How to Be More Sustainable: Beauty and Lifestyle

With editorial director of Get the Gloss Victoria Woodhall, and Creative Director of Sims Hilditch Interiors, Emma Sims-Hilditch and her husband John, co-founder of Neptune Home.

In December we hosted a series of Instagram Lives, with our founder Lucy Macnamara talking to a wide range of experts on all things sustainable. They were packed full of so many tips that we’ve started a blog series to share them. If you are interested in increasing sustainability in your home and makeup bag, then check out some advice from Victoria Woodhall and Emma and John Sims-Hilditch below:


Victoria Woodhall is editorial director of the beauty, wellness and health website Get the Gloss . Get the Gloss is the online destination for expert health and beauty and Victoria discussed sustainability in the beauty industry, and gave us a some great tips on how we can make some easy sustainable swaps in our beauty and wellness routine. 2020 saw a noticeable shift in brands using more sustainable packaging, pivoting to paper, aluminium, compostable bubble wrap for instance and creating more non-animal-based products and going waterless. Check out the brands and products below taking the steps to get it right:

1. Tan-Luxe

Tan-Luxe who create illuminating tan drops has moved to paper folded packaging, reduced their use of glue and plastic inserts and bottled the product in easy to re-fill glass.

2. Balance Me

Balance Me is an all-natural skincare brand using lots of plant-based inks in their packaging too.

3. Pai Skincare 

100% of Pai product box packaging now contains 0 plastic or laminate meaning they are easily recycled curbside.

4. Green People

Gentle organic natural skin care. Check out the bestselling One Balm which is packaged in their first 100% bio degradable pot.

5. Wildsmithskin

A premium brand really committed to sustainable skincare and responsible practices. Their packaging is made from Mycelium, the vegetative root of the mushroom which can be moulded around products.

6. Dior and other big brands

Even big brands like Dior are creating totally plastic free mail outs of their products.

7. Lore Originals

Award winning hair care products that are vegan, cruelty free and multi-use.

8. Elizabeth Arden

Elizabeth Arden capsules are airtight and compostable.

9. Bolt Beauty  

A new brand that creates beauty product capsules from seaweed that you simply wash down the sink when empty. Also means less wastage because each capsule is dosed for you so you use every drop.

 

10. REN 

REN skincare brand is developing an infinitely recyclable plastic.

11. KEVIN MURPHY 

Kevin Murphy creates his hair care packaged in 100% ocean waste plastic.

12. FAITH IN NATURE  

Faith in Nature creates a 100% recyclable, vegan, cruelty free beauty range.

.

13. UP CIRCLE  

Up Circle is a young brand that uses organic food waste and gives it another life as beauty products e.g. coffee beans used as scrubs.

14. LARRY KING  

Larry King is a celebrity hairdresser – his conditioner refill is an aluminium tube to squeeze out the last drop and cut top off and rinse it out and put in your green bin.

15. VITACLEAN

A shower head that uses 25% less water but still feels like a power shower.

16. FACE HALO

Re-usable make-up pad that replaces up to 500 make-up wipes!

17. GUPPYFRIEND  

Guppyfriend washing bag – available from Aspiga, an earth friendly filter mesh washing bag for all your non-natural fabrics (and your Face Halo wipes).

.

See the full Instagram live here.


We loved the chat with Emma Sims-Hilditch leading interior designer, and her husband John (co-founder of @neptunehomeoffical) about eco decorating and how the interiors industry is evolving more sustainably. They also gave us a couple of healthy recipes for the weekend, and 4 tips to help the environment:

1. Reduce

Reduce the amount you buy. Buy better quality ‘buy once and buy well’. One of the best forms of being sustainable is to buy things that last and don’t get caught up in trends.

The concept that you achieve sustainability through beauty - naturally beautiful things are sustainable, we look after them and want to keep them alive. Just take a look at beautiful architecture and the buildings that stand the test of time or The Repair Shop, the lockdown tv hit, that breathes new life into beautiful old items.

2. Re-use

The first question Emma and her team ask clients is ‘what do you already have that we can give a new lease of life to or incorporate into your scheme?’

Emma also wanted to give a big shout out to all the antique dealers who not only give us so much pleasure in sourcing but give quality furniture another lease of life. Websites like vinterior.co.uk make sourcing antiques so easy.

3. Re-cycle

We know this can be hard but there are some great companies to help us. Plastic Expert show us the top 5 companies leading the way in recycling innovation: https://www.plasticexpert.co.uk/5-companies-leading-the-way-in-recycling-innovation


Why not re-cycle unwanted clothes or goods? We’ve seen a big surge in ‘swaps’ and some companies offer points that can go towards environmental partners. Check out Elisabeth Telford’s book ‘Hygge – Discovering the Danish Art of Happiness’ which promotes a way of living that fights against consumerism.
.

4. Return

When we get those packages filled to the brim with plastic, inserts and bubble wrap then wrap them up and return them to the CEO or MD of the company with a request that they tackle their packaging issues, or use your voice on social media.

Companies like Neptune and Aspiga exist to help customers be more sustainable. There are 4 key elements of Neptune’s sustainability strategy:

1. Measure performance levels and understand our carbon footprint. Having clear KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) that everyone is working towards helps to focus the business.

2. Use those KPI’s as a challenge to reduce our carbon footprint across the whole business

3. Focus on product lifecycle. Neptune only use solid timber which locks away carbon and because of the long life of the products it’s permanently locked up and not released back to the environment.

4. Ecological – what can we do to improve bio-diversity? Increase our awareness of the impact of bio-diversity loss.

Finally, Emma shared a couple of her vegan recipes which you can find on IGTV emma_sims_hilditch - try delicious Pumpkin Pasta and Tofu a la Forestiere.

See the full Instagram live here.


If this has inspired you to strive for an eco-friendly life, watch more of the Instagram Sustainable Lives series here.

Recent Feefo Product Reviews:

Cayo Sundress

"Love my Cayo Sundress
Aspiga’s service is second to none."

Lisbon Shirt

"Love it. Will buy again in the future"

 

"Always excellent quality and service. If you have any queries regarding measurements etc please do not hesitate to get in touch with them."

 

Valentina Blouse

"It's beautiful and a great fit. Exactly what the picture showed"

Clea Blouse

"Beautiful and colourful in a drab, grey, cold season."