6 Ways To Make Your Beauty Routine More Sustainable This Earth Month

1. Switch to Reusable Makeup Wipes

Face wipes may seem like a quick and easy way to remove your makeup, but they aren’t doing your skin – or the environment, any good. Not only do makeup wipes strip the skin of its natural oils and imbalance PH levels, but they’re also non-biodegradable and end up in landfills.

We recommend switching to reusable makeup wipes – in particular microfiber makeup wipes. They are well suited to the task for a number of different reasons:

• They are soft. This almost goes without saying, but you don’t want to scrub just any old cloth over your sensitive facial skin!
• They are thorough. Another benefit of those tiny microfibers is that they can reach into all the nooks and crannies in your skin for a more thorough cleansing.
• They are “magnetic.” All those fibers act like magnets, grabbing onto makeup particles and locking them away rather than pushing them around on your skin.

2. Re-use What You Can

An example of cleverly re-using makeup products would be a mascara wand. When your mascara has run out, or become too thick to use don’t throw away the mascara wand. A mascara wand is actually a really useful beauty tool, just make sure you gently wash off all the excess mascara with warm soapy water and turn it into an eyebrow brush! It is a great tool for shaping your eyebrows and it can be used to tame stray hairs by spraying with a little hairspray and combing through the stragglers.

3. Use a Metal Safety Razor

The biggest environmental issue with disposable razors is that they are not recyclable. According to the EPA, 2 billion disposable razors end up in land fills every year. A metal safety razor is recyclable, which can drastically reduce the negative environmental impact. And the razor itself can last a lifetime. Shaving with a safety razor also reduces skin irritation, shave bumps, and ingrown hairs that are common with cartridge or electric razors. The main reason is that with a safety razor you only have one blade against your skin at any time.

4. Don’t leave the water running!

Your morning time beauty routine is always a good time to conserve water. One good way to do this is to stick to cold water. Waiting for the water to get hot just wastes it. If you want to take the lazy way out, skip cleansing. You most likely did a thorough skincare routine before bed so just splash some cool water on your face to get you up and moving. Follow through with toner and moisturizer and you are good to go. Don’t forget to shut off the water while you brush your teeth as well, or just brush them in the shower – two birds, one stone.

5. Use up what you already have

One of the first steps to making your beauty routine more eco-friendly is to use up anything you have before you buy a replacement. If there’s something you can’t make use of, think of ways to give it a second life. For example, if something isn’t your color or isn’t working for you, consider selling it on Poshmark, giving it away for free online or to a friend who loves to experiment with new-to-them products.

6. Reduce consumption wherever possible

The single best thing anyone can do is to use what you have before you buy anything else, eco-friendly item or not. Another fruitful way to consume consciously is to opt for double-duty products, like a blush that you can also use on your lips, or a powder contour you can also use as eyeshadow. Be creative with your makeup, you might be surprised at the results!

We recommend trying out our powder contour palette for great contour and eyeshadow looks!