About a year ago, I had only a vague and simple interest in ethical living. I came across Sarah Therese on Youtube around this time last year through one of her videos on her minimalism series.
I didn’t know it then, but I would become INVESTED in her lifestyle and the ideals behind minimalism, natural living, simple living, and ethical shopping.
Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post includes affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Before I get into it, I wanted to establish the fact that I am STILL learning! I have yet to figure out all of this ethical living stuff!
There are so many things I purchase that aren’t even close to sustainable (*cough cough* gas) and I haven’t found a way to work around it…YET!
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into it!
What is natural beauty?
You can think of natural beauty in a lot of ways really.
For example, the MOST natural you can be is to go without makeup in general. This is me 95% of the time, no joke! While this may be the best way to implement natural beauty into your life, it’s understandable if you don’t want to scrap all of your beauty tools right away.
I mean, makeup is fun! It’s creative!
The great news is that nowadays, there are alternatives to makeup products that aren’t sustainable for the environment or good for your health.
So what are some natural alternatives?
We can look at brands in order to find some great alternatives! Now, you shouldn’t just take my word as is. Do your own research! It’s important to really dive in to how “ethical” brands are or have become. A lot of truly solid beauty brands are totally changing their ways of manufacturing products in order to be sustainable!
I find it’s a big unfair to hate on brands like L’Oréal, Mac, or Covergirl IF they’re putting honest effort to become ethical even if they weren’t in the past.
Alright, so what are some good ethical brands? (Drugstore edition!)
These brands are super affordable AND are represented as clean, vegan, cruelty free, and ethical.
- E.L.F beauty
- NYX cosmetics
- Milani cosmetics
- Pixi cosmetics
- W3ll people
- Pacifica
- Simple (facial cleansers at Target)
- Versed
- St. Ives
- Wet’n’ Wild cosmetics
Now, on your part, I highly recommend looking at the ingredients list of EVERY product you buy. EVEN IF it’s from one of the brands listed above!
Some brands will list products as “clean” but they’ll have unsustainable animal products, parabins and dyes, aluminum, etc. in the ingredients list. Not only that, but not every product is cruelty free, or at least some products don’t outright say so.
I don’t trust a product until I look at the list and decide for myself if it is healthy or not. I’m not well versed in chemicals, so this can sometimes mean I will spend a solid 30 minutes to an hour googling chemical names to determine if they’re “good” or not.
What should you look for?
Look for labels like these:
Now, these photos were taken from the Target app and the Amazon app for (believe it or not) a covergirl foundation.
Like I said before, lots of big brands are moving towards sustainability because that’s what buyers are interested in!
Above, you can see labels that tell you how ethical the product is. On the back, you can read the ingredients and then make an informed decision on whether to buy it or not.
Transitioning to natural beauty
So…I went on a mini haul recently and picked up some new beauty products (I was running out of my old ones). And I decided to make smarter purchases and buy items that are represented as ethical and clean!
Here’s what I bought:
- Simple facial cleansing wipes
I normally buy facial cleansing wipes from Neutrogena. However, I wasn’t too sure that their products were ethical. Target.com lists them as “clean” but fails to mention anything else. Why are they “clean?” So, I did some research and found the brand: simple.
The target photo you saw above is the label analysis of the simple facial cleansing wipes. They are cruelty free, paraben free, sulfate free, and more!
I find it’s easier to love your makeup products when you know they’re clean and ethical.
I’ve actually been using E.L.F products for years. It was a no-brainer when I decided to repurchase the E.L.F liquid liner. I love the stuff!
When it comes to mascara, I don’t really have a go-to. I try all sorts of brands all the time! I went for an E.L.F mascara this go around because of the brands ethicality. However, I’d like to look into other brands later on.
I have been searching for a clean foundation (that I actually like) for such a long time!
Milani has a great full coverage foundation, but it only works well for me in the winter (you can see the Milani foundation I use here).
This Covergirl Milk Foundation left me skeptical at first, but it’s a beautiful light foundation. It’s similar to a BB cream and I love it for the summer!
If you like this post, check out some similar posts of mine below!
Feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what your favorite natural beauty products are!
You can also email me with questions or concerns you may have at info.amelia.wilson@gmail.com
Also, check out my poetry book, The Lights are on but Nobody’s Home, available now on amazon for $6.99!
Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post includes affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Thanks again