9 Ways To Make Your Beauty Routine More Sustainable

Last Updated on March 23, 2023

Sustainability is the talk of the town these days. And being a skincare enthusiast, I took my first step toward a greener lifestyle by making my beauty routine more sustainable.

Our personal care routine hurts nature in more ways than we think. Thankfully, we can easily switch to a more eco-friendly and sustainable beauty routine without comprising healthy skin and hair.

How To Make Your Beauty Routine More Sustainable?

1. Buy Indian Brands

The easiest way to make your beauty routine more sustainable is to buy from local brands instead of imported brands. When you order products from abroad, they usually leave a larger carbon footprint due to the longer travel involved.

But when you choose an Indian brand, the shipment process leaves a smaller carbon footprint. This way, you will even help strengthen our economy by supporting local farmers and businesses and reducing imports.

Also Read: 6 Clean Beauty Brands To Watch Out For in 2020

2. Choose Eco-Friendly Packaging

Plastic takes several years to decompose and has been found to be damaging aquatic life. Hence we must opt for more sustainable options such as glass or metal containers, recyclable cardboard, paper etc.  

Thankfully, more and more indie brands are ditching plastic for such sustainable options. They have even replaced plastic bubble wraps with newspapers or paper based fillers to stuff shipment boxes.

Try to buy as much as you can from these brands to reduce plastic pollution. My top picks are Juicy Chemistry, Earth Rhythm, Vilvah and Raw Beauty.

3. Be a Slow Consumer

The Beauty companies thrive on our consumerist attitude to make money. And hence, they keep launching more stuff to boost their sales. 

But there is no need for you to hoard products unless you want to waste money and resources by having half-used bottles lying on your shelves.

Choose your products wisely and use them up completely before you buy more(unless something does not suit your skin of course). You may unfollow brands on social media or unsubscribe to their newsletters to resist temptations.

If a brand runs a sale once, there is a 99% chance they will do it again. So don’t think you are missing out on an opportunity.

4. Choose Organic/Natural Ingredients

Not all synthetic ingredients are bad, but whenever possible choose natural or organic formulations for a more sustainable beauty routine. These products are usually handmade and manufactured without any fossil-fuel derived ingredients, thereby reducing carbon footprint.

Also, natural and organic ingredients are biodegradable in nature and don’t contaminate soil or water too.

I have made a list of natural/clean beauty brands that are transparent about their ingredients. You can join my free resource library and download this list for free. (It is not an all-inclusive list but I have managed to include as many brands as I can).

5. Avoid Plastic Tools

Once you have replaced your beauty products with sustainable versions, it is time to replace plastic/disposable tools from your routine. Switch to more sustainable alternatives like natural loofahs, reusable cotton pads, wooden combs, eco-friendly cotton-buds etc. 

These last longer and help you save money too.

For eg. You can get a natural loofah for just 30-35 rs. Or opt for a reusable cotton pad (Ecodeeds has a set of 4 for just Rs.210 and they will easily last you a couple of years.)

6. Choose Solid Bars

Thanks to the zero waste movement, solid shampoo bars and soaps are regaining popularity once again. They are more economical, last longer and sustainable too.

I even got a solid conditioner bar from Earth Rhythm and found it to be as good as conditioners that come in plastic bottles.

Since these types of products don’t require much packaging, adding them to your routine will help you cut down a lot of plastic waste from your beauty routine.

Also Read: 7 Best Shampoo Bars in India

7. DIY It

The best way to create a more sustainable beauty routine is making your own DIY beauty products at home. Most ingredients are already present in the kitchen.

And you can easily buy the rest online from brands that provide several herbs and botanical ingredients required to create your DIY recipes.

Replacing certain high-performance products can be challenging. But you can always start with a simple DIY powder cleanser or face mask. 

Also Read: Easiest Guide To Make A DIY Powder Cleanser

8. Recycle Your Empties

Insteading of throwing away empty beauty containers, send them for recycling. Most local kabadiwalas or scrap dealers will take the empty containers if they are cleaned well.

Brands like Juicy Chemistry, Mamearth or The Body Shop have their own recycling programs. They even offer discount codes or reward points to you if your send back empty containers.

Sublime Life also has a recycling program where they will accept empties from all beauty brands.

 P.s Remember, recycling is always a Plan B, try to reduce your consumption or even reuse empty containers as much as possible.

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9. Buy in Bulk

Greenhouse gases emitted by vehicles are one of the key contributors behind the climate crisis. So to make your online shopping more sustainable and economical, buy in bulk.

There are two ways to do this-

• Order larger quantities of products you use on a regular basis

• Purchase more stuff from a single brand/store to reduce frequency of shipments.

There are ecommerce stores like Sublime Life or Vanity Wagon that have several clean beauty brands on board making bulk buying an easy transition.  You can even combine your shipments with your family and friends and save shipping costs in return.

Have more tips for  creating a sustainable beauty routine? Do comment below and share them with us. 

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