Start your day with a plastic-free beauty routine

12 Lifestyle Start your day with a plastic-free beauty routine

Sustainability is the buzzword right now. However, being eco-friendly with our beauty choices is more than a trend – it’s for the future of our planet

Many of us love treating ourselves • to a new beauty product and wait eagerly for the delivery day to try it out. But how often are we shocked by the amount of packaging that comes with one • little bottle of foundation?

Statistics report that 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, including lids and cellophane, much of which is superfl uous, non-recyclable and ends up in our landfi lls and in our oceans. It’s estimated that 8 million tonnes of plastic makes its way into our oceans each year. A trend, which if continued, will mean we’ll have more plastic in our oceans than fi sh by 2050, according to the United Nations.

Now is the perfect time to take a look at the beauty cabinet and make some simple swaps to reduce the amount of plastic we use in the packaging of our beauty essentials.

Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of the UK’s top free sharing app OLIO, comments: “The fact that the beauty industry creates so much waste is shocking, and it’s easy to make a di erence by making a few simple swaps.

“It’s also worth looking at the products we no longer use. Instead of binning them, why not try giving them away via the OLIO app? The shampoo that doesn’t work for you could be perfect for someone else, and those old eye shadows could be just the ticket for a craft project. By giving things away, rather than throwing them away you reduce waste and help a neighbour out.”

Switch shower gel for a bar of soap

Hand washing has taken on a whole new importance during our pandemic era. Many believe that soap dries out your skin but it’s simply not true – there are some great, moisturising soaps available. Buy a big box of soap in bulk to reduce packaging through multiple orders, and why not make it enjoyable with a soap bar from luxury British fragrance house Miller Harris?

Get rid of disposables

Use either a safety razor or a reusable razor with disposable heads. Try Freedom Razor – you will never have to buy a new handle again because once the investment is made you will only have to purchase replacement blades – economical for the wallet but also the environment. Also, replace your plastic toothbrush with a bamboo one instead, such as a Matana toothbrush. If you have an electric toothbrush, there are also bamboo replacement heads.

Reuse the container

Choose a moisturiser which comes in a glass jar or metal tin. There are lots of diff erent brands available and once you have fi nished it’s easy to recycle or reuse the jar. And it’s not just moisturisers, but face serums, foundations, and many other cosmetic essentials. Have a look at the brand Ethosa, which launched its Powder-toGel Body Wash Blend Your Own Home Kit which includes a reusable aluminium bottle, shower powder, and oil-based fragrances.

Try refi llable

It’s estimated that 1 billion lipstick containers end up in landfi ll each year, so it is best to buy refi llable make-up and beauty items wherever you can. Charlotte Tilbury does a fantastic refi llable lipstick range. Great for those that care about sustainability, New Wash shampoo comes in a handy subscription so you can sign up for regular refi lls at a frequency of your choosing. Imagine never having to pick up a bottle of shampoo, ever again? Go slowly, you don’t have to become a green machine overnight!

If you’re not ready to give up your bottled shampoo and conditioner, don’t fret. Natalie Elliott, campaigner and global speaker on toxic beauty, and founder of SAKRID self-care products off ers some advice. She says: “Make small changes at fi rst. Change your shampoo and conditioner or your facewash and moisturiser fi rst and see how your body responds to this change.

“You may fi nd you experience small break-outs in acne at fi rst as the body can fi nally e ectively detox itself of all of the toxins that have been building up. But it usually only takes one to two weeks for the body to love the changes you have made.”

by Laura Forsyth

Perfect eco-friendly toys for budding minds

Win a gift hamper with a range of Ethiqana artisanal products, toys and games. Worth £102!

Enter online at checklists.co.uk/win/ethiqanahamper

Ethiqana is a convenient, stylish, ethical and sustainable alternative to the usual. Economic empowerment, creative pursuit and ecofriendliness form the core of their mission. Enter the competition to win a gift hamper worth £102 containing a range of their artisanal products, toys and games.

Ethiqana’s unique range of handmade wooden toys are coloured with organic plantbased food safe dyes without any chemicals making them completely safe for kids. As all parents know, there isn’t much that escapes the mouths of toddlers and young children.

All of Ethiqana’s toys are carefully crafted and rigorously tested for safety to comply with CE safety standards.

Their bright colours and tactile nature encourage children to use their imagination and creativity, without being infl uenced by sounds commonly found in battery operated toys.

Their production partner is a non-profi t sustainable livelihoods initiative for artisans that helps preserve this ancient artform and also looks after their welfare.

Plastic-free choices for everyday living

How often do you think about the sustainability of what you buy?

Every purchase adds to your carbon footprint and contributes to the health of the world. The Plastic Free Shop believes that shopping can be better for everyone.

