Clean beauty is a term that is used almost everyday, but what does it actually mean? Editor Trudi Brewer shares how simple beauty swaps, to sustainably-made brands is a step toward a cleaner, greener routine.

Undoubtedly, the beauty industry has burdened our planet, but its consciousness is now on high alert. To make a case where there is a product, there is the packaging. According to research by the University of Connecticut, the cosmetics industry creates 120 billion units of packaging each year, 70 per cent of which ends up in landfills. To put that into perspective, decomposing the average moisturiser jar takes around 1,000 years. They add: Bioplastics do not degrade naturally or within the average human lifespan. They can be composted but require such intense heat to break down that they must be returned to an industrial compost site. Then there’s the paper inserts, cardboard sleeves, foam, and mirrored glass; sometimes, all in one purchase. Of all the product packaging we can recycle, half of us don’t. Research from Garnier found that over 59.4 per cent of Brits (the population is almost 68 million) don’t recycle bathroom products because of the inconvenience. So they responded with Garnier Green Beauty Free Recycling Programme. It’s here you can recycle any beauty brand. Just join the programme and download a free shipping label to send your empties to TerraCycle, which will be recycled. Packaging isn’t the only thing that makes a product circular or conscious when factors like production methods, clean energy, harvesting techniques, and ingredient sourcing all play into a mission to improve wasteful or unethical practices. But it’s not all bad news. Many beauty brands are taking a giant leap toward protecting what Mother Nature offers the industry. These are our simple swaps toward a greener beauty regime. Read on to learn more.

Use What You Have

Work with what you have before replenishing it. This is step one to a cleaner routine. However, we all make beauty mistakes, so offload items to friends and family or post unused products on Freestuffnz. Here, your castoffs will find a happy new home.

Swap liquid soaps for bar soa.ps

Bar soaps are back. Unlike their predecessors, the new generation comes in many good-for-skin guises. Mostly in plastic-free packaging, there’s a soap for all your skincare needs, from body to hair and facial cleansing. However, not all bar soaps are created equally. Choose a quality bar made with soap noodles, and invest in a soap dish to ensure your natural soap, stays dry and lasts longer.

NESTI DANTE SOAP VILLA SOLE PRICKLY PEAR FROM TAORMINA, $14.

There is no need to compromise on luxury with this traditionally made Italian soap. Using premium soap noodles, it’s still handmade, which many other competitors shy away from because of the cost. Using the same founder’s equipment (from its launch in 1947), these soaps are triple-milled and made to last with quality ingredients that are ethically sourced - each bar smells and feels divine.

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Refill & Reuse

Any time your favourite makeup brand offers a refill, grab it. This is the direction cosmetic companies are moving toward because consumers want it. When a refill is designed thoughtfully, it reduces the amount of materials made or extracted from the start of its life. Then multiply that for every use or purchase, and fewer jars, bottles and plastic palettes end up in landfills. The best news, some of our favourite beauty brands offer refillable versions, which means less waste without sacrificing the experience or luxury. These include Trinny London, Kora Organics, Rose Inc, Charlotte Tilbury, Glow Recipe, Kjaer Weis, FACEGYM, and the famous Rouge Dior Couture Lipstick. After all, if it’s good enough for these beautiful brands to offer refills, it’s good enough for every cosmetic brand to do so, right?

DIor ROUGE DIOR COUTURE COLOUR REFILLABLE LIPSTICK, $ 74, Refills, $59.

Part of the brand’s sustainability strategy includes its famous couture-inspired full-coverage lippy. It comes in 38 colours and three different formulas, matte, satin, and metallic. Each is enriched with ingredients of natural origin, such as shea butter, red peony and pomegranate flower extracts.

Dior Rouge Dior Couture Colour Refillable Lipstick In Red Smile.

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Be better with the beauty basics

From humble floss to cleansing wipes, there is much to learn regarding bathroom waste, including language like ‘circular’ (made from recycled post-consumer packaging), ‘wish-cycling’ (the best intentions of recycling items that cannot be recycled), and ‘climate-positive’ (going beyond achieving net-zero carbon emissions). So, back to humble items like dental floss and cleansing wipes. When flushed, they cause havoc in our oceans. Regular floss is plastic nylon derived from crude oil and takes around 80 years to degrade. It’s the same with non-compostable or biodegradable wipes. But they also shed fibres containing plastic that slowly break down into microplastics, polluting our oceans, and entering wildlife, eventually ending up in our food chain. Our favourite floss brands include Grin Natural Mint Waxed Dental Floss, $6, and GO2 Minty Dentagenie Softstx, $6, for oral hygiene on the go. For cleansing wipes, we can’t go past Burt’s Bees Sensitive Facial Cleansing Towelettes, $13, and Swisspers Reusable Eco Cleansing Pads, $13. The pack of four comes in a handy mesh wash bag.

IAMMI Face Cloth is $30 for two and $56 for four.

The latest local brand to consider circular beauty has collaborated with BABU, a sustainable clothing and skincare brand, to create a four-layered organic muslin facecloths collection. Made with GOTS-certified cotton purchased from a small Indian business cooperative supporting its community, all the staff are employed and paid above the living wage. At the same time, their manufacturing is solar-powered in a carbon-neutral factory. There are three colourways on offer.

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Eau So Sustainable

Fragrance making is closely linked to nature, harnessing some of the world’s most precious raw materials to create covetable scents. Consumers have driven the demand for transparency in this business, and not before time. So with that, there has been a massive shift to synthetic ingredients and green chemistry, all with the Earth’s well-being top of mind. A perfumer’s responsible for sourcing sustainably harvested, organic, and cruelty-free ingredients while using production methods with the environment in mind. Today new synthetic ingredients are produced according to green chemistry principles (using renewable raw materials while eliminating waste and toxic or hazardous solvents into the environment). While the superiority of natural versus synthetic ingredients is an ongoing debate, there are times when synthetic ingredients are way more environmentally responsible. An excellent example of this is sandalwood, one of the most precious fragrance ingredients, giving a scent sophisticated, depth and warmth. Today’s synthetic alternative has less impact on the planet by preventing over-farming of crops. Synthetic animal-derived ingredients such as musk are necessary today; thankfully, the practice of hunting and killing animals like musk deer or civet cats for their musk is now banned. Leading the change in clean fragrance making, including being chemical vegan and cruelty-free and formulated consciously from start to finish are brands such as Chloè, Flower Street, Kai, Abel, and Ellis Brooklyn.

CHLOÈ NOMADE JASMIN NATUREL EAU DE PARFUM INTENSE, 30ML $ AND 50ML $210.

This new Nomade embodies the brand’s commitment to creating vegan fragrances. With 100 per cent of natural-origin ingredients, the perfumer Caroline Dumur chose Egyptian Jasmine as the hero bloom. Responsibly harvested, there is also no artificial colouring, and it’s formulated with naturally derived alcohol (from beets) with water - and nothing else. The new lower-impact bottle includes recycled materials; 15 per cent of the glass bottle and 40 per cent of FSC-certified cardboard used for the box. So what does it smell like? It’s soft, sweet and tart, thanks to the fruity hit of Mirabelle plum, pear, and dates. The heavenly floral aroma is Egyptian Jasmine with freesia. The musk-like warmth is courtesy of synthetic sandalwood, vanilla, oakmoss and patchouli.