Better Homes Gardens USA April 2019

(Joyce) #1

BEAUTY SOLUTIONS


16 | April 2019

GIVE


AWAY OLD


PRODUCTS


Contact a local shelter
to see if it will accept
unopened or gently used
products. Or send them to
Project Beauty Share,
which will distribute lightly
used products (depending
on the kind) to marginalized
women. Piper recommends
disinfecting anything that
has been in contact with
your skin with a mist or
two of rubbing alcohol.
(Put it in a spray bottle for
mess-free cleaning.)

BY DEANNA PAI PAPER ART BY REINA TAKAHASHI


USE EVERY


LAST DROP


Can’t reach the serum in
the bottom of the jar? If a
cotton swab doesn’t get it,
consider a tool designed
to keep products from

a wand with two spatulas
that fit through the neck
of small bottles ($14;

a product’s efficacy,” says
Annie Jackson, cofounder
of clean beauty brand
retailer Credo. Better to
turn a bottle over, give
it a shake, then let gravity
do the rest.

RECYCLE


YOUR


EMPTIES


Plastic bottles with an
imprint of the number 1, 2,
or 5 within a triangle are
typically recyclable. Their
caps, however, may not
be. “Cosmetic packaging
with mixed materials
like metal and plastic
are notoriously difficult
to recycle,” says Ashlee
Piper, an ecolifestyle
expert. Happily, stores
like Origins and Credo
will recycle caps, empty
tubes, and compacts—no
purchase necessary.
Some brands (like Burt’s
Bees, L’Occitane, and
Eos) have free recycling
programs through
TerraCycle, a company
that creates new products
from old packaging.

■ (^) ORGANIC
Products labeled
“organic” contain
at least 95 percent
organic agricultural
ingredients. Those
claiming “made with
organic ingredients”
must have at least
70 percent.
■ (^) CLEAN There’s no
regulated definition,
but it most often
means the formula is
free of controversial
ingredients, including
parabens (a common
preservative), sulfates
(a cleansing agent),
and phthalates (often
found in synthetic
fragrances).
■ (^) VEGAN No animal
by-products, such as
honey and lanolin, are
in vegan products.
■ (^) CRUELTY-FREE
This indicates that
the formulas and
ingredients weren’t
tested on animals.
The gold standard is
the Leaping Bunny
Program, which audits
brands’ supply chains.
PETA’s cruelty-free
seal requires a written
statement affirming
the company doesn’t
test on animals. ■


LEARN


THE


BEAUTY


AISLE


LINGO


More than half of Americans admit they
throw away beauty products. Keep yours
out of the landfill with these simple changes.

ROUTINE


Avoid hard-
to-recycle
materials by
looking for items
with minimal
packaging, such as bar soaps that often come
wrapped in recyclable paper. Lush sells solid bars
of skin-care staples like cleansers, toners, facial
oils, and serums. If you’re stuck with nonrecyclable
packaging, repurpose it. A small plastic tub that
held eye cream, for instance, could hold jewelry,
other tiny items, or even beauty products when you
travel. “I clean small containers and fill them with
my face cream when I’m traveling instead of going
out and buying travel-size containers,” Piper says.

RECONSIDER


THE


PACKAGING


YOUR

Free download pdf