walk or drive home? Or that a cute little glass jar with a half-ounce of cream is so fragile that it has to
be wrapped in layers of stiff paper? Many cosmetic brands do not pack their products in boxes, and
their products look just fine and work just as well. Did you know, by the way, that full-size samples
of Chanel makeup products come packed in plain kraft paper, stuffed in brown cardboard boxes, and
these products still look perfect? The same products are sold in department stores bearing eight times
their weight in plastic and bleached cardboard.
I admire Canadian a makeup brand Cargo for creating a lipstick range packed in tubes made
of corn and sold in boxes that contain real plant seeds. Take out the product, soak the box in
water, and plant it to see a new green living creature emerging in a few days.
Overuse of packaging is something that organic and synthetic skin care brands are equally guilty of.
Some better brands, like UK-based REN, are ditching cardboard packaging altogether. Their lotions
come in airtight pump recyclable plastic bottles shrink-wrapped in recyclable plastic. I also admire
Canadian makeup brand Cargo for creating a lipstick range packed in tubes made of corn and sold in
boxes that contain real plant seeds. Take out the product, soak the box in water, and plant it to see a
new green living creature emerging in a few days. Very smart and very green. Pangea Organics also
infuses their cardboard boxes with flower seeds. Joshua Scott Onysko says that the idea came to him
during a “psychedelic journey” in Joshua Tree National Park in California.
While wrapping is basically a matter of vanity that adds weight and importance to an otherwise
humble jar or tube, packaging is important to keep cosmetics fresh and stable. Sophisticated,
technologically advanced airtight pump-style bottles can eliminate the need for preservatives and
stabilizers. Granted, excessive packaging and tons of tissue paper may help make a sale, especially
during the holidays, but you will always pay dearly for this moment of consumer glory.
When the time comes to buy a new shampoo, conditioner, or cleanser, ask yourself, would you be
proud of yourself if this particular bottle was buried with tons of other plastic bottles somewhere
between the Bahamas and the Bermudas? Most likely, you won’t be. That’s why choosing cosmetic
packaging made of better plastics, ideally of soya and corn, or at least that’s degradable (that
decomposes faster than ordinary plastic) or biodegradable (that can be decomposed even sooner), is
important.
“Glass packaging ensures not only a sophisticated, sensual experience, but a healthier planet,” says
Suki Kramer of Suki Naturals. “Our packing uses recycled stock, printed with vegetable ink. For
shipping, we buy only organic cornstarch peanuts. We receive hundreds of shipments that contain
bubble and Styrofoam. Throwing these materials away or ‘recycling’ them, which is a very toxic
process, would be wasteful, so we reuse them.”
An average plastic shampoo bottle needs 450 years to degrade in the landfill. It can swim across
oceans to be swallowed by an albatross that would die from hunger since this plastic bottle occupies
his stomach and doesn’t allow any nutrients to penetrate his body. On the other hand, a bottle made of
corn and soya needs thirty to forty days to biodegrade. Even if a beauty-obsessed albatross eats it, all
he’d have to digest is some sturdy fiber. After all, fiber is good for digestion.
Lesson 9: Buy Less, Waste Less
The money you spend on skin care is well worth it when you achieve the results you expect. Many
wonderful skin care products cost only pennies to make, while others require hefty investments that
may or may not pay off. The truth is, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to look good.