Also Journal

In an inclusive series for ALSO, beauty photographer Felicity Ingram reflects on sustainability and climate change and shares sustainable touchpoints for how we can become more responsible beauty consumers..

It’s the year 2020, and for many, it’s become the year of reflection. For me, I’ve been wanting to focus my efforts on things that are important rather than over consumption and things I “need”. It’s a new beginning, and a fresh start for my beauty routine. A time to be celebrating and promoting companies and ideas that are making a difference to the climate crisis, with products that actually work and are kind to the planet and our bodies. And as individuals, promoting the ways in which we can consume beauty more sustainably and ethically, without compromise on quality, indulgence, or individual expression.

Return, Reuse, Refill, Repeat…

One of my goals during lockdown was to make my bathroom a zero waste zone. Why do I need a new container for my favourite shampoo and conditioner when I could just refill the same bottle again and again? Faith in Nature offers refills of its affordable shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand wash in 450 health food stores across the UK. The Body Shop are trialing shower gel refill stations and Bleach London launched theirs refill stations last year (very good for my pink hair!). I’ve been using The Beauty Kitchen’s products in lockdown, and I’ve been loving the citrus burst hand wash… we’ve all been getting through a lot of hand wash lately, so I needed something kind and gentle, and I can drop off the empty bottle at one of the many Holland and Barrett stores across London to be reused.

Transparency in packaging…

I used to think that plastic could be recycled over and over again. You throw away a plastic bottle into a recycling bin and somewhere in the near future… out pops another plastic bottle. During my discoveries in lockdown, I realised this really wasn’t the case. It turns out that plastic can only be recycled once or twice. I started searching for alternatives to some of my plastic packaged products and one surprised me the most: Plastic tube free toothpaste! I’ve been using a natural fluoride free tooth paste for years now but never thought about its packaging before, until I discovered Ben & Anna toothpaste. As well as being certified natural, 100 % cruelty free and vegan, it also works and tastes really good.It’s in a glass jar with a metal lid and comes with a little wooden spatular. Glass is 100% recyclable, endlessly, and can be made into new bottles over and over indefinitely without any loss in quality. These small changes to continually recyclable packaging on everyday things can have a huge impact on reducing our waste.

In The Loop…

The beauty industry creates 120 billion units of packaging every year. I try to use refill services as much as possible, but I often find I forget the empty bottle. So I’ve found my solution….Loop. The brainchild of recycling organisation Terracycle, Loop is giving customers the option to buy products, while “renting” the packaging. Ren is supplying 6 of its bestselling products in glass, label-free bottles. You pay for the contents and a deposit for the bottle, which is then delivered to your door via a carbon-neutral mode of transport. When it is running out, you simply let Loop know and they send a replacement to your door and you return the empty bottle to be cleaned and reused. It’s basically the milk man of your beauty products. This is also great for high risk people who don’t want to go outside at the moment. Other brands like Dove, Love Beauty and Planet, Puretto, Soapply, Pantene and The Body Shop are also involved. Go to loopstore.com to find out which products you can get delivered.

Luxury Vegan Beauty…

Climate change has been called humankind’s greatest challenge and the world’s gravest environmental threat. If you’re serious about protecting the environment, the most important thing that you can do is stop or cut down on eating meat, eggs, and dairy produce. This goes for planet based beauty products too. But you don’t need to sacrifice luxury products to go vegan. Le Labo is 100% vegan and Cruelty free. They also refill your glass bottle at 20% discount. My all time favourite skincare product is the magic oils of Disciple. Their Good Skin Face Oil has done wonders for my adult acne. I couldn’t live without this botanical oil-serum as my daily moisturiser with adaptorens and prebiotics for clear, bright skin. It’s vegan and comes in a little glass bottle of luxury. No compromises on indulgence necessary.

Self Care / Earth Care…

Self care and metal health have been talked about a lot during this time, and my personal antidote is a relaxing lavender aromatherapy bubble bath using Lush’s Big Bottle of Calm. Lush is doing an amazing job of limiting and sometimes eliminating the use of packaging in its environmentally friendly products. Another following suit is Soap Daze. Their soaps and skincare products are lovingly handcrafted in a garden workshop in Devon, England, using plant oils, essential oils, herbs and spices with a lot of zero packaging products available. Bulk Market® has launched the first retail destination in the UK dedicated to natural do-it-yourself beauty, the DIY Beauty Bar™. The concept is the next step of zero waste shopping, where customers can have total control and understanding over the ingredients used in their skin care products, creating natural body butters, face masks, skin toners, makeup removers, face serums and bath salts without toxic ingredients and totally plastic-free.

For more information on sustainability, visit Plastic Oceans and onamission.world

Try the beauty looks from this shoot with our ‘Neon Splash’ ALSO Instagram filters here