Seven minimal waste beauty brands and products you need to know about

Our beauty and personal care regimens are major culprits when it comes to waste. A lot of the products are packaged in single-use plastic, which is doing a lot of harm to our oceans. And items we toss or flush – things like face wipes and cotton swabs – clog our sewers and take decades to break down. Thankfully, more and more beauty brands – including many Canadian ones – are taking the steps to be sustainable at a time when it’s more critical than ever.Green beauty expert Michelle Bilodeau highlights some exciting beauty products that will not only bring us a little joy right now, but also lessen our environmental impact.

Reusable Swabs

Simons | $18These reusable cotton swabs available at Canadian department store, Simons, can help replace the thousands of single use swabs that end up in the landfill. There is a version with two textured tips, and one with a smooth pointed tip and a smooth rounded tip – the latter perfect for makeup applications and touchups. The rods are made from Nylon and the tips are a soft silicone that clean easily with just soap and water.

Change Toothpaste

Change | $9.95 (1 month supply)Did you know that around the globe, 900 million toothpaste tubes enter our landfills and oceans every year, and toothpaste tubes cannot be recycled in municipal programs? Change Toothpaste is hoping to help well, change, that! The Alberta-based company, has created vegan, gluten, nut and soy-free tablets, housing them in compostable pouches. The tablets taste like usual minty toothpaste. You simply put one tablet in you mouth, chew it up a bit, and then add some water to create a paste. Add your toothbrush and carry on with cleaning your teeth. They offer two sizes: a one month supply and a three month supply of tablets.

jELN Recharge Me Face Mask

jELN | $41.50jELN is a handmade skincare line from Toronto that uses sustainably sourced exotic ingredients and essential oils. The Recharge Me Face Mask will help to tighten pores while also calming down acneic skin. It contains bentonite clay, rice bran powder and sandal wood powder. You can mix the powder with aloe vera juice to help soothe the complexion, or with water, to form a paste and then apply for 10 minutes. Not just great for your skin, it’s a nice bit of self-care right now. The mask also comes in a glass jar, with a recyclable tin or bamboo top.

Sade Baron Bar Soap

Sade Baron | $14Sade Baron is another Canadian brand that produces fantastic body care items, including bar soap. They are wrapped in paper that can be recycled, meaning no plastic, and come in an interesting mix of scents. Morning Glory, for example, contains coffee (a great way to energize your skin at the beginning of the day), as well as the super hydrators coconut and olive oil. Vulcano will not only look great in your shower in a deep black, but also cleanse in a major way. It contains bamboo activated charcoal to help detoxify the skin (aiding in body odour, and body blemishes), as well as shea butter for hydration. This one smells like peppermint and tea tree.

Pai Comfrey & Calendula Calming Body Cream

Pai | $40Pai’s Comfrey & Calendula Calming Body Cream is perfect for those tired, over sanitized hands right now. The formula contains hydrating ingredients like jojoba oil and shea butter, as well as calendula helps to calm skin, while comfrey combats itchiness, making it perfect for any one eczema or extremely dry skin. Even better, the packaging is made of 100% biodegradable sugar cane bioplastic. Biodegradable bioplastics should still be placed into recycling, because when they biodegrade they would produce microplastics in our soil or waterways, so recycling is the best option here.

routine. Deodorant

routine. | $50routine. was created by a pair of sisters living in Calgary. They make natural, lightly scented deodorants with really interesting notes. Two notable versions include The Curator (a mix of eucalyptus and coco, and baking soda free) and Superstar (cardamom, sage and pepper, with probiotics to help balance your skin’s microbiome) – both of which have a unisex scent. They are launching stick versions in May with packaging made from a blend of cardboard and post-consumer recycled plastic.

RMS Living Luminizer in Gold

RMS | $50While socially isolating for months, a little pick-me-up can’t hurt! RMS’ staple highlighter has gotten a gilded glow-up that works on all complexions. This sheer gold cream highlighter melts into skin and is buildable. Use it to highlight your favourite assets – the bridge of your nose, the high points of your cheekbones, your cupid’s bow and your brow bone. This will instantly perk up your complexion, and as per usual with RMS, a little goes a long way, so you’ll have this highlighter in your kit for a very long time. It’s worth the investment.[video_embed id='1671009']BEFORE YOU GO: Beauty products that are good for you and the environment[/video_embed]