Environmentally friendly makeup – does it exist and where to buy

Makeup is not one of the products that can be considered being very environmentally friendly. Most women (and some men) have a very high frequency of changing makeup products – and reports are saying that around 40 % of all makeup articles are thrown out before they have been emptied. That is massive. When you know that literally every female person in USA and Europe got makeup articles in their bathroom, you might start to understand why this can become a problem.

So there is two aspects that can be looked at under the topic “environmentally friendly makeup”.

Table of Contents

• #1: Use less, trash less
• #2 Buy ecofriendly makeup
• Top 4 Online Stores Selling Environmentally Friendly Makeup 
• More and more makeup sold globally
• Makeup products that are harmful to the environment
• Where to buy ecofriendly makeup?
• Beauty, ecofriendly makeup tips for the summer
• Final words

#1: Use less, trash less

Can you find a way to make sure that you spend all your makeup products before they become “unfashionable” or reaches the expiry date? That is the question you should ask yourself. In other words, you can apply the same mindset to your makeup bag as you do with what`s in your fridge. The closer it becomes to the expiry date, the more important it will be to apply it to your face/body.

That is how you create environmentally friendly makeup routines.

#2 Buy ecofriendly makeup

Ecofriendly makeup is apparently something that has not exactly “taken off”. When I did some research on Google on this topic, I struggled to find companies that specialized in creating CO2-neutral, ecofriendly makeup.

Why?

Probably because they don’t have to in order to make money. And the consumers are not asking for eco-friendly products in this market. It all goes down to supply and demand.

But there are some companies that produce and sell makeup that:

– Are not tested on animals.
– Where the sunscreen does not destroy the coral reefs.
– Has a packaging that is not made out of plastic.
– Has a packaging where it is easy to empty the product 100 % (unlike most companies that for instance sell toothpaste).
– And so on.

I actually created a “top 10 list” of the best eco-friendly makeup brands that can be seen here.

So there are actually companies out there that try to have an environmentally friendly approach, but finding them in the big jungle of gigantic corporations is not easy. They are very much seen as “small niche organizations”.

More and more makeup sold globally

We know that people are not going to stop using makeup just because it might hurt the environment. Actually, we see a clear growth in the amount of makeup articles sold globally. And the number is increasing every year.

However, we do have some tips for best practices that will make sure that you:

1) Have a makeup routine that makes you look good and in the same time
2) takes care of the environment.

Makeup products that are harmful to the environment

In order to actually dig deeper and understand how makeup products contribute to increasing the global environmental issues, I guess we have to be a bit specific. What is it exactly that harms the environment?

Plastic packaging

Walking into a makeup shop, most people see a lot of tempting high-quality products. Do you know what you will see from an environmentalist point of view? Plastic.

Almost all makeup products are packed in plastic. And only a small part of all plastic will be recycled or reused. And the low recycle rate is not only the consumer’s fault. Even though you want to recycle your plastic packaging, you cannot be sure that it is possible. Why? Because there are loads of different types of plastic.

There are seven different types:

Type #1 can both be recycled and reused.
Type #2 can be recycled, but not reused.

…. And so on.

The problem is that manufacturers are often tempted to go for the environmentally hostile plastic types as these are the ones with the lowest production cost. But most of them have the plastic type written on the packaging. If you go and find your mascara straight away, it should be written on the packaging which type of plastic it is. At least products sold from the US.

You can read more about the different plastics in this link (external website, Eartheasy.com).

The ingredients list

The other part of the problem is what the makeup actually consists of: the ingredients. Do you ever read the ingredients list before you buy makeup? A very small percentage of us actually do that. One thing is to actually bother reading all of it. Another problem occurs when they are all names that you have never seen nor heard in your life. That makes it difficult to figure out if they are actually environmentally friendly or not.

There are two things that can happen if you use makeup with “wrong” ingredients:

1) It can harm your health.
2) It can harm the environment.

Both of them are pretty serious.

Unfortunately, there are no global restrictions on what makeup companies are allowed to put in their products. And that is a huge problem. Just look at these numbers:

In USA, 10 ingredients are banned. In Europe, 1372 ingredients have been banned.

Those numbers are quite alarming.

The lack of regulation is quite serious in the world of cosmetics. That literally means that a product cannot be considered safe despite the fact that it is sold through Amazon or is put on the shelves.

So how can you make sure that you don’t buy makeup that is bad for the environment?

It is a tough one. Very tough one. But you should have the following rule: only buy products that can be considered natural and organic.

If you start to purchase loads of makeup products that contain ingredients you cannot pronounce, the chances of you buying something which is not ecofriendly is quite high. And that is something you really should try to avoid. I know that there it might feel a bit sad to get rid of the products that you have used for many years already, but it is the only way if you want to do this right.

You might feel limited in the beginning. But the cosmetics industry has actually almost gone through a revolution over the last years. As consumers start to understand that they should only apply products that are good for themselves and their surroundings, more and more companies are focusing on producing ecofriendly makeup.

Also read: 10 remarkable advantages of vegan skincare.

Where to buy ecofriendly makeup?

There are probably one million web shops selling makeup these days. I feel it pops up a new one every second day. I guess it is one of the most competitive (and high earning) niches in the world. One of the best quotes from Shark Tank comes from Kevin O`Leary when he said:

“There are only two markets where you can earn more money than in cosmetics: selling weapon or drugs!”

Anyway, I believe that buying from Amazon is the safest and best option. If you click on this link, you will directly be guided to the section for eco-friendly makeup.

