Earth Day Beauty: Treat Yourself And Keep Your Environmental Impact Low

Source: Courtesy of Love Beauty and Planet / Other

The beauty world has been changing in the last couple of years and thankfully, it’s making more sustainable and eco-friendly strides. Consumers are increasingly wanting transparency from the brands they support concerning all levels of their operations, like where their products are sourced, who’s manufacturing them, and importantly, what the company’s impact on the environment is.

Down below is a curation of tested brands and beauty products with clean beauty and eco-friendly initiatives at their forefront so you can feel good about treating your body to the best while also lowering your environmental impact.

Source: Courtesy of Earth To Skin / Other

Earth To Skin

Have you heard of Earth To Skin? Since its start in 2019 this skincare brand has scaled up (now available exclusively at Walmart) while keeping the prices of its products affordable and staying true to its values. The brand provides consumers with quality products free of parabens, phthalates, petroleum, mineral oil, sulfates and gluten so all that’s left is simple formulas with the best ingredients from our beautiful planet.

If you’re new to the brand, try out their Watermelon Hydrating Juicy Serum. It hydrates and refreshes the face and neck with watermelon fruit extract, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and antioxidants. They’re all ingredients that make the product great at brightening one’s skin complexion and evening out your skin tone.

Source: Courtesy of Love Beauty and Planet / Other

Love, Beauty, and Planet

The team at Love, Beauty, and Planet is continuing to do their part to help provide affordable and accessible beauty necessities that are eco-conscious. The brand recently released new haircare products you can find at Target that make them “the first mass beauty brand to debut aluminum reusable shampoo and conditioner bottles at retail stores.”

Once the product that comes in your reusable bottle is out, purchasing one of the brand’s refill bottles will get you more of the shampoo and/or conditioner you need. The more you reuse the aluminum bottle, the more you’ll reduce your plastic consumption and environmental impact over time.

If the aluminum bottles don’t sound like your thing for whatever reason, the Love, Beauty, and Planet team still has your back when it comes to hair care. The brand also recently came out with eco-friendly shampoo bars that are produced with less water than liquid alternatives and packaged in plastic-free and recyclable cartons.

If your hair is curly or kinky, try wetting the shampoo bar first with water and forming a lather on your hands before running it through your hair and scalp, as opposed to scrubbing the bar on your head which might cause tangles.

Source: Courtesy of Yes To / Other

Yes To

If you didn’t know, makeup wipes are usually made of non-biodegradable and/or plastic fibers that are both bad for the environment and bad for your skin. Luckily, that’s where Yes To’s Plant-Based Compostable Wipes come in. As a gender-neutral skincare brand, Yes To created their makeup removing wipes so you can still clear off your face in the fastest way possible without having to feel guilty about the damage the wipes have on the planet. Better yet — since these are compostable — you won’t have to worry about them clogging up your pipes in the long term either.

As far as their skincare benefits, these wipes come in over seven different formulas depending on any skincare concerns you’d like to address or beauty benefit you’d like to receive. They’re also dermatologist tested, cruelty-free, contain at least 97% natural ingredients, and are formulated without parabens, SLS, and petroleum.

Source: Courtesy of EcoTools / Other

EcoTools

The Bio Blender is a beauty tool by EcoTools that’s eco-friendly even down to its packaging. It’s the world’s first 100% biodegradable makeup sponge, and its natural foam is comprised of “five earth-friendly 100% bio-based and vegan ingredients.”

Being tested wet and dry with liquid and cream foundations, the beauty sponge helps your makeup go on just as effortlessly as any other makeup tool would.

The brand reports that it’ll take around 180 days if you choose to compost the Bio Blender at home after it’s past it’s makeup applying prime. For only $5.99 — available at Ulta, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, and on Amazon — it’s an affordable and accessible beauty sponge that will help you achieve flawless makeup application while making less of a negative impact on the environment.

Source: Courtesy of Alaffia / Other

Alaffia

Started in 2003 by Olowo-n’djo Tchala, Alaffia is a Black-owned skin and hair care brand that was born from a profound sense of responsibility and love for the land, people, and nation of Togo. Purchasing from this brand supports their amazing initiatives like their Reforestation Empowerment Project and its Regenerative Agriculture Program. The former has helped Alaffia “plant 93,010 trees in West Africa so far,” while the latter “promotes the fair trade of renewable agroforestry crop of shea nutsm” which the brand uses to make their products.

Their Africa’s Secret Multi-Use Balm was a favorite! Its scent was vanilla-ish, chocolatey, and almost smokey, which made it feel like a sensual luxury when used especially at nighttime. It left the skin with a hydrated and radiant glow that only pure shea butter can and worked well after showering with their Authentic African Black Soap which felt super fresh and clean.

Source: Courtesy of Refreshments / Other

Refreshments

Under its parent company IPSY, Refrshements has popped up in the skincare world to provide basic necessities that come straight to your doorstep whenever you need them through its subscription model.

Concerning some of their eco-friendly initiatives, “At least 30% of every product container is made out of post-consumer recycled plastic” — and IPSY members who combine their monthly shipments will significantly reduce the packaging materials used to get their products to them.

While you can get our thoughts on their other products here, their 24-hour protection Deodorant was most recently tested. As a non-comedogenic, aluminum-free, and baking soda-free deodorant with star ingredients including bergamot extract (to naturally help control odor), glycerin (to maintain softness and prevent dry skin), and aloe vera (to support skin with fast-absorbing moisture), the verdict is in and it’s a winner! If you’re curious, it’s available in four varieties for you to try — Unscented, Pacific Fizz, Lavender Splash, and Eucalyptus Julep (our favorite).

Source: Courtesy of Kari Gran / Other

Kari Gran