Hey tea drinker,

The drink of today is Four Sigmatic Chai Latte with homemade Oatmilk. My sip of the week is about low waste skincare. Does it actually work, and does it truly exist?

**Disclaimer: As always, let’s start with my disclaimers. I am not an expert. I am simply a regular girl trying out products on my skin and sharing my experience. So if you are concerned about any product or any information that is given, please talk to a licensed medical professional, because I’m definitely not one!

Additionally, I have eczema and acne. I know, weird! Given this, some of these products that I hated could work for you, and some of the products I love, you could hate. If I’m honest, the products aren’t really the focus. My point in sharing this blog post is more about the misconception that “natural” is better.

Down the rabbit hole

In trying to manage my guilt over my consumption of plastics, when I began finishing my skincare products I began looking for zero waste alternatives. I took my time to explore skincare because the fact that most of my skincare products already come packaged in glass reduced the number of items to swap. As I have mentioned, I have acne and eczema, so the major focus of my skincare routine is on moisturizing and hydrating my skin and managing my acne with AHA serums and tea tree oil. My routine included a sensitive skin cleanser (MyChelle),  a Vitamin A moisturizer (Derma E), a Vitamin C serum (Mad Hippie), and an AHA serum (Mad Hippie). Almost all the products I was putting on my skin at the time were fragrance-free.

As I began changing products I started with my face wash because it was in plastic. I switched to a bar facial soap. I seemed to have no problem. Little did I know, your face has, on average, a 28-day cycle before recycling the skin cells and revealing how the skin products are truly affecting your skin. In puberty, the cycle can be 14 to 25 days.

After about 3 weeks, I noticed my skin was struggling. I was getting bumps under my eyes and around my jaw. When I went back to this zero waste skincare website it said that the soap doesn’t work well with other products, except ones made by their company. I checked to see how to best make the products work for my skin concerns and then ordered accordingly.

Still not knowing about the 28-day cycle, I thought my skin was getting better. However, it was really getting worse. The fragrant ingredients (given they are “so natural” and filled with essential oils) in these products began to irritate my eczema by day 20, and the thick oily formula increased my acne by day 14. Still trying to making the zero waste skincare system work, I went back to the company website.

This time their website guide had changed. I now had a clear option for sensitive skin. I thought, “Finally, I will have a winner!” Nope, once again the fragrant ingredients in these products began to irritate my eczema, causing more bumpy skin.

Due to other life events, I was put on a new medication. The interaction between the zero waste products and this medication was tragic: cystic acne on both cheeks. I quickly gave up zero wasting my skincare!

Once back to my skincare routine, even with the new medication, my symptoms began to reduce over the course of three weeks.

What I learned

Zero waste beauty in some ways is like any other trend! You need to question whether the product is actually quality. I should not be risking my health (my skin) for perfectionism in zero waste. I buy medication for my health in plastic, so the barrier between my insides and the outside world deserves the same protection. As Cassandra Bankson (on YouTube) says, “Turn and learn!” I am now looking for quality, well-tested products that come in glass packaging. Skincare that will take care of the needs of my skin and my ethics, because my skin deserves to be healthy!

Tea Tip: Research the products you need for your skin, then look for plastic-free options. If you don’t find any that’s okay. Email companies to make them aware it is desired. If enough of us are emailing it may encourage changes. 

As always, I hope what I wrote was helpful and encouraging. Just reducing little by little helps the planet a lot.

With Love,

YaniTee