Today I wanted to talk about sustainability- I watched Liah Yoo's video "Dear Beauty Industry" talking about how the skincare industry has so many new launches and how the beauty industry has a lot of trendy products and overconsumption, and I wanted to add my two cents since I do blog quite a bit about beauty. People are definitely becoming more aware of sustainability in clothing, especially in regards to fast fashion. We've still got a loong way to go, obviously, but I think beauty is another area well worth thinking about in terms of sustainability.
In her video, Liah focuses on skincare, but overconsumption in makeup is also so real, especially with the rise of youtube and beauty bloggers with alex drawers stuffed full of products.
Greenwashing is real- watch out for big brands labelling their products with 'natural' and green coloured packaging while changing nothing at all about their business to make it more sustainable.
Obviously I'm not perfect- I definitely picked up too much makeup in Japan last year, especially the stuff that comes free in magazines... from here on I'm going to try and enjoy the stuff I have to the max, use things until they're done and not buy anything new unless I absolutely need to. Hopefully I'll be more minimal and my collection will be more manageable this time next year because this much makeup was heavy and annoying to take home. (although I don't want to throw anything away)
Here are a couple of things you can do to try and be more intentional and sustainable with your beauty consumption:
- Try a one out one in system- only buy a new product when something's been used up
- Try and have only one of certain products 'open' at the same- e.g. mascaras, shower gel. Obviously with stuff like lipstick you want to have a bit of variety, but I try and only have one foundation, concealer, powder on the go at a time- this saves waste because things don't go off and saves money too
- Declutters are trendy on youtube, but don't throw too much stuff out just to immediately buy more.
- Makeup's use by dates have recently been a big topic in beauty, and obviously keeping products- especially ones that go on your skin and near your eyes- too long is unsanitary. However, don't forget that a big driver of this trend is beauty companies' desire for you to chuck your old stuff out and buy more stuff. Make up does indeed go off if you keep it for years and years, but try and balance use-by dates you found on pinterest with being mindful about whether you actually do need to throw things away.
- Ideally, you'd only have a reasonable amount of makeup so you'd use it up before the use by date- some youtubers talk about how they forget what makeup they actually have and end up buying really similar products, and I think a minimal collection avoids this.
- Make sure you wash out and recycle plastic tubes or pots of beauty products- a lot end up in landfill when they could be recycled.
- Think about and research purchases before you buy them- maybe do some research (this is where I think beauty bloggers are great because you can avoid making purchases that don't suit your needs by reading reviews a lot of the time)
- Use things up! It's satisfying when you finish the whole product anyway.
- Try and consume less trendy beauty content/ shop your stash first. Obviously new products are super cute- I'd love some 3CE lipstick or eyeshadow because their packaging is super cute and the colours are soo pretty even though I have loads of eyeshadows already and only two eyelids and am also not very adventurous anyway.... do you see what I mean?
- Two brands I want to recommend as brands I love which are actually trying with sustainability are Bleach London and Lush. Lush have been doing a recycling scheme with their packaging for years- return five pots for a free face mask!! They also sell packaging-free 'naked' versions of products. Bleach have reduced their packaging and plastic a lot since I started buying from them- they no longer include throwaway tint brushes and bowls in their kits and have switched to using recycled black plastic- I was worried about this because a lot of local councils don't recycle black plastic but you can take them back to Bleach's salons and they will recycle it for you apparently. Not that helpful for those outside London but hey it's a start.
Also, as Liah says, it's not about being perfect- if everyone tried a little, it would make a huuuge impact!!
I definitely think minimalism is a good idea- not the pinterest perfect throw out your whole life and replace everything with white furniture from Muji type of minimalism, but the kind where you only buy things you absolutely love and try not to make unnecessary purchases or impulse buy. It's good for your wallet and also good for the planet so what's not to love?
What do you guys think?? I'd love to know your thoughts/ if you have any suggestions for being more environmentally conscious with beauty consumption.
Thanks for reading!
-Amy xoxo
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