Last year's beauty trash

Excuse the bad lighting. I have to shoot these things inside and I don’t really have the space with proper light to do so. 
Nevertheless, I wanted to do this, because I feel that this is important. 
All too often we don’t actually stop and consider just how much impact our personal care has on the environment, and what kind of packaging horror stacks up year by year. 

Obviously I’m not saying we should all cut down on personal care, because that’s absolutely NOT what I’m saying, nor implying. I’m just saying that we should consider brands that use ingredients that aren’t as rough as the environment as a lot of stuff readily available, and that use eco packaging where possible, such as eco plastics and recyclable paper rather than full blown plastics. 
Make-up that isn’t wrapping everything up in plastic, but instead uses paper tabs as a means of closing things up. That sort of thing. Blot film and wet wipes that are bio degradable. 
I’ve started making the switch, bit by bit and where possible. And I just wanted to make this post to just show how bad things can get, even when you actively try to make an effort, which yes, is HARD.

 

So yeah, these are the contents of that huge bag… crazy isn’t it. 
 And that’s without our hand soap, because we use a refillable bottle and only Ecover (biodegradable, eco packaging). We used up two or three refill bottles in the year I think. Next year I’ll remember to add them to the bag (that empties bag will be used for as long as it’s not falling apart by the way so chance is you’ll see it again next year). 

 

Shower gel and deodorant. 
Nearly all of our shower gel is by Yves Rocher, who pay attention of how their ingredients impact the environment and use eco packaging. Even whilst not all their products are super ok when it comes to ingredients, they’re still better than most stuff, and they’re affordable because I’m on their loyalty program and they often have really good discounts and deals in store. 
We’ve actually used up several small bottles of shower gel like that one (because they often give them away for free), but normally we clean them and keep them to use when we travel. So they don’t actually end up in the trash. This one did because I put in really crap baby shampoo (which I’ve given away) that made my brushes sticky, else it would be in our box with travel bottles as well. Yes, we have a whole box. 
The deodorant, I know it’s essentially toxic waste, but stick deodorants disgust me like you wouldn’t believe (I can NOT deal) and I’ve not found a valid, good, alternative that doesn’t turn me into a sweaty mess two hours tops after I’ve started my day. I still sweat through this (thankfully not to the point where I stink of sweat, which would be happening if I don’t use this) so not a lot of chemicals manage to end up in my bloodstream. Can’t have it all, alas.

 

Haircare and dye 
The dye I have no excuse for, just none (nice organic plant based dyes and henna sadly don't take on my hair). I used Schwartzkopf dye 4 times last year, a L’Oreal one once and then I chucked one Arctic Fox sample pack (the small ones) into the waste because else it’d leak all over my empties. If I dye my hair again, I will pay better attention to what I’m using. 
By the way, Arctic Fox claim they are ever so amazing etc, but they use MIT, which is even more vicious than parabens. So take care when you use that because that stuff is toxic AF. I especially wouldn’t use it on kids, especially not when it goes on their scalp and skin. I just dip dye with it, so it only gets on the ends of my hair, but if I get this on my skin, I will have instant chemical burns (which is why I have to be EXTREMELY careful in dealing with this when Bert dip dyes my hair with it, it’s totally doable, but I would like to find an alternative for sure). 
Clearly I use much more conditioner than I do shampoo, but at least all of it, bar the Nivea stuff, is from brands that use products that are decent and have eco packaging. Especially the Doctor Organic stuff is super nice that way.
The reason you see none of my hair masks in here is that I use SteamCream. And that comes in little alluminium jars. I wash them out and use them as little storage jars. They are super practical. And I often give a cleaned out jar to friends too, who then in turn make good use out of it. So there's no hairmasks because there's no waste from my hairmasks :).

 

Make-up 
I was pretty delusional about my make-up use. 
I thought I wouldn’t have a lot of make-up trash, which is admittedly some of the worst possible trash you can have due to amount of shit ingredients and plastic waste, but apparently, I didn’t do nearly as well as I thought :(. 
Just an FIY but if you want to get a Beauty Blender, get the black one, because the coloured ones actually loose dye when you clean them. Meaning you WILL get dye into your skin when you use it. I tried some alternative brands, but they were all pretty shit, so I stopped using them. 
I’ve switched to biodegradable wet wipes with eco packaging now, so you’ll only see the last bits from small packs I still have lying around that need to be used up next year. 
 The two baby shampoos were used to clean my brushes, and are both organic brands with eco packaging. This just proves how good I am when it comes to cleaning brushes :D. 
The random plastic is wrapping from the cotton pads I use to clean off my eye make-up. I use reusable wash cloths to clean my face, but the skin of my eyes is so sensitive I have to use pads. I’m looking for a reusable option, but so far I’ve not had any luck :(. 
At least the cleansers are from Yves Rocher I suppose…

 

Skincare 
A lot of the stuff in here is eco packaging, so that’s that at least. 
By now you all know which brand does the eco packaging, although Urtekram isn’t doing so badly either (especially when it comes to formula, which is vegan).
I really wish Yves Rocher would let us return bottles, because they can totally be reused at least a couple of times before they need to be recycled! 
My blotting paper is from Daiso, and it is 100% biodegradable (they say you shouldn't chuck it out in nature but that's because you shouldn't litter). 
The sunblock packaging sucks, but sadly, it’s one of the few that don’t give me a rash (and the others aren’t available near me and also have rubbish packaging) so that’s what I’m sticking with. 
I did use a few facemasks (less than Bert did!), but obviously those got thrown away immediately because they would turn the bag into a leaky mess. I try to avoid facemasks though because they’re just too much waste. I do really love the Yes to Coconut ones though, they REALLY saved my skin during my attempt (and failure) at 30 days of Halloween this year! Remember boys and girls, face painting is very hard on your skin! 

So yeah, that’s it. 
And that’s from someone that keeps these things to a minimum and pays at least a fair amount of attention to ingredients and packaging. 
Just try it for yourself. Keep your empties for one year: hair, skin, makeup, stuff like that, and have a look at how bad (or good!) things were for you by January 2020. 
Because if we all get more aware of how we consume, we can #dobetter and if we speak up about crap packaging, we can force companies to #dobetter, also (hopefully, there’ll have to be a ton of us, but hey, if we don’t speak up, nothing will change, so this is better than doing nothing at all!). 

I am aware of Lush Cosmetics by the way. Sadly, there is no Lush near me, and having to pay for a train ticket ups the price even more (they are rather more expensive than most of the stuff I usually buy and that’s already pricier than what you get at the supermarket), plus, that’s not very ecological either. 
On top of that, and most importantly, I am violently allergic to a lot of Lush products, and I’m not willing to spend most of my time covered in some sort of rash and/or chemical burns. Trust me, I looked into it. 

But if you know of other brands like Lush that are also good when it comes to ingredients and packaging, please do let me know! (I won’t use anything I can’t see the full ingredient list of though, because I’m not risking allergic reactions).

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