Plastic-Free Natural Skincare – The Ultimate Environmentally Friendly Brand

It wasn’t long before Earth Day I came across this amazing brand – Ethique . They have become my latest and greatest eco-friendly plastic-free travel companions – especially for short haul flights. Let me explain why.

Ethique  does things very differently. Yes they’re creating completely naturally derived and vegan products like most items you will see on the pages of LPN; however, they don’t do plastic, or jars or anything non-recyclable. At all. Ever.

Ethique uses potent ingredients to create solid forms of almost every skincare product you need – ranging from everything including shampoo and conditioner, to solid facial serums, deodorants and body butters (which luxuriously melt on your skin).  I absolutely love traveling with Ethique products, as it allows me to take all the products I need in a carryon bag – no liquids = no problems. For someone who travels as much as I do, that is a dream.

While they do products for pets, home and baby, today I’m focusing on what I know best: face, hair and body. Ethique is the first beauty company in the world to develop an entirely solid product range and what’s even more impressive is that all products are sold in compostable packaging, meaning zero consumer waste and totally plastic-free.

I fell in love with so many of their products, and I wanted to highlight a few of my favourites here.  This is what was physically in my bag on my trip to Vienna last weekend.

Gingersnap Face Scrub

Made with organic brown sugar, white cane sugar, cocoa butter, kokum butter, as well as ground ginger, cinnamon and vanilla essential oil, this facial scrub cube smells like desert. You snap off a piece like a chocolate bar and use 1 cube for two washes.  The blocks are packaged in a reusable storage box and there are 16 blocks in a box. The bar gently exfoliates, but at the same time moisturizes beautifully. I have been using it as a cleanser and not using anything additional to wash my face (although sometimes I need a little extra love for that eye makeup – thank you coconut oil).

Saving Face Serum

Like everything Ethique does, it’s solid, so you should not be surprised that they found a way to create a facial serum as a solid bar. Made with cupuacu, shea & illipe butters as well as rosehip & pomegranate oils, the antioxidant packed product is a hydration powerhouse. If your skin is not too dry, using this as a stand-alone moisturizer is often enough. I love this one for travel, especially on those long dry flights (which I’m actually writing this from as I head over to NYC).

 

Damage Control – Shampoo for Normal-Dry Hair

How amazing it is to travel with my own solid shampoo and conditioner duo (I really dislike – and avoid like the plague – using the junky stuff you find at most hotels). To compliment the conditioner, I love prefacing my wash with this solid shampoo, which actually foams. It’s simple as you would imagine: stroke the wet bar around the hair several times and massage into the roots to the tips as well if you use hair products or live in a very polluted city.

The Guardian Conditioner for Dry, Damaged or Frizzy Hair

As a dry haired gal, I am pleased with any conditioner that makes the hair look and feel silky – and with this conditioner’s cocoa butter, coconut oil, and vitamin B5 it is super hydrating. It is also great to use as a shave bar, if you’re really packing light! To use this, simply slide a wet bar a few times over the hair following your shampooing, then massage the conditioner into the hair.  

Butter Block – Divine Jasmine & Ylang Ylang Body Lotion

This product is the queen, and my favourite. I can’t help but fall in love with a product that combines two of my favourite essential oils into a soft block of body butter. The scent is intoxicating and truly creates a beautiful post-shower experience. Made with organic cocoa butter from Ghana, organic coconut oil from Samoa and pure essential oils of Ylang Ylang and Jasmine, it is beautiful. I love this butter block on my skin post shower and shave.  Since it is so soft, sometimes it needs a little solidifying by putting it in the fridge (especially if you’re in a tropical climate).

Other reasons to love plastic-free skincare, Ethique? They use biodegradable ingredients and wrappers so the solid bars leave no trace on the planet – no bottles, jars, lids or pump dispensers contributing to landfill or oceanic pollution. They are also certified climate neutral, cruelty free and a living wage employer.

Further, solid bars last between three to six times longer (depending on the product) than bottled products because they’re super-concentrated. Since we add the water we control the concentration and yes, the solid beauty bars foam.

Last they are huge supporters of causes like Helping You Help Animals, World Animal Protection and The Orangutan Project by donating 20% of their profits (2% of revenue to these causes) each year.

Before you take off this summer – or just for the pure fact that you’re saving the environment from bottles, check out this beautiful plastic-free skincare line.

X

K