We have always talked about the vegan lifestyle, from food to clothing items, making sure everything is cruelty-free and good for the environment. But have we also considered skincare? Victoria, founder of Happy Carrot, is sharing some tips with us to ensure that our skincare routine is ethical and environment-friendly. You can also find her featured in our July 2021 magazine, access comes with your prime subscription. Get it here: bit.ly/3vHIuEl.
3 Tips to Make Your Vegan Skincare More Sustainable
When we want to save animals and the planet too, it can be difficult to know where to start with our skincare.
We’ve already made sure that it’s definitely vegan and probably cruelty free too, but is that really enough?
Depending on your reasons for going vegan in the first place, maybe not. Here are 3 easy tips to make your vegan skincare more sustainable.
My story
In my case, I was vegetarian for the animals and then finally went vegan when I couldn’t ignore the environmental impact I was still making with my diet and lifestyle choices.
So when I set up my own skincare range after struggling with hormonal acne, I knew it had to be respectful for the environment too.
Sustainability is one of Happy Carrot’s three core values and it’s at the heart of everything we do. These are just some of the ways we try to achieve that.
Tip 1: Check what’s in your skincare.
So your skincare is already free from animal products but there is much more you can do to keep it sustainable too. Does it contain palm oil? There are many ingredients hiding palm oil in cosmetics so it can be confusing to know if yours does or not. It’s a bit of a controversial topic within vegans but if you use products with palm oil in, it’s best to go with RSPO (responsibly sourced palm oil) to limit your environmental impact. Another key way of keeping your skincare sustainable is to use upcycled ingredients. These are usually by-products from the food and drink industry that would otherwise be thrown away to landfill. Just think of all those tomato pips that are filtered out of ketchup and tomato juice, well the oil in these pips can be cold pressed and is one of the most amazing ingredients for the skin ever! Include upcycled ingredients in your skincare regime for an easy sustainability win.
Tip 2: Go multi-purpose
Using products that serve many purposes is an easy way to reduce waste. It saves product waste, packaging and no less importantly, money and space too! Consider how many ways you can use just one product before buying it. Imagine a select wardrobe of good quality clothes that combine together to make several stunning outfits. Well, it’s the same for your skincare! Balms are my absolute favourite products for this very reason – a good facial balm like our Incredible Carrot Hero Balm can be used as a make-up remover, cleanser, mask, moisturiser, lip balm, hand and nail balm amongst other uses. I’ve even heard of customers using it on their feet! All it takes is a bit of imagination and your skincare routine is instantly more sustainable!
Top 3: Consider Packaging
The obvious choice for more sustainable skincare is to avoid single use plastic and many skincare brands use glass only packaging. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of glass as it’s heavy, so the fuel needed to transport it across the world actually makes it comparable with single use plastic in its eco-footprint. Aluminium is another option, but the mining process is damaging and then we’re left with cardboard packaging which isn’t always safe for our products. The type of packaging can also lead to us wasting our products. Take lip balm tubes for example, ever tried to get the last bit out that’s stuck in the bottom of the tube only to then have to throw out the mushy bit because it’s impossible to use? Consider the right packaging for the product and how you can waste less of your lovely skincare products. My choice is recycled plastic which reduces landfill and encourages the recycling industry to do just that – actually recycle what we dispose of. It’s not a perfect choice and I really hope there’ll be better options coming soon!
If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog and you’d like to find out more about our range of skincare superheroes, find us atwww.happycarrotskincare.com
Our simple yet effective formulas are designed for combination and even troubled skin. They’re also chock full of upcycled ingredients, they’re palm oil free, minimally packaged in recycled plastic or glass and most labels are compostable too. We’re proud to be registered by The Vegan Society, Leaping Bunny Approved and Vegan Founded!
And don’t forget to check Happy Carrot out:
Site:www.happycarrotskincare.com
IG:@happycarrotskincare
If you'd like to be our vegan-preneur of the month, drop us a line atmagazine@leafysouls.com. We would like to share your story and celebrate the ups and downs of veganism with you.