Make Up Removal - The Eco Friendly Way
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| Source: https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/articles/wet-wipes-the-dark-side |
During their annual Great British Beach Clean last year, the
Marine Conservation Society found 27 wet wipes for every 100m of beach they
surveyed - a 94% increase from 2016. Make-up and baby wipes are made of a
combination of synthetic cellulosic fibre and plastic fibres, and, you guessed
it, as they degrade and fragment they release micro plastics. You may also have
heard about the enormous fatberg as long as Tower Bridge clogging up London
sewers, this was made up mostly of wet wipes glued together by fat and oils
that have been poured down the sink. Yum.
In fact a study by Water UK found that 93% of sewer blockages were
caused by wipes, even the ones marketed as flushable.
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| Source: https://www.cotton.org/ |
Unfortunately cotton wool pads aren’t a much better option.
Aside from the fact they always come wrapped in plastic, the non-organic cotton
industry also uses almost a quarter of the world’s insecticides and 10% of its
pesticides. So if we buy non-organic cotton pads we are unfortunately
supporting a huge source of environmental pollution that poisons rivers and
animals, as well as causing serious health problems for cotton workers. Over-exposure to pesticides can lead to
asthma, neurological damage and cancer. It is estimated that in the developing
world 20,000 individuals die each year as a result of pesticide poisoning,
while in the US more than 10,000 farmers die yearly from cancers resulting from
pesticides. This really shocked me. Obviously cotton wool pads are just a tiny
fraction of the cotton we use/wear/sleep on, it’s incredible how unaware we can
be of the impact our seemingly innocent purchases can have. This information is
likely to lead to more lifestyle and shopping changes for me, but that’s a
subject for another blog.
I have to keep reminding myself that it’s one step at a
time, and small changes can make a big difference. The good news is that we can
very easily cut single-use wipes and cotton out of our make-up routine, and it
will save us money in the long run! I’ve
been using these washable cleansing pads for a couple of months now, and I
honestly will never go back! I bought them from an independent seller on Etsy;
they’re organic, super soft, and feel a lot more luxurious than a face wipe or
cotton pad. I find the towelling side to be gently exfoliating as well, and
they take the majority of my make-up off with just warm water. When you’ve used
them you can just put them in the washing machine with the rest of your laundry
and they’re ready to be used again.
For the stubborn make-up that water won’t remove I’ve found
a new magic product that doesn’t come in a plastic bottle and is 100% natural
and free from weird chemicals we can’t pronounce. Admittedly, Jojoba oil isn’t
that easy to pronounce either (it’s ‘hohoba’)but it does seem to be a wonder
oil! It has many uses, but I mostly use
it for removing make-up (it’s even totally safe for eye make-up) and as a
moisturiser. I know using an oil as a facial moisturiser sounds weird,
especially if like me you have oily skin, but trust me on this. Jojoba oil is noncomedogenic
so it doesn’t block pores, in fact it is very similar in texture to human sebum
(the stuff that gives you an oily face) so when used as a moisturiser it can
actually reduce skin’s production of the excess sebum that causes oily skin. It
works the other way as well, as dry skin is caused by a lack of sebum, so
jojoba oil moisturises skin when our bodies can’t naturally. It is also
hypoallergenic and contains loads of antioxidants such as Vitamins E and B5,
which are natural anti-aging nutrients, as well as iodine which is
antibacterial and therefore fights break outs. I know, this miracle oil sounds
too good to be true, right? Having used it for the past couple of months I can
honestly say that my skin feels a lot less oily, as well as super soft! I’ve
tried loads of different “oil control” products and none have been as effective
as jojoba oil. As far as break outs are concerned, I can’t really say I’ve
noticed much difference, I’m lucky enough to never have had a major acne
problem, I get the odd break out in problem areas every so often and that
hasn’t changed since I started using jojoba, I’m interested to see whether my
zit-frequency reduces over time though! I would definitely recommend it to
anyone. Prices range from around £6-£20, but it will last you ages as a little
goes a long way and you only need the tiniest amount.
So that’s how I’ve drastically reduced the waste of my
beauty routine, and having tried and tested the natural, chemical and plastic
free way I couldn’t recommend it more.
I got my cleansing pads from a seller called
MichelleGoodSoaps on etsy, here’s her link:
There are so many to choose from on etsy, though, so shop
around to find the right product for you.
I got my jojoba oil from an American company called Leven
Rose, they had a UK Amazon store but that seems to have closed now. There are plenty of other sellers on Amazon,
however. The main thing that you are looking for is that it is organic, 100%
pure and cold pressed, and that it comes in an amber glass bottle, as this
extends the shelf life of the oil.
References
https://ecofriendonline.com/2016/03/31/why-organic-cotton-vs-non-organic
https://www.mcsuk.org/clean-seas/great-british-beach-clean-2017-report
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