Greening up your beauty routine has never felt more pressing. While we might be inclined to spend the extra to make sure that our coffee is ethically sourced and always carry our refillable water bottle, make up, skin care and the rest of it can be a bit of a blind spot. But, with a slew of inexpensive and sustainable products out there, focus on the traditional big names looks to be waning. Projections from June 2018 forecast that the global organic personal care market will hit $25.11bn (over £19bn) by 2025, which ties into the wider trend for consumers buying all things socially-minded. Meanwhile, organic certification body The Soil Association revealed in their 2018 Organic Beauty and Wellbeing Market Report that there was growth of 24% in certified organic beauty and wellbeing products in 2017. Care to join in? Here’s how to make your beauty routine way more eco friendly.

Go plastic-free How many of the nation’s bathroom bins (filled with empty shampoo bottles and deodorant cans) are scooped directly into black bin bags, rather than being divided up for the recycling? We’d bet too many. Fortunately, there’s abundant plastic free options available for all of your personal grooming needs. Lush do a range of solid bars of shampoo and conditioners, starting at £6.50, as well as solid, plastic-free foundations. Choose a bar of soap, rather than a shower gel (online eco beauty destination Acala do plenty), and make your next toothbrush a bamboo version.

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PRESERVATIVE FREE
Unless the product is an oil or combination of oils and has absolutely no water or other ingredients added, then I would advise extreme caution using a product that claims to be preservative free.

A typical example would be a plant or botanical based serum the processing of which requires solvent extraction, a medium or carrier such as a glycerol/glycerine and the final product should most definitely be preserved before being sold. This would be the minimum responsibility of the manufacturer. I would be extremely concerned about the microbial load if the product stated otherwise such as a "100% pure plant or fruit extract”.

In Australia, there is no regulatory body or enforcement for the manufacturing of personal care products which means unless the facility is of GMP standard (enforceable in the EU but not the US or Australia), the products you are using may not have been independently tested for common microbes, moulds and yeasts which can multiply tenfold given the right environment.

COMPANY ETHOS

The clean beauty philosophy should incorporate several other pillars that ultimately revolve around enhancement of wellbeing such as:

• Eco-consciousness - environmental impact and sustainability
• Clarity on business and founder ethos - transparency and ethics 
• Safety - products are hygienically made and preserved ensuring customer safety
• What’s in the product - celebrating what's in the product as opposed to focusing what isn’t
• Independent Third Party Certification from a reputable body to verify claims
• Selection/Formulation Process - Is there a selection/formulation process?
• In house manufacturing where all processes and procedures are independently audited and traceable
• Product reviews or product ratings by verified purchasers or provided comparisons
• Vigilance about what is safe and what is classified as unsafe based on thorough scientific examination
• As science continues to evolve, more comprehensive research pertaining to botanical ingredients versus synthetic ingredients, enable us to make more sound decisions in both formulation and product selection. What is deemed safe today may be considered detrimental or harsh tomorrow as industry findings and transparency progress.

To find out more about ingredients that are red-flagged in countries such as Europe, Canada and Japan you can download my free pocket reference guide here.

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