In various discussions about sustainability we found ourselves coming back to the topic of sustainable natural cosmetics again and again. Each month we flush down tons of plastic in the form of micro, ingredients that cause damage to our skin and our health and animal testing are keywords that keep coming up. There are many approaches to the sustainable consumption of cosmetics. In various discussions and in my own research I went on a journey to clarify this topic.
This article is about understanding what sustainable natural cosmetics are. We also give you some practical tips on how you can integrate sustainable cosmetics in your own life.
What makes sustainable natural cosmetics?
Natural cosmetics is often associated with the subjects of skin compatibility, eco-friendliness, and animal testing. Though when we pick just any cosmetics off the shelf of an organic store, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a sustainable product, which actually covers the mentioned points. I have summarized the main criterias of sustainable natural cosmetics, so know we buy cosmetics we know what to pay attention to.
Skin Compatibility
When purchasing cosmetics for most of us purchasing a product that delivers what it promises and does our skin well comes first. However, unfortunately many care products contain ingredients which harm us. This is the case with dermatologically tested products from well-known brands, luxury cosmetics, and some natural cosmetic products as well.
Paraffins dry out the skin in the long term and weaken sebaceous and sweat glands. Preservatives (parabens) may cause several skin allergies and increase, and upset the body’s hormone balance. In addition, some perfumes, fragrances and essential oils can cause allergic reactions in the long term.
Trained cosmeticians, as well as apps such as Code Check (German), which with a scan of the barcode searches for questionable ingredients in products, help us to cope with all the chemical terms.
Download Code Check for Android
Download Code Check for iPhone
Eco-Friendliness
The environment is not a priority for most cosmetics manufacturers. What stands out the most is the packaging waste, which is made out of not bio-degradable or not recyclable materials.
Even inside the products Plastic is often included in the form of micro plastic. Micro plastics are micro- or nanometer-sized plastic particles. These tiny particles are washed into the drain by us consumers, through cosmetic products such as scrubs. They can’t be fully filtered out by water treatment plants and are hardly degradable. A part goes into rivers, the sea, lakes, our food chain and our drinking water.
Micro plastic in rivers, Martin Wagner et al. In: Environmental Sciences Europe. 26, 2014
Another often-discussed issue are palm oil-derived ingredients. Huge areas of tropical rainforest are destroyed to make way for Palm oil plantations. Because the natural habitat of orang-utans is destroyed, they move on to oil palm plantations, where they are maimed or even killed.
The cosmetics retailer lush tries to reduce its footprint in the areas of the environment through the use of reusable packaging materials and the renunciation of ingredients derived from palm oil.
Cruelty-free
Animal testing is performed for many care products. Companies now test some substances on artificially grown human skin cells, which produce much transferable results than experiments on rabbits our mouses.
To choose cruelty-free cosmetics on your next purchase, PETA’s cruelty-free companies list supports us in making our choice.
Cruelty-free doesn’t necessarily mean, free of animal products. The «Vegan»-logo, which is pictured on many, but not all, animal-product-free cosmetics, is a guide.
Personal Taste
For a cosmetic product to really be sustainable, it must correspond with our personal taste. I have tried many cosmetics, whose odour or consistency didn’t fit me. I have never used them again. Other products such as avocado oil for moisturizing my skin have perfectly suited my taste. It’s all about just trying it out. Asking to try at your local store or a short test cycle may help.
Approaches for Everyday Life
To find cosmetics, which are skin-friendly, eco-friendly and cruelty-free, and in addition match personal taste, is a process. Here are some tips.
Forgoing Cosmetics
I have often asked myself, whether we need most of the cosmetics in our closets at all. The moisturizer, the scrubs, the face cream, the hand cream, the suntan lotion, the special hair shampoo… Actually people in Europe have washed themselves only once per week to once a month for centuries and they used no complex skin care products with chemical formulas. So how is it that my closet is full of different care products?
A lot is due to the changing world. In the city, exhaust gases lay on our skin and through the early daily washing and applying lotion our bodies have adapted to the changing circumstances. The migration to climate areas, to which our bodies are not yet adapted, plays an important role as well.
However, many of our cosmetic problems are not only in the outer world, but are also due to our lifestyle. Plenty of sleep, drinking enough water, a healthy diet and a stress-free setting immediately influence my skin and my outer appearance. I’m trying to cover as much of my body care with a balanced lifestyle as feasible.
Finding Suitable Cosmetics by Trial and Error
With the help of tools like the Code Check App you can find great sustainable cosmetics. However, purchasing sustainable natural cosmetics is easiest when you have trusted brands.
I can personally recommend shopping at Lush, there you can tell your local consultant about your criterias and he or she will search out the appropriate products for you, which you can try out on the spot or take a sample of with you.
The products of the brand « Dr. Hauschka» were highly recommended to me by a friend. This is a manufacturer which, except for the packaging, meets the listed criterias of sustainable natural cosmetics in all their products. They are about far more, than only winning market share. They respect the skin’s regenerative ability and use raw materials and medicinal plants from organic and bio-dynamic cultivation, as well as wild plants. You can find Dr. Hauschka products in almost every pharmacy and drugstore.
Individual Constitution
Depending on the skin and/or hair type, our bodies react very differently from different products. Beauty institutes fully advise you on the products that best suit your skin and recommend sustainable cosmetics. Examples are the products from SkinIndent and Dr. Baumann, which meet most of the listed sustainability criterias and are sold exclusively through certified beauty institutions. One of these beauty institutions is the Institut de Beauté Gabrielle by Gabrielle Pittier in Bern.
Create Homemade Cosmetics Yourself
Many cosmetic products can be made quite simply make or bought and applied directly as raw materials. Things like pure cocoa butter as lip balm and pure avocado oil for moisturizing my dry skin belong to my care product closet. Lisa uses coconut oil as a conditioner for her hair and had a good experience with Baobab oil as a conditioner as well. These pure products sometimes work for us far better than previously used far more complex finished cosmetics.
For other cosmetics it takes more than just one ingredient. Though even many of these cosmetics recipes are very easy to implement. Here is a coffee scrub, recommended by a friend, which I tried and worked perfectly.
- Make a coffee (or have someone visit you, who would like to have a cup of coffee)
- Lay out the used coffee grounds to dry on a plate
- Mix the dry coffee grounds with olive oil
- Use the mixture as a scrub for your skin
So I won’t buy another face scrub that soon :-).
With homemade care products you need to take the same route as with conventional cosmetics, try and see what corresponds to your taste and your body type.
The topic of sustainable natural cosmetics can be far clearer than I had thought before my research. I will now gradually be replacing my previous cosmetic products on the basis of the criterias listed here with more sustainable alternatives and hope that you too could derive useful insights and next steps for yourself.
Which cosmetics will you next replace in your closet?
What sustainable natural cosmetics tips do you have to add?
Cheers,
Prosper
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