5 Must-have products for a more sustainable beauty routine

A common misconception about switching to a vegan, cruelty-free, sustainable and ethical lifestyle is that it's a massive and especially expensive change. But it isn't. It's all about picking up little habits and making conscious choices to help care for the environment.

One of the easier ways to make changes is with your own beauty routine. In recent years, beauty and skincare brands with sustainable and ethical ethos have popped up all around the world, and offer affordable and natural alternatives to everyday products like toothpaste, shaving cream and shampoos. Investing in products that are: reusable, low-waste, and less-packaging has never been simpler. 

So, here are our top five must-have products for a more sustainable and ethical beauty routine.

1. Get a bamboo toothbrush subscription

Toothbrushes have a lifespan of three months maximum. So, you technically have to go through four little plastic toothbrushes a year. The solution to this problem is easy: get a subscription to a zero-waste bamboo toothbrush service, like, We Are Bristle. 

Credit: We Are Bristle Instagram (@wearebristle)

We Are Bristle is a UK-based subscription service and they will cater to your every dental need. They sell floss, toothbrushes, and toothpaste tabs. You can choose to subscribe to just the brush, floss, toothpaste, or the full set that lasts two months. And you can also choose the frequency of the subscription. 

Price: £13.50 for the full set, lasts two months. 

2. Buy a pack of reusable cotton rounds. 

People use cotton rounds all the time, whether it’s to remove makeup and nail varnish or to apply toner. While cotton is natural and biodegradable, you actually can’t recycle used rounds. 

Luckily, there are reusable cotton rounds that can be put in the wash with no problem at all. When looking for these online, there are loads of stores selling them, but we don’t recommend buying from Amazon, although its cheaper (because of their track record). 

Credit: Peace With The Wild 

Peace With The Wild is a UK-based store with a wide range of products and reusable cotton rounds are one of them. They have a few options to choose from, the cheapest of which is £10. 

Price: £10 - 18

3. Lather up with soap bars

Liquid soap was invented in the 1800s so before that, they used soap bars. Soap bars are eco-friendly because unlike bottled liquid soaps, they have less or packaging. And with recent advancements in the sustainable and ethical beauty and skincare world, soap bars now look and smell good, and have all of those good, natural ingredients to pamper your skin.

Credit: All Natural Soap Instagram (@allnaturalsoap)

All Natural Soap has a wide range of products, and a bunch of affordable soap bars, with a variety of scents you can choose from. Their most popular is the Castile Olive Oil bar, that contains cocoa butter

Price: £4.95 - 7.50

4. Using shampoo and conditioner bars

While we’re on the subject of ditching plastic packaging, let’s talk about bottled shampoos and conditioners. Depending on an individual’s hair care needs, some people go through shampoo and conditioner as quickly as once a month. It’s time to eliminate that waste, and turn to bars. Like soap bars, shampoo and conditioner bars work the same way. Just add a little bit of water and lather it up. 

Credit: El from Welsh Wanderer Blog (@welshwandererblog)

The Friendly Soap shampoo bar is a great alternative to bottled shampoo. It contains caster oil ‘for a creamy and deeply conditioning lather’. There are two scents to choose from: Lavender and Tea Tree, and Lavender and Geranium. The best part is that they cost less than £3! They also sell shaving and cleansings soaps on their site. 

Credit: Lush 

For conditioner, we turn to a familiar name: Lush. Their Jungle Solid Conditioner is packed with the nutrients of tropical fruits like bananas, avocados and passion fruits, and it costs £7. Lush shampoo and conditioner bars last about two months, but this depends on how frequently you wash your hair and how much hair you have. 

Bottles begone!

Price: £2.65 (shampoo), £7 (conditioner)

5. Try out a deodorant bar

Last but not least, this is the one that arouses the most apprehensive. Most of us are used to roll-on or spray deodorants, but before those were invented, if you wanted to cover up your natural musk, you would use a stick deodorant. And, contrary to popular belief, deodorant wasn’t invented in the 1800s. Ancient Egyptians practiced ‘scented bathing’, and used deodorants as well.

Credit: Lush

So, stripping it back to basics, Lush carries three different solid deodorants. Their compact form is ideal for a quick swab on your underarms before you leave the house, and it contains super-absorbent powders and fresh, fruity ingredients to ‘help you keep dry and fresh’ all day long.

Price: £7 

So we challenge you to make a switch, own your power, make a habit that starts a change.