The Beauty Brands Reducing Their Plastic And 5 Ways To Be More Eco-Friendly
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And from choosing cruelty free beauty products to disposing of your used items responsibly, there is so much we as consumers can do to help the environment without having to completely change up your routine. Uswitch have also revealed 5 ways you can make your make-up routine more eco-friendly:
5 tips to make your beauty routine more eco-friendly
Sustainable beauty is one of the most recent trends to hit 2021, and it looks like it’s here to stay. Thanks to the rise of ethical fashion and TikTok, the movement has been brought to the forefront of people’s minds - with #crueltyfreebeauty
And with the beauty industry produces up to 120 billion units of plastic packaging annually (with 70% ending up in landfill), how can we be more eco-friendly when it comes to our beauty regime?
As part of their ethical beauty brands report, the team at Uswitch has compiled five easy tips for any beauty fanatic who’s keen to follow a more sustainable lifestyle in their daily routines.
1 ) Look for the PETA or Leaping Bunny logos for cruelty-free brands
Many beauty brands will now state they’re cruelty-free and are against testing their products on animals. However, thanks to laws in China stating products must be tested on animals for safety reasons, this means that any brand selling physical products there cannot be fully certified as cruelty-free*.
Unfortunately, some companies do not make this point clear, and it leaves the customer having to do the digging to discover which brands are truly cruelty-free.
By looking out for the PETA or Leaping Bunny certification on the back of your make-up products, you’ll soon be able to see whether a brand tests on animals. This can also be the same for vegan brands with the certified Vegan logo.
2) Engage in any refill or recycling schemes
Being responsible for the planet isn’t just about what products we choose, but also about what we do with our products once we are done with them.
Many beauty brands offer recycling schemes or discounts on refills such as M.A.C., Maybelline, NARS, Aveda and Kiehl’s. What’s even better is that a lot of these brands pass the savings on to their customers, showing it really does pay to give back.
3) Look for brands with less plastic packaging
We’re all used to seeing alternatives to our single-use plastic straws and carrier bags, and the trend is now hitting the beauty industry too. Bamboo make-up brushes and bio-degradable make-up wipes are now available in most shops, but which brands are making the switch too?
Uswitch’s report found 29 out of 45 of the UK’s biggest make-up brands had committed to reducing their plastic packaging, including No 7, Tom Ford Beauty, Glossier and Maybelline.
4) Try and stick to one product at a time
It might be tempting to try out multiple foundations or lipsticks when searching for your new ‘go to’ eco-beauty brand, but not only will this cost you more money, it’s also not a sustainable approach to take.
Take your time with choosing products; reading up on good ethical beauty blogs such as Ethical Elephant and Cruelty-Free Kitty are a great starting place and will help you to make an informed decision on which brands to try.
Asking for samples at beauty counters is also a better way for you to test products out before committing to the purchase, and who doesn’t love a freebie?
5) Take a look at your products ingredients
Not only should you be looking at your product's ingredients to see what it is that’s being used on your skin, but it can also be important to know whether these products are natural and ethically sourced.
Many ingredients in beauty products are sourced from countries where lots of unethical labour practices may take place, but some of these ingredients have no business being in our beauty products anyway. Microbeads and microplastics are particles of plastic that are not recyclable and harmful to the planet,
But, one of the worst minerals to watch out for is mica. The natural mineral that helps add shimmers to our products is also accountable for 90% of illegal mining practices in Jharkhand and Bihar, where 20,000 children were allegedly employed.
Uswitch’s report has compiled a list of ten beauty brands who are committed to ethically sourcing their mica, including Charlotte Tilbury, COVER FX, Makeup Revolution, Revlon and Liz Earle.
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