What’s the last time you considered how easy your beauty and skin care routines are? There has been crisis after crisis around the world in the last few years, so it’s easy for some to forget how to look after themselves properly. They say that beauty is pain, but really, beauty isn’t pain. Beauty just takes time. As much time as you spend on your beauty routine, you also have to consider how you can make your beauty routine as sustainable as possible.

Sustainability really does matter, and if you can contribute to a better planet then you absolutely should. You contribute to looking after yourself better when you pick laser hair removal over shaving or waxing. You contribute to looking after the planet better when you choose going to a salon rather than flushing beauty wipes down your toilet.

There are many different things that you can do to make your beauty and skin care routines easier, but also make them more sustainable for the rest of the world. Let’s take a look at what you could be doing to change the game.

• Choose beauty products with sustainable packaging. Believe it or not, you can make a big difference in the beauty game if you are choosing sustainability first. Global cosmetics industries can produce up to 120 billion units of packaging a year and more. There’s still a very long way to go when it comes to branding and packaging, but if you can choose something recyclable or wrapped in cardboard, you’re going to do something good for the environment. Try to avoid cosmetics that come wrapped in a plastic wrap. Find something that’s a more eco friendly option.
• Go back to the humble bar of soap. We’ve seen a huge momentum in the way we wash our bodies. We’ve gone from bars of plain soap on the side of a tin bath to great smelling bubble bombs and shower gels and different types of body wash. You need to go back a little bit and go back to that humble bar of soap we talked about. Beauty bars are not just good for your skin or your hair, but they’re often wrapped in recyclable paper packaging or cardboard. This makes them friendly to the environment and you get to smell good without having to have an impact on the world around you. Companies such as Lush do this very well.
• Go biodegradable with your wipes. 75% of sewer blockages involve face wipes, which is why you should never be flushing them. Cotton pads and facial wipes are a huge source of waste in the beauty industry because they are single use products. Switching to a more eco-friendly option to remove your makeup and clean your face is a good idea. Biodegradable facial wipes and cleansing wipes that are reusable are best for your skin. You could also simply use a cleansing lotion and a flannel with water to wash off that makeup.
• Choose a good sunscreen. While we’re talking about switching products, swapping your sunscreen to something that’s friendly is a great idea. 14,000 tonnes of sunscreen washes into the oceans every year, and if you’re living in a coastal area, you’ll know exactly what we mean. To protect your skin as well as coral and reef life, you need to make sure that you are choosing a sunscreen that is friendly to the environment. Natural sunscreens are more friendly than chemical sunscreens, and they don’t poison the water.
• Swap your toothbrush. Even something as simple as your toothbrush being swapped over to bamboo can make a difference to your health and your beauty regime. Bamboo toothbrushes look great on your bathroom vanity, but they’re also great for the planet. They’re easier to recycle which means their plastic toothbrush cousins are not going to be such a hindrance to the earth.
• Go sustainable with your hair accessories. Did you know that you can get biodegradable scrunchies and hair bands? Compostable hair bands aren’t just good for the environment, but they are great for your hair. There are so many oceans and the material is soft. This means it’s not going to snag your hair and it’s not going to knot it up. One of the issues with scrunchies and hair bands is that your hair can wrap around them and become very knotted and tight. With sustainability, you don’t have to worry too much.