Monday, September 25, 2017

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Twenty Six


SEPTEMBER 26 (TUESDAY)

FASHION & BEAUTY - REUSABLE BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Good Day!
How are you going? Did you have any luck or have any fun making your own beauty products? Did you find a more environmentally friendly version for yourself to use now or in the future?

The idea for tomorrow is still on the Fashion and Beauty theme...

Sustainable September Day Twenty Six - Find Environmentally Friendly reusable products.

You may wonder what I am talking when I say reusable products. I mean finding replacements for single use items like disposable cotton make-up pads, disposable razors, even tampons.

Disposable make up wipes/pads. I used to buy single use wipes and make up removal pads. WHich is kind of funny because I dont use make up very often, but when I do I usually stick to mascara, eye shadow and eye liner, with a coloured lip gloss. I like to keep it simple. My skin (on my face) doesnt like foundation or concealers so I just dont use them unless it is for promotions work. But when it comes to my eye makeup, unless i want to look like a panda in the morning I use make up removal pads to get it off with eye-make-up remover. I got given some commercial Eye Make Up removal creams a long time ago, and instead of wasting it, I am VERY slowly using it up. That means i am still using make up removal pads... however they are no longer disposable. I bought a set of 5 make-up removal pads from Undisposed.

These little babies are amazing. I use my 'regular' make up remover on them and they work a treat. I rinse them off after my make up comes off, then throw them in the wash (in a cloth bag so i dont loose them) and put them through the wash. Simple. They often share a cloth bag in the wash with my handkercheifs and reusable feminine hygiene pads.

You could also make these if you wated too. I just find its easier to buy mine... and 5 is enough for me because i dont use make up very often, however you might need more depending on your makeup and facecare regime.

Disposable Razors is an interesting one. I haven't used a razor for a long time. As my best friend is a beauty therapist she would constantly tell me how bad shaving was for the skin and hair I wanted to remove. So i used to get her to do all my waxing. However she now lives in Melbourne so I can no longer just pop over to get her to do it for me. So I had to come up with another idea.

So I researched Epilators and ended up buying one at christmas time in the boxing day sales. This is not the ideal. There is a lot of plastic that came with my Epilator and even though it is reusable and rechargable there isnt really a way to recycle it when it no longer works for me. I will keep using it until it dies.

There are other options though. For those who haven't got a problem with shaving there are things called "safety razors" that are made out of all metal with a replacable blade. They vary in price from about $20 -$250AUD (in Australia) so shop around and check out online stores too. Finding one that doesnt come packed in plastic would also be a good outcome.



Another option for those who like to get treated to having their eye brows or other body parts hair free... threading. I have given this a go a couple times. It is the least waste I have seen of all those who do hair removal as a service. They use cotton (like magicians) and basically pluck out the hair in your arms/legs/lips/brows. I dont think they do private areas though. Mind you it is facinating to watch... like evil hair pulling magicians. hehehe. Maybe not evil... but it feels like that even though i find it completely facinating to watch.

Tampons & Menstrual Pads- There will me Too Much Information (TMI) shared here so you can skip the next two paragraphs if this doesn't apply to you. - So the last few years i have talked about the zero waste option of not using disposable tampons or menstrual pads. I bought some reusable menstrual pads and love them... but what I mentioned but didnt give a go until this year was this awesome thing called a menstrual cup. I am a menstrual cup convert. Why? well apart from the fact that there is no rubbish that i need to get rid of every few hours for the week that i get my monthly menace... the best part is that i can go 12 HOURS... yes you read that right... 12 HOURS... without having to change on a regular day! For me that is the best thing in the world. It also lines up nicely with having showers twice a day. I dont like to empty my menstrual cup down the toilet if i can help it because the blood often sits at the bottom of the toilet and can make for some interesting conversations. So i find a quick shower to empty it out and wash it in hot water with soap, rinse and then reinsurt works well. It also makes me a happy lady! For me I need to use my reusable pads for the first few days of my period because it is super heavy and will overflow my menstrual cup... but not by much. So a mix of the two works so well for me. But by about day 3 Idont even need to wear a pad... no leakage!!!! Woooohoooo!!! okay... yes... TMI... but for those who go through some stuff like i usually go through with periods, you might like to give these a go. They cost about $50 AUD but last several years. And considering i was spending about $5-10 per month on disposable feminine hygiene this is a much better investment for me. I love my Diva Cup. Never thought i would say that.... ehehhee.

There are a range of menstrual cups available on the market too... depending on price and what you are looking for...



And this is just a few... I think there are a few different options here in Australia too. So that is pretty interesting! There are also a whole heap of reusable menstrual pads and free patterns avaiable on the web to make your own. I have saved some links in my Eco and Environment Pinterest Board if you want to check them out there. 

Extra Swaps. There are also a few other things that you could swap out in your beauty and fashion regime. Like cotton wool buds. They are often little sticks of plastic with cottonwool attached to the ends. They are used for all kinds of things. I recently found (at the Wasteless Pantry) that you can get bamboo Cotton wool buds, that come wrapped in a cardboard container so the cottow wool buds can be composted after they have been used. Next time you go to buy these little things, buy the eco friendly ones instead and then compost them! :) 

ACTIVITY - look at where you could make a swap immediately. Do you need to buy some new cottonwool buds (not balls)... then get the Bamboo ones instead! Need to buy a new pack of tampons or a new razor... how about getting ones that are eco friendly and plastic free! Make a simple swap today! :) 

I hope this finds you all well.
Much Love, 
Daena 

ps. I am about to have a bath with the epsom salts I got at the Wasteless Pantry the other day... My body is complaining after i did bootcamp today! oh the joys of being fit and energetic! :) 

p.p.s A friend of mine shared with me a new Zero Waste store that has opened up not far from her in Halls Head (Which is the other side of Perth City to me). It is called The Glass Jar - A Wastefree Eco Pantry! Their catchphrase is so cool... "Saving the world... one container at a time!".  So if you are south of Perth, Western AUstralia and The Wasteless Pantry is too far from you... check out this shop. It is only about a month old apparently... so they need all the support they can get!!!!:) 

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