By being conscious of what they’re buying, people can easily make positive changes, while supporting businesses that work towards a more sustainable future. That’s why The Plastic Free Shop exists!

The Plastic Free Shop helps you switch to good-quality everyday products that are planet friendly; from shampoo bars, toothpaste tablets and reusable coff ee cups to wildfl ower seed balls, linen beach towels and much more. Sustainability is at the very core of The Plastic Free Shop, including reusing packaging for the parcels they post. The shop also doesn’t run sales, so you don’t need to wait for Black (or Green!) Friday to start making changes at home. The Plastic Free Shop encourages people to shop consciously by stocking eff ective, long-lasting products and pricing them fairly for both customers and suppliers alike. After all, sustainability is so much more than just buying ‘green’.

Shop online

As the world’s most highly prized spice, saff ron has earned the nickname ‘red gold’ derived from the saff ron crocus’s crimson stigma ‘threads’, which are so delicate they must be harvested by hand before swiftly being dried.

These stigmas contain three active ingredients: crocin, picrocrocin and safranal. The • positive impact saff ron has on mood2 and sleep1 can largely • be attributed to these active ingredients and has been supported by scientifi c research.

A study in The Journal of Aff ective Disorders states that • a number of clinical trials demonstrated that saff ron and its active constituents possess properties like those of current remedies for mood balance. It concludes that saff ron represents an effi cacious and safe approach3 .

The Naked Pharmacy and their pharmacist founder Kevin Leivers, with over 30 years’ experience, realised that too often natural remedies and ingredients had compelling scientifi c evidence behind their use, but customers often didn’t have the right information or the supplements available didn’t contain the correct clinical dose.

Europe’s fi rst 100% Natural Pharmacy formulate all their products to pharmaceutical standards and every batch is quality tested. The company formulate using food-sourced, synthetic-free ingredients that are vegan certifi ed and packaged in biodegradable packaging. They also uniquely provide advice via the phone, email, and social media so that the customer can be empowered and assured that they are taking the correct supplement for their needs.

Lifestyle guru Susannah Constantine says: “After struggling with intermittent sleep and anxiety issues for years, a friend recommended two natural remedies Sa rosun and Marine Magnesium made by The Naked Pharmacy. I was genuinely surprised to fi nd that after a few nights, my sleep had improved dramatically. I felt calmer and my mood was more balanced than it had been in a long while. • “After a few months of using these remedies, I went to meet their Chief Pharmacist Kevin Leivers and his team. Kevin’s background is in mainstream pharmacy, and he’s taken what he learned in this environment and adapted it to an industry he feels passionately about. I loved Kevin’s ethos and the fact he was driven by what he knew to be scientifi cally e ective rather than what would be commercially fashionable and this really struck a chord with me.”

Find out more

Visit thenakedpharmacy.com/trial and order Saff rosun with a special trial off er of £10 including P&P. You can speak to their friendly pharmacists on 01483 685630. Scientifi c evidence is listed in the research section of the website. Usual price £19 plus P&P.

The House of Green

This company’s focus is on the wellness and medicinal markets for cannabinoid and terpene production

Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people. That’s the ethos behind Guernsey’s (and the UK’s) largest hemp producer, The House of Green (THOG), as they reimagine the tomatogrowing heritage of their native island, turning tens of acres of disused greenhouses into worldleading hemp production and extraction.

THOG touch every aspect of the industry of medicinal markets for cannabinoid and terpene production – from their regenerative cultivation and state-of-theart extraction methods to production of a range of CBD products, which they sell through their retail arm, Bailiwick Botanicals.

From plant to product

Producing pure, high-quality CBD starts with the soil and plants. THOG practice regenerative horticulture – a land-management process that uses the power of photosynthesis in plants to sequester carbon in the soil. This method improves soil health, crop yields, water resilience and nutrient density, and has the potential to make agriculture more sustainable in the long run.

When it comes to extracting the liquid gold that is CBD oil from the plants, the company use state-of-the-art patented equipment and processes for cryogenic ethanol extraction to ensure they’re left with the purest oil to create their products.

THOG’s retail arm, Bailiwick Botanicals, is at the forefront of cannabis retailing, providing craft CBD products with UK provenance and minimal carbon footprint.

Sustainable mulch

Peat-free, waste-free and sustainable self-improving mulch from Apsley Farms

Apsley Farms’ mulch is Soil Association approved for use on organic land. It is made from anaerobically digested rye, maize and oats. The Apsley Farms mission is to supply customers with a fantastic soil-improving mulch to ensure their gardens are at their best.

This mulch has a very low carbon footprint, as it is the bi-product of green natural gas production from the anaerobic digesters on the farm. The gas injected into the gas grid can heat the equivalent of some 8,000 homes all year round.

Apsley Farms also capture CO2 for use in the food industry. This helps to make the plant a carbon-neutral business which is aiming to go carbon negative in the near future.

