Although the beauty industry isn’t typically known to be nice to the environment, there are a few ways to reduce its footprint. As such, I firmly believe sustainable skincare doesn’t have to be an oxymoron! Practical solutions to environmental problems all basically center around the same thing: don’t do without, just appreciate what you have.
If you’re conscious about overconsumption and find alternatives to unethical products on a need basis, you can greatly lower your environmental footprint. So, here are 3 simple but impactful sustainable skincare swaps you can make to be low-impact without cutting skincare from your life.
1. Instead of makeup wipes, try a cleansing balm.
This is something I swapped out before I hit high school and, honestly, everyone needs to ditch makeup wipes. Like it’s 2024, we have better technology! Makeup wipes are single-use, typically come in plastic, and seriously don’t remove anything! I still see influencers using them and I just don’t get it! You have to scrub way too hard to remove anything and you’re always left with residue or residual makeup and grime. The damage it does to your skin because of how aggressive you have to be to get them to remove anything is unreal. Plus, I’ve seen horror stories about mascara not being properly removed leading to eye issues and I just know in my bones those people use makeup wipes!
To effectively remove makeup, cleansing oils, balms, or milks are far superior. My all-time favorites are this cleansing balm from Youth to the People and this jelly oil cleanser from Krave Beauty. I recently started using this oil-to-milk cleanser from Weleda which so far is really nice too. I also love this cleansing milk from OSEA and this cleansing oil from Mad Hippie. All are amazing products that I personally love and are also great companies to support. If you have oily skin and are worried about using an oil cleanser (which you shouldn’t be btw) you can use a micellar water with reusable cotton rounds which is another lower-impact option instead of single-use makeup wipes.
2. Instead of pimple patches, try a spot treatment.
This one may be controversial because of the hype around pimple patches, but they are so wasteful! Many on the market don’t even work properly so you’re just using plastic stickers for nothing. Instead of falling victim to the pimple patch hype I focus on spot-treating! I love using clay masks specifically because, like pimple patches, you can see the gunk getting sucked out of the pimple which is super satisfying. Plus, to ensure continued efficacy, you can remove the clay mask and reapply as needed depending on the severity of the breakout or how fast you want that ish to clear up.
Just apply a dab of the mask or treatment to the spot and you’re good to go! My favorite clay masks are this dry clay mask from Evan Healy and this purifying clay mask from Youth to the People. Alternatively, you can use actual spot treatments just make sure that the one you use doesn’t have actives in it if you want to wear it during the day! Spot treatments that have worked well for my dry yet acne-prone skin are this spot serum from Meow Meow Tweet and this spot gel from Weleda. Also, this refining mask from Earth Harbor is another mask that works amazingly as a spot treatment but should only be used at night or when you won’t be in the sun.
3. Instead of a 10-step routine, try a curated routine.
When I first started getting into skincare, the 10-step routine definitely seemed like the standard. At the time, I was struggling with skin issues that I was self-conscious of and thought a 10-step routine was the answer. Like the only way I’d fix my skin problems was if I had a ton of different products to address every concern. But, honestly, you can achieve clear, glass skin even if you only use a few products! Instead of wasting money and overconsuming, I now use a curated routine. That is, instead of using every product an influencer says I should I think about what my specific skin concerns are. What works for my skin may not work for yours and vice versa!
Instead of jumping to get the next hyped product I stick to my tried and trues or switch out products as needed. I also focus on replacing products instead of accumulating them! I only have what I need and my skin barrier is much better off this way. Throughout the year I only have about 5 products but I cycle through different ones once each product is finished, buying only what my skin truly needs. In the end, you’ll do away with wasteful products that cost way too much money and destroy your skin barrier in favor of being gentle to your skin. It’s called skincare, after all, so we should be kind and *actually* care for our skin instead of falling for gimmicks and marketing.
Sustainable skincare doesn't have to be an oxymoron!
I’ve personally made these sustainable skincare swaps and haven’t looked back. The choices we make matter, so I hope we can continue on this journey of imperfect environmentalism together! I’d love to know if you’ve made these sustainable skincare swaps or if you’ve made other changes like these. We don’t need to be perfect, but being aware and doing what we can will create amazing change in the world.