Ethical Beauty Products – The Story of Beauty

5 Ways To Eliminate Plastic From Your Beauty Routine

We talked a bit about plastic waste last week. We can conclude that overuse of plastic is a serious issue- it’s affecting human lives, and it disproportionately affects minority people living in underdeveloped nations. If we claim to value justice, equality, and human life, then we need to care about plastic waste. There isn’t room for negotiation.

Of course, for anyone living in a plastic-dependent culture, plastic has become so “normal” to us that we can’t always imagine a realistic solution to the crisis. The good news is, more and more options for sustainable living are becoming available! Your beauty routine can be a great place to get started because, unlike groceries, medical supplies, or essential clothing items, beauty supplies are something you can buy more gradually and take time to research.

Here are five simple ways to get started and eliminate plastic from your beauty routine:

Check for companies that are partners with TerraCycle. For many beauty products, packaged foods and beverages, or healthcare supplies (including some PPE!), it’s just a matter of boxing it up and either mailing it to TerraCycle or dropping it off at one of their sites.

2. Beauty Products in Bar Form. Bar soap is an easy way to eliminate a single-use plastic bottle (as long as it isn’t packaged in plastic!), and many other hygiene products are available in bars rather than plastic-bottled liquid. Some of my faves:

Ethique includes bar shampoos, conditioners, and skincare. They also have lines of pet care and even home cleaning products. Some are meant to be used directly in bar form; others dissolve into liquid when added to water (in a reusable jar or bottle). Ethique is also 100% direct trade, cruelty-free and vegan, so you can rest assured that your purchase is supporting both people and the planet.
Lush is known for their bar products that are “sliced” for you in the store (imagine an elegant spa meets a French cheese shop, if you will!). They also have products in individual bars of shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion. I’ve always found Lush employees to be very knowledgeable of their products and happy to help you find the best fit for your skin and hair. Lush is also committed to fair-trade and cruelty-free products.
UnwrappedLife carries several collections of bar shampoos, conditioners, and soaps for various skin and hair needs. They are vegan and cruelty-free, but I couldn’t find anything about being fair-trade or direct-trade on their website.

3. Switch to reusable pads and wipes. Facial pads for toner or eye makeup remover, or cleansing facial wipes might not be made of plastic, but they often come packaged in single-use plastic. A one-time investment in reusable facial pads like these from Marley’s Monsters, or reusable makeup removal cloths like these from Norwex* can really save on plastic packaging over time. Plus, they eliminate chemicals in cheap makeup remover or pre-moistened toner pads that can really mess with your skin.

4. Use sugar/salt based exfoliating scrubs. It’s becoming more and more widely known that scrubs made from ground fruit pits (*cough cough St. Ives cough*) and other ground substances are actually terrible for your skin- I guess dragging hundreds of tiny, sharp, jagged edges over your skin doesn’t do much to improve your complexion! Scrubs with tiny, rounded plastic beads have become a popular alternative, but the plastic doesn’t just disappear when you rinse it down the drain! Some countries have banned plastic microbeads all together because they are easily mistaken for food by fish, which affects the entire underwater ecosystem AND the food chain.

A sugar/salt based scrub can be a great alternative because the individual grains aren’t hard enough to scratch your skin, and they dissolve once they go down the drain. Some people make their own scrubs, but this can be tricky because they don’t always have a long shelf-life (you don’t want your “scrub” already-dissolved in the jar or bottle!), and many ingredients touted as “safe” on pinterest are perfectly safe to eat or use for other purposes, but can be really tough on your skin! My personal favorite is Rodan&Fields Microdermabrasion Paste*; it is formulated by dermatologists and the jar is recyclable through TerraCycle. It’s been my saving grace in treating my keratosis pilaris (aka chicken skin!).

