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To be vain is to lay waste.
Getty Images / Bella Geraci
I should know I am an expert at doing both.
Every morning, I cause a small apocalypse.
First, I awaken.
Getty Images / Bella Geraci
Then the horrors begin.
I apply a face serum that plumps my skin.
Then comes a concealer that may or may not receive its glide from microscopic plastic particles.
Getty Images / Bella Geraci
And then sunscreen, of course, every day!
The feeling sits prickly in the back of my head at all times.
I have no excuses.
I love the planet more.
But I love myself the most.
The beauty industry takes a lot from the planet, and turns it into eventual garbage.
The most popular skin-care product in the world is a fossil fuel byproduct.
(So does demand for rigid plastic, year over year.)
Let other people work out the blame.
Suddenly, I felt the need to try.
This seemed like a better idea, and also easier.
But isnt it at least noble, a little cool, even necessary, to try?
And biodiversity is about the interconnectedness of an ecosystem.
It’s the animals that live there, the fungi, the soil, the water sources…
There’s so much symbiosis, and our bodies are very similar.
We have bodies that are made to heal their wellness machines.
And it’s just like the ecosystems that we shouldn’t mess with, right?
I limit hair washing.
I use very little moisturizer.
If you kind of give your body that chance to do its thing, it usually does.
We probably need lots lots lotslotsfewer interventions than we are sold.
But I do have my treats, like my favorite mascara.
That’s my thing that hopefully I never have to give up.
Last year I started working with a facialist, and we really decreased what was on my face.
She was like, People put so much on that it’s not worth it.
Then I realized that it comes in a 950 mil bottle.
I like theBloom Jelly serum bara lot.
The starter kit comes with a tin, but you could also buy the refill and use your own.
It’s more efficient.
These are actually good products that compete with what I used to use.[Ed.
note:Allureeditors likeBrixyandLove Beauty and Planetshampoo and conditioner bars.]
You put the pod in the container that they provide and you just add water.
And you just keep refilling the same bottle.
Thats what we use in all of our bathrooms.
Its an easy change to make.
Its packaged in glass.
And I use thisBuju Skin Under Eye and Lip Balm, which I get from Package Free Shop.
Its made with shea butter, candelilla wax, and coconut oil.
And I make some beauty products myself, like dry shampoo.
Next, look for products that have fewer ingredients, and ingredients you’re free to understand.
And go for the following hierarchy in terms of packaging.
The best are products with limited packaging, like bulk coconut oil, or shampoo bars.
Products packaged in glass or metal or paper are good.
But avoid anything packaged in plastic.
Most of it isn’t recyclable and even if it is, only 6% of it will be.
Amy Ziff, founder,Made Safe
We are a society of have and having.
I have three teenagers now and I tell them; Remember you’re being marketed to.
What’s the difference between want and need?
Growing up, I was taught you shampoo and conditioner daily.
I went to a more natural shampoo, and I stopped conditioning.
I’m trying to change my relationships with all of these systems through my actions.
There are some practical changes I made.
I dont accept free products.
I only wash my hair twice a week instead of every day.
I changed my pillowcase to satin, because it prevents breakage.
And thats been amazing for me.
Read more about sustainability:
Watch Quannah Chasinghorse’s beauty routine:
