Seven tips to keep your skin routine green

We all want our faces to look as clean and clear as possible. Now that we know what to look for in harmful products, what should we look for to make our beauty routine as healthy and affordable as possible? Luckily for us, the green option is easier on the pocket book and provides results. Here are some tips from the experts that we can all implement in our everyday lives.

Buy refill bottles! Love this idea. Think of the amount of hand washes you have in each bathroom in your house. Then think about throwing each of those out, all of the money and plastic you are wasting is heart wrenching. This works for shampoo and conditioner as well. There are so many options on the market. Or else buy one large bottle and refill each individual container when it’s empty. For foam hand wash, simply put ½ inch of foam in and slowly fill with water. You can hit up your local Costco for a year’s supply of all of the above. I’m not kidding, wait until you see the size of the bottles!

Using bar soap is another affordable, green option with great options available for your face and body. Etsy has so many beautiful bars of soap that are shipped without all of the crazy packaging we see in stores, and you can get the most insanely beautiful, creative and yummy smelling soaps that are so good for your skin!

Etsy leads me to the next tip and that’s to shop local. Try finding a local soap and skin care company to shop from. You’re supporting local business, getting products that were likely made by the person you bought them from and will be available for questions. Spring and summer is a perfect time to find these businesses as you visit local farmer’s markets and community festivals. Get more for your money on all fronts and have some fun while you’re at it. Way more fun than Walgreens.

Support Fair Trade. Fair Trade is when a company or business works with communities to purchase goods, ingredients or products for a fair price. It’s not standard in business, and many times communities receive a fraction of what they are due. When a company stands up and does the right thing, we as consumers should support them. You can look on the label for the words, “Fair Trade Certified.”  Some common fair trade beauty ingredients are Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter and Aloe, which, as you might know, are very common beauty products. Read your labels. These products are also incredible for your skin.

If you travel often, grab the mini hotel bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotions, etc. This is an affordable way of recycling products that would be thrown away anyway after your departure. If you put them in your guest bathrooms in a cute little basket they make for a very inviting overnight treat for friends and family. You’ll also have plenty of back-up in your drawers, which never sucks.

Use multi-tasking products. Don’t buy a shower gel and a bubble bath; just use one for both. Out of shaving cream? No need to rush out and buy another, simply use your conditioner instead. Feeling the need to use a separate eye cream? You don’t have to! Just use your facial moisturizer. Run out of exfoliator? Mix a palm-full of sugar with your shower gel to make a fantastic cleansing exfoliator. There are SO many tips on the internet for home-made products, the next point on our list of green tips. Making your own facemasks is so fun to do with friends, and smells so yummy. Plus you can get rid of a lot of fruit and veggies that would otherwise rot in the fridge.

Finally, the most obvious tip… recycle. The first step in recycling is obviously using the right bin when you throw products away. Make sure you place plastic products in bags that are separate from the rest of your products. It’s a start! Brands such as Origins have started a recycling program that takes all beauty products, no matter the brand. If you don’t have an Origins store near you, there are plenty of recycling centers to help you.

So that’s the round-up of tips to keep your skin routine green! Even implementing one of these is a huge start. Good luck!