5. Look for makeup brands with sustainable packaging. Most makeup comes with some form of plastic, but more brands are moving towards sustainable forms of packaging. A few of my faves:

BeautyCounter* has several products that come packaged in cardboard or glass. Check with a consultant to find specific products in recyclable, waste-free packaging. They are also committed to ethically sourced ingredients!
RiverOrganics uses recycleable cardboard in all their packaging. They also use sustainable, plant-oil based ingredients that are ethically sourced.
Crunchi Cosmetics* has several makeup items that come in glass or paper-based packaging for easy recycling. They are vegan, cruelty-free, and ethically sourced.

No one promises that living sustainably or making ethical consumer choices will be convenient, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Small steps to change your beauty regimen can make a difference for the entire world!

*These links lead to direct sales businesses run by myself (Rodan&Fields) or members of my community. If you purchase through these links, it is no difference in cost to you, but we receive a small commission. If you have a friend or family member who owns a business through one of these companies, I encourage you to connect with them before making any purchases!

Palm Oil: No Easy Solution to a Crisis

Palm oil has recently come to light on many levels in the media. Usually, the first thing we hear about is the environmental impact- images of burned rainforests and lifeless, charred bodies of orangutans point to the need for better sustainability within the palm oil industry. Less often talked about but even more urgent, though, is the issue of labor trafficking and horrific abuse towards workers in the palm oil industry.

This topic is a hard one to address for two reasons:

Palm oil is in 50% of our groceries and consumable products. Even if you have the time and money to buy and eat purely unprocessed foods and high-quality consumables, palm oil is hard to avoid.
The information readily available to everyday consumers is controversial. One group will claim that sustainable or ethically sourced palm oil is readily available from organizations x, y, or z. Another group will pipe up with reasons why group x, y, or z is actually unethical and may actually be more harmful to the environment and people. For people who just want to make ethical buying choices, trying to understand the palm oil industry can be discouraging to the point where people feel like giving up…but, the reality of the palm oil industry is too dark to be brushed aside.

The majority of the world’s supply of palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. When researchers took a deep dive into palm oil farms (this video is just one example), they found workers in unthinkable conditions, including:

•Workers being forced to work overtime in dangerous conditions, without extra pay or any sort of protection or compensation if they are injured while working.

•Sexual harassment and rape/assault of workers, with no legal support or protection if they try to report it.

•”Double-trafficking”- taking advantage of vulnerable refugees who are fleeing slavery and unjust imprisonment in nearby regions, promising them steady work on the palm oil farms, but then taking away their IDs or beating them if they try to leave or cannot meet demands.

•Workers being forced to bring their children to help them meet impossibly high work quotas- if they fail to meet the quotas, they may face financial or physical abuse from their employers. Small children are forced to help with dangerous, back-breaking labor. Because they cannot attend school while helping their parents, children who survive the terrible conditions into adulthood will likely have no choice other than continued enslavement on the palm oil farms, and they will eventually be forced to bring their children to help them, repeating the cycle of slavery and poverty.

Our initial response may be to cry out, “Boycott Palm Oil!”, but the effects of eliminating palm oil can be even more devastating than our global obsession with it. Palm oil is one of the most efficient oils to grow and harvest, and it has been used to replace dangerous trans-fats in many foods. Many alternatives to palm oil would create even more devastation in our environment, to public health, and to farmers who are trying to run ethical palm oil businesses (labor traffickers, however, would simply apply their cruel methods to a new form of business, and former trafficking victims would be without work, leaving them vulnerable to new forms of trafficking and exploitation).

As I mentioned above, it’s difficult to determine the most effective path to fighting labor trafficking and slavery within the palm oil industry. A simple internet search will point to The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a non-profit that unites stakeholders in specific standards for palm oil, including sustainable practices and ethical labor practices. However, you may have to dig deeper to find out if your favorite companies are using sustainable palm oil- just because a company is listed as a member does not mean they have met all their goals to be RSPO certified. Given what is available to consumers, though, seeking out RSPO certified products may be one of the best steps in the right direction that we can take.

Ultimately, be it palm oil or any other raw materials that have historical ties to slavery, our responsibility as consumers is the same: to do our research, be aware of new developments, and check our sources. It can feel like a hassle. It’s inconvenient. But, 40.3 million people are living in slavery and trafficking around the world. Inconvenience and hassle are a small price to pay for their freedom.

