packaging the right way. Again, this sounds very obvious, but it’s not always as straight forward as it seems. For starters, make sure you use up as much of the product as you can. Anything that’s left is like throwing out money, for one. But it also contaminates the plastic and makes recycling less efficient. Rinsing it out isn’t necessary though, because plastic waste is being “washed” before it gets recycled. Rinsing it yourself only uses up more water. But, the more product you leave in a container, the more water needs to be used to get it clean.

Another thing to consider is to put the bottle/tub and cap into the recycling separately, because a lot of the time they aren’t made from the same materials and have to be recycled accordingly. If you leave it on, the machines sorting through the trash have a hard time identifying what material it is – thus it can get discarded and not recycled. Not ideal, so just take the extra 0,5 seconds to screw off the lid before throwing stuff out.

5. Minimize waste altogether

Using a lot of products that can be recycled is one thing. But when it comes to beauty routines, there are a lot of things that can’t possibly be recycled. Make up remover wipes or cotton pads are one of them. So instead of using either of those, opt for reusable cotton pads. Depending on the kind you get you can either just remove your make up with water, or add in a micellar water. I prefer the latter. Once your done, just chuck them into a washing bag and put them in with the next load you’re washing.

Another tip: use a shower sponge to wash your body. It helps to lather up the product, meaning you need way less shower gel to wash your entire body. Just like the reusable cotton pads, I like to stick the sponge in the wash every now and then. That way I don’t have to buy a new one every few months.

6. Eco friendly body scrubs

Making your own body scrub is a great way to safe money and be more eco friendly at the same time. My favorite “recipe” is to mix some oil (olive, almond or coconut) with coffee grounds. Super simple but effective. You can just use the coffee ground you used for your morning coffee, making the most of it. Not only does it safe you money because you don’t have to buy a scrub. But it helps to reduce plastic (less packaging) as well as micro plastic (which is often used in store bought body scrubs). Win-win!

7. Let’s talk about sunscreen

There’s no way around sunscreen. No, you can’t make it on your own to be more eco friendly. But one thing to pay attention to is whether or not it contains octocrylene. Not only could this substance be potentially harmful to humans (in very high doses), but it is especially harmful to coral reefs and mussels. The oceans eco system is already suffering from global warming, so the last thing we should do is add to that stress by polluting the water with octocryclene. Opting for a sunscreen without it is easy, as most brands put something like “octocrylene free” onto their bottles. Very helpful advice, for once.

8. Don’t buy travel size items

Buying travel size beauty products, like shampoo, conditioner etc., is a bad deal – both for the environment and your wallet. What I do instead is buy empty travel size containers (100 ml), that I fill with the shampoo etc. from my regular sized bottles. And if I get given a travel size product, I will refill it a few times before throwing it out. Saves a lot of plastic and money!

9. Does the brand match your personal values?

And the last tip for today is to do a bit of research on the brands you use on a daily basis. Are the brands values in sync with your own? Do they do anything to offset carbon emission? Do they still run tests on animals? Whatever your values are, or whatever you care about, try to find brands that have similar ones. The good thing: You might find your new favorite brand or support a small business, rather than a global player.

Thanks for reading my thoughts on how to make your beauty routine more eco friendly. Even if you adopt just 1-2 things from this list, it’s going to pay off. Both for the environment and your wallet. And as always please share your tips and tricks with me!

Lots of Love,

Lena

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored.