Beginning My Packaging Free Beauty Journey

Resisting the urge to rush out and buy every naked product offered at Lush took up most of my energy this week. Homework naturally took a hit in my frenzy of research, but in the quest to help our earth there's no harm in that, right? 

Once I'd decided what I wanted to try, it was haul time. Here's the thing I realized just before I hopped in my Honda to drive to the mall: filling up my bathroom cupboard with new products that serve the same purpose as products I already own, just for the sake of a blog post, defeats the purpose of my beauty goal. No matter how "naked", or packaging free products come, mass consumerism is not the point. I should be using up my existing products until I've squeezed out every last drop before I buy anything else. So, when the excitement of this idea and the urge to shop hit me, I paused, allowed the voice of the lady on my meditation app tell me to practice patience, and got calmly into my car on the mission to buy one product and one product alone. 

I walked calmly into the Kelowna Lush store, took a few photos, and asked the employee for help picking out a shampoo bar. I'd run out of shampoo and though I am still planning on refilling an empty bottle with toning shampoo at my hair salon (another sustainable practice I'll touch on later), I wanted to find something I could use on a more regular basis. Throwing any random product on the counter and exclaiming "ring me up, I am saving the planet" would have been ignorant. What ingredients are in the product? How is it packaged when its shipped? How long will it last? These are all questions I needed to ask before patting myself on the back like a good samaritan. Luckily the lovely Lush employee was prepared for my questions, as was the Lush website's sustainability pages (can be found if you click on the icons at the bottom of their browser, each dedicated to a different ethical commitment). 

Well, I'm speaking to you now post shower, and no longer a shampoo bar virgin. Honey I Washed My Hair was my shampoo bar of choice for its supposed moisture retaining yet light weight nature. I was also kindly given two generous samples of their solid facial oils (insert praying hands emoji). After one wash I have to say my hair feels clean and soft despite the recent bleaching, but still light and textured. Just how I like it. You can be sure I will report back on the lasting impacts of this product. One product in and I'm feeling more encouraged than ever to start my packaging free beauty journey.

 Now I want to share with you some of the sustainable beauty commitments I'm going to try my very best to keep in 2020 and on-wards. There are an infinite number of other actions you can take in your every day life to help reduce waste, but I'm definitely not an expert... Yet. For more tips, head to Google or explore local zero waste stores in your town to get you fired up to help the planet. 
In the mean time, join me in the quest by making the following changes in your beauty life.

• Re-fill empty products (lots of salons and zero waste stores have re-fill stations for household liquids).
• Join me and try packaging free products.
• Avoid beauty sets and kits that have excess plastic packaging (I'm looking at you Sephora).
• Save a few of the sample pots you get from beauty stores and keep them in your bag for the next time you want to test something out. Or else, keep your smaller empty product jars to use for samples instead of getting new plastic tubs every time. 
• Ask employees or research about the amount of plastic packaging products are wrapped in for delivery. It will scare you, and help you decipher what brands to buy from.
• Bring in your own bags (this goes for ALL types of shopping you do).
• When in doubt, go with glass packaging over plastic. According to my research, it's much more likely to be properly recycled.
• Buy products in non-virgin recycled packaging when possible.
• Try to use longer lasting products. This saves money and waste. Example; powder dry shampoo over aerosols.
• Find somewhere local that specializes in recycling empty beauty products (If you're in Kelowna, Portia-Ella offers this).
• When shopping online, make a note if possible to send your package with as little plastic as possible (this goes for ALL types of order you place, even take out food).
• Switch to reusable cotton pads, cotton buds, muslin clothes, razors, etc.

Let me know how you get along with some of these changes. And wish me luck!



Thanks for reading.

- Emily