All That Glitters: The Truth Behind the Sparkle In Your Makeup:

I’m a pageant girl. I love, love LOVE all things sparkly. My jewelry collection (formed on a Dave-Ramsey-following-teacher’s budget) has it’s share of silvery and earth-toned items, but my favorite things are always the ones with sparkly stones. And, at age 34, even some of my decor still includes sparkle and glitter. Hey, it’s my space! Why not?

Naturally, I’m drawn to makeup that involves some shimmer. I’m not talking about a fierce, glittery, going-out look – I’m referring to that little bit of shimmer that you see in eye shadow or highlighter, or in some lipglosses or body lotions. It’s fun and it’s fashionable…but it often comes at a cost to someone else.

Mica, the mineral that creates the sparkle in cosmetics

The mineral used to create this shimmery effect is called mica. It’s a shimmery mineral found in parts of Asia, Africa, and even in some areas of North and South America.Mica can be listed in cosmetics as “mica,” “potassium aluminium silicate” or “CI 77019”. It is usually not considered harmful (although some people can be sensitive or allergic to it), and it can be a vital part of local economies. While ethically sourced mica is available, it is estimated that 60% of mica used in the cosmetic industry comes from parts of south eastern Asia, where labor exploitation and child labor trafficking is rampant.

In this video, Refinery29 and journalist Lexy Lebsack venture into a village in India to observe children and families working in mica mines. Many of the children talk about longing to attend school, but it is not a financial option for them or their families. In heartbreaking moments, young children tell Lebsack about their peers who were killed when part of the mine collapsed. Just as they prepare to lower the camera into one of the ominous-looking mines, Lebsack and her team are forced to make a quick exit, as they are warned that “Someone is coming!” The people behind these mines know that their work is evil and corrupted, and they don’t want it being shown to the rest of the world. Lebsack goes on to explain that broken bones and other serious injuries, as well as respiratory issues are all too common among the children. Sadly, because of the low pay and long hours that prevent children from attending school, many of them are caught in a cycle of poverty that will continue for generations.

Lesback offers hope as she describes the Child Friendly Village Model that Human Rights groups strive to create. She also talks about Lush Cosmetics and their commitment to using synthetic mica in all their products. Other makeup brands that use ethically sourced mica or no mica at all include:

Crunchi: Crunchi is committed to cosmetics that are safe for the wearer, the environment, and ethically sourced. I bought a bronzer and a lipstick from them just recently and loved both- they go on with just enough color to “pop” but still look subtle, and they stayed on throughout the day. The bronzer actually doesn’t have any shimmer to it- which is good. In my foundation and contouring tutorial last month, I explained why bronzer should be matte! This link takes you to my friend, Tasha; if you shop here she will be your advocate and will receive a small commission.

Omiana: Omiana makeup is made with ethically sourced mica and cruelty free, mainly vegan raw materials. I bought an eye-shadow tri-color pallet from them and demonstrated it in an eyeshadow tutorial last month. The pigment is light, but that makes for an easier natural look!

Devinah Cosmetics: Devinah is an Indie makeup line that is great for bright colors and over-the top artistry. I haven’t been able to try their products yet but I’d love to hear from anyone who has! What I do know is that they are cruelty free and committed to ethically sourced products.

BeautyCounter: Some people might cringe at anything related to direct sales or multi-level marketing, but I’ve had overall positive interactions with their consultants. This link takes you to my friend, Angela, but if you have a friend or family who is a consultant I encourage you to buy from them. BeautyCounter is a certified B Corporation and they are committed to using safe, ethical ingredients in their cosmetics. This link takes you to my friend, Angela. If you shop through it, she will be your consultant and will receive a small comission.

Mica is a seemingly small ingredient that we can easily overlook- but for those trapped in the mines, it is a consuming cycle of poverty and modern-day slavery. Remember: as you shop for your cosmetics, your money is your voice!