Best of all the Apsley Farms mulch is vegan friendly, entirely plastic free, and completely weed seed free, delivered in a large recyclable bag. Find out more

SNEAKERSER want to end the trend of throw away culture

SNEAKERSER are leading the way in restoration and preservation of sneakers, bags, heels and more

It’s never been easier to prolong the life of your footwear and with sustainability and ethical buying at the forefront of everyone’s mind, the team at SNEAKERSER • are leading the way in restoration and preservation of sneakers, bags, heels and more. •

SNEAKERSER Sneaker Laundry, 1st Floor, Selfridges, London

A Glasgow born company, SNEAKERSER’s products give consumers the opportunity to clean, protect, sanitise and even personalise your favourite items at home. Utilising locally sourced materials and manufacturing all products in their central Scotland factory, their range includes premium cleaners, waterproofi ng protectors, paints, nourishing products, sanitisers, deodorisers, laces, brushes and decreasers amongst many other cleaning and restoration essentials. The products are designed by owners Alan and Rob, two sneaker care professionals with over 20 years’ experience in understanding not only the mechanics of materials, but also the personal enjoyment a pair of favourite sneakers provides, and how important it is to expand the lifespan of your items. Working alongside industry leading brands including New Balance and previously Adidas and Nike, you can be safe in the knowledge that their products are the perfect partner to care for your sneakers, whether it’s your favourite running shoes, designer red bottoms, vintage heels or latest hype release.

In a bid to reduce the volume of items ending up in landfi ll and the impact of fast fashion on the planet, SNEAKERSER were the fi rst in the UK to open a Sneaker Laundry & Flagship Store in Glasgow, as well as operating a new purpose-built walk-in Sneaker Laundry facility • within Selfridges’ Oxford Street Store in London. Working in-line with Selfridges’ ‘Project Earth’ programme, the SNEAKERSER Sneaker Laundry off er the largest • range of services to restore and repair your items by removing any dirt and stains, restoring paint, scuff s and stitching, their sneaker care technicians aim to enhance the authenticity of your items without losing their original identity ensuring they remain in your wardrobe for many years to come.

If you can’t make it to Selfridges, London or their Glasgow store, don’t worry! The brand have more stores coming in 2022 and off er a postal service on their website – with just a few clicks and photo uploads, your items can be sent to them directly and returned to you at home.

Louboutin restoration, before and after

Find out more

Have footwear and bags to clean or restore? Pop in and see the team in store seven days a week at Selfridges, London or their Glasgow Sneaker Laundry to learn more about their products and services, or order online for delivery at sneakerser.com

Meet Aligne, fashion that’s made to last

Aligne believe in creating contemporary collections you can always rely on, built from planet-friendly foundations

Committed to delivering the highest level of sustainability to the conscious customer, Aligne is dedicated to putting both the future and fashion fi rst. From sourcing and production to fair practices and working conditions in its factories, the brand believes in transparency at every stage. Creating aff ordable, democratic style without compromise, Aligne encourages the modern woman to shop responsibly.

Trending prints, timeless dresses and clean-cut tailoring form the core of the collection. Each piece comprises considered, quality fabrics with a primary focus on encompassing a planet friendly approach; eco-friendly fabrics include everyday denim produced with 65% less water, soft

Creating affordable, democratic style without compromise, Aligne encourages the modern woman to shop responsibly

100% Organic Cotton, Deadstock, LENZING™ ECOVERO™ Viscose and recycled fi nishes. Dismissing the high prices associated with shopping sustainably, Aligne’s accessible collection ranges from £32 for a T-shirt to £185 for a piece from the outerwear range. Aligne understand that the little details make all the diff erence. It’s not just their clothes that are ecoconscious. From recycled polyester labels to sustainable swing tags, discover the planet-friendly fi nishing touches that complete their collection. Not to mention their labelling and swing tickets are thoughtfully designed in recycled materials. Aligne also believe that where clothes are made matters. Scouring the globe in search of the best factories; their forwardthinking partners share their values and passion for sustainability with credentials to match. From everyday workplace standards to ethical audits like SMETA, Aligne is always open and transparent about their factories’ practices and accreditations, sharing informative details at every step of your shopping journey.

Aligne recently partnered with content creator Brittany Bathgate to curate a 15-piece edit to refl ect Brittany’s minimalist mantra, as well as Aligne’s sustainable ethos. The piece is made up of ALIGNE’s deep denims, oversized herringbone and classic co-ords in muted tones and simple silhouettes.

“We feel incredibly passionate about creating a sustainable womenswear brand while sustaining the fashion industry we know, love and live. Our aim is to create contemporary, sustainable fashion that’s a ordable and accessible to all. And our story starts here” said Dalbir Bains, creative director.