Today sees the start of the Soil Association’s Organic Beauty and Wellbeing Week. This week is to encourage the use of organic beauty in your routine to help you and the planet. The campaign is encouraging just one simple swap to make the world of difference..
When you first start to learn about organic beauty, there can often be a pressure from yourself to change everything at once. However, it can be a really daunting task to switch your beauty regime over to an organic one. Chances are you’ve already got a favourite facial moisturiser or serum that you know and trust. You might have also just bought a new one or only be half way through it. Don’t worry, you don’t have to throw it all away. Just making one small swap in your beauty regime can make a difference – for you and the planet.
Choosing products that are made with certified organic and quality ingredients, will be kinder to your skin – it gets the nutrition it needs without the cheap synthetic ingredients that it simply doesn’t recognise. These products will also be kinder to the environment; to be certified, brands must adhere to strict standards. They must have considered supply chains and transparent manufacturing – no GM or controversial chemicals are allowed. Packaging must be responsible and respect must be shown for animals, along with protection of wildlife and biodiversity. At a time when the safeguarding of our planet has never been so vital, these are the types of products that I believe we need to be supporting and using.
If you would like to start trying more organic beauty, start of small and change just one thing or a few little things, then as you finish up your current products (which is much more environmentally friendly than just throwing them away), you can start to introduce more organic beauty. This gives you a chance to try products individually and learn what works for your skin. It is also much kinder on your bank balance and makes it an easier transition.
One great thing to switch first is your body lotion. Think about how much surface area you cover with something like this – much more than an eye cream for example. It is possibly something that you might go through a bit quicker and also something that you might not be as attached to, therefore easier to change. Body lotions tend to be the lower priced products in a range, so also a great introduction to different brands.
Another great and really easy thing to swap is your cotton pads, buds and face wipes. This is something that many of us use everyday but probably don’t think too much about. Conventional cotton uses 16% of all insecticides used globally, do you really want to be ‘cleaning’ your face with that? Organic cotton avoids toxic fertilisers and pesticides, so is a much better option all round – for you, the environment and for the farmers who grow it.
Maybe even go one better, especially if you’re trying to reduce waste in the bathroom, and try washable reusable cotton pads. Tip – if you wear lots of make-up, look for patterned or darker coloured ones otherwise they’ll grey very quickly! An organic cotton muslin, (or darker coloured flannel) is another brilliant addition, use it to clean your face, it will also gently exfoliate and help to make skin smoother and brighter. Then just pop it in the wash to be re-used again and again.
The Soil Association’s 2019 Organic Beauty & Wellbeing Report bought to light that only 50% of packaging is recycled in the bathroom compared to 90% in the kitchen. This is crazy considering the amount of products found in a typical bathroom. That said some beauty products can be harder to recycle if they are made from mixed materials and components. If you’d like to recycle more, why not make a swap to an organic product in a fully recyclable bottle. Also check out Neal’s Yard Remedies new recycling initiative, for those bits that are trickier to recycle. Another great swap is a good old bar of soap, instead of a bottle of shower gel.
What we choose to buy can and does have an impact in so many ways. If we all swapped even just one thing, imagine the difference it could make.
What are your swapping tips?!