And when you see that there are more than 10 pages with different products, you know that you will be able to find some products that will be able to replace what you currently have in your makeup bag.

Beauty, ecofriendly makeup tips for the summer

But bеfоrе уоu gо аnd еnjоу thе hоt, lаzу dауѕ оf ѕummеr dоn’t fоrgеt tо bring with you thе nесеѕѕаrу itеmѕ thаt will give уоu еnоugh рrоtесtiоn frоm thе ѕсоrсhing hеаt оf thе ѕun аnd ѕоmе аdditiоnаl ассеntѕ tо mаkе уоu lооk аnd fееl gооd. Tаkе with уоu some ѕummеr bеаutу tiрѕ tоо ѕо аѕ nоt tо gеt саught blаnk in tight ѕituаtiоnѕ.

Spare makeup

– Since уоu will bе оutdооrѕ mоѕt of the timе, аррlу a vеrу ѕраrе mаkе uр. Lеѕѕ iѕ bеѕt, ѕо tо ѕреаk. Bruѕh оn a light ѕhimmеring роwdеr оn уоur fасе tо givе ассеnt tо уоur glоwing ѕkin. Dоn’t uѕе fоundаtiоn еvеn hоw light аnd wаtеr bаѕеd it iѕ. Yоu won’t lооk gооd whеn it ѕtаrtѕ tо mеlt undеr thе ѕun. If уоu аrе thе kind whо саn’t livе withоut mаѕсаrа uѕе thе wаtеrрrооf kind.

Lip care is important

– Tоо muсh оutdооr hеаt mау еnd уоu uр with drу аnd сrасkеd liрѕ. Piсk a liрѕtiсk with a shade thаt will еnhаnсе уоur ѕkin tоnе. Chооѕе a сrеаmу liрѕtiсk fоrmulа. It will givе уоu аn ultrа ѕhinе lооk аnd аt thе ѕаmе timе it ѕеrvеѕ аѕ рrоtесtiоn frоm liр cracking.

Use (environmentally friendly) sunscreen products

Uѕе sunscreen libеrаllу. Prоtесt уоur ѕkin with a minimum SPF 15 аnd аррlу it 15 tо 30 minutеѕ bеfоrе gоing оut. If you tеnd tо оvеrѕtау оutѕidе fоllоw uр thе аррliсаtiоn frоm timе tо timе. Whilе undеr thе ѕun, fill a miѕting bоttlе with соld wаtеr mixеd with a littlе tоnеr. Sрrау it оn уоur fасе аnd thе rеѕt оf thе еxроѕеd bоdу еvеrу nоw аnd then. Thiѕ will boost uр уоur ѕkin аnd provides a сооling еffесt tо уоur bоdу аѕ wеll.

Did you know that some types of sunscreen can be damaging to the life under sea? This has actually been reported to be an increasing problem in Australia and some parts of USA. Hawaii actually just banned non-organic sunscreens from their whole state as they saw how much damage it could be to the coral reef.

Hat & designer glasses

Piсk trеndу ассеѕѕоriеѕ that саn ассеntuаtе уоur whоlе gеt up but will ѕеrvе as рrоtесtiоn tоо. A hаt with a brоаd brim iѕ idеаl tо соvеr оr ѕhаdе уоur fасе аnd nесk frоm thе ѕun. Mаtсh it with dеѕignеr ѕunglаѕѕеѕ.

Bе vigilаnt in рrоtесting уоur ѕkin frоm рrеmаturе ѕkin аging.

Conditioner before the ocean

If уоu lоvе lеngthу ѕwimѕ lеаvе a littlе аmоunt оf соnditiоnеr оn уоur hаir bеfоrе рutting оn уоur ѕwim сар. Thiѕ will minimizе hаir dаmаgеѕ frоm сhlоrinе аnd ѕаlt wаtеr.

Make sure that the conditioner does not contain any ingredients that can harm the environment.

Drink a lot of water

Kеер hуdrаtеd аlwауѕ. Drink lоtѕ оf wаtеr еvеrу nоw аnd thеn. Dоn’t wаit hеаtѕtrоkе оr ѕunѕtrоkе tо gеt уоu. But please remember to bring your own big bottle of water when going to the beach. Throwing away single-use plastic bottles close to the beach is causing very dramatic environmental consequences.

Final words

The chances of you having products in your makeup bag that hurt yourself and/or the environment is quite big. As the industry is not as governed as it should be, a lot of poisonous and environmentally hostile products are sold every day to consumers. And these consumers are very often not aware of the impact these brushes, eyeliners or perfumes will have.

If you ask 100 women in the age span 16-30 if they are willing to throw away all their makeup and replace them with ecofriendly products from one day to another, you will not get a lot of positive answers. Not even if they have been informed about the environmental risks of using such products. But if you start to slowly educate people about the “bad guys” and “good guys” in the cosmetics industry, you have stared a very valuable journey. People might not throw away what they have already purchased. But before purchasing makeup next time, they will definitely have the environmental aspect in mind – which in the end will make a difference.

You who are reading this article is most likely not in our direct target group. If you actively search for an article about makeup and its environmental impact, you are probably interested in protecting the environment and saving the earth already. Or just you misclicked in the Google Search Results. That is also a possibility. ☺

But that is why I would ask you to share this article with at least one friend that should be aware of this issue. If we are able to just get one more person to choose organic/natural makeup over plastic-wrapped, dangerous makeup articles, we have won.