Clean Up Your Routine With These Minimalist Bath and Beauty Products
Ditch the packaging while keeping your glow
Written by Raven Pearson
It happens all too often: a discarded cotton ball here, a strand of floss there. Are you adding to a landfill every time you get ready? If plastic squeeze bottles and discarded compacts are weighing you down, take heart. Now more than ever, cosmetics and toiletry brands are taking strides to reduce waste. Read on for ways to make your garbage can—and your conscience—a whole lot lighter.
Worldwide, billions of plastic toothpaste tubes are tossed into dumps every year. This toothpaste in a glass jar is completely plastic-free, recyclable, and made with clean ingredients like sea salt and plant oils. The best part? Jar packaging means no more wringing out a tube to get the last bit.
They may look tiny, but those little plastic packs of dental floss really add up. Commercial floss is typically made of wax and nylon, and therefore can’t be recycled. Luckily (ahem), Lucky Teeth has created a compostable floss made of bamboo fiber, housed in a refillable glass container.
Speaking of bars, did you know you can also replace your can of shaving cream with one? Shea butter and coconut oil means this bar lathers just as creamily, without the casing.
Yes, reusing a swab might seem gross, but it’s not as gross as cluttering the planet. Though LastSwab is made of TPE and plastic, it alone replaces up to 1,000 Q-tips. Traditional cotton buds are convenient, but this reusable substitute is pretty darn close: clean it with rubbing alcohol or soap and water, toss it in the included case, and you’re done.
Popular natural deodorant brand Native left plastic packaging behind due to popular demand, and they won’t be looking back. The vegan formula natural beauties grew to love is now in paperboard, a switch that the company states will reduce plastic waste by 169 tons annually. Fun scent combinations like Coconut & Vanilla or Lavender & Rose only sweeten the deal. (No synthetic fragrances with names like “Steel Ice,” thank you very much.)
This certified organic, gorgeously buildable blush delivers the perfect suffusion of color for all skin types, in 11 refillable shades. Though pricier than your average blush, Kjaer Weis has introduced a more affordable refill compact in addition to their original luxe design, making the eco-friendly brand a little more pocket-friendly as well.
Cotton balls are perfect for removing makeup, but the bad news is that they’re pretty bad for the environment. Fast growing, regenerative, and less water-wasting, bamboo is a more sustainable alternative. Even better, these rounds can be washed and reused--so you can toss them into your laundry, instead of the trash. Switch to these rounds for applying micellar water, wiping off eyeshadow, or even removing nail polish.
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