Welcome back to another episode of my plastic free-ish challenge! In today’s post, I’m recapping my September goal to swap to low and zero waste toiletries as much as possible. I’m sharing the swaps that went well, the swaps that didn’t (I’m still working on some), and tips for making your own plastic-free or low waste swaps in the bathroom as well as while traveling.
Low Waste And Zero Waste Toiletries – Plastic Free-ish Challenge #9
Disclaimer
There are affiliate links included in this post. This means at no extra cost to you, I earn a commission if you book through the link.
What I aimed to replace
Overhauling my toiletries had a short term and long term goal for me. My strategy going into this challenge was to pick about $50 worth of products that I use the most and would have the most impact replacing.
Then, as other toiletries products ran out, I would start replacing them with a zero waste or low waste alternative. Or at least, testing out if the alternatives would work for me.
The toiletries I decided to test out for this challenge were:
- Face wash
- Moisturizer
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrushes
Zero waste toiletries for travel
Face wash
Conveniently enough, the September Simply Earth essential oil recipe box had a recipe for a face wash bar.
I didn’t add this in the budget because I wasn’t originally going to swap face wash for the challenge, but since I was going to be making a face wash bar, I decided to add it in the recap.
It was very simple to make, smells amazing, removes makeup, and leaves my face feeling fresh and clean.
I love making the recipes in the Simply Earth box each month and it always gives me new ideas and skills to make eco-friendly swaps in the household.
Here’s the link if you want to check it out.
Other options are using coconut oil as a face wash (I don’t recommend this if you have fake lashes) or you could buy a face wash bar like this
from Amazon.
Face wash from my Simply Earth recipe box
Moisturizer
For moisturizer, I chose the Full of Grace Face Serum from Lush which cost $16.95. It is a solid moisturizer bar, which you rub in your hands to melt it enough to put on your face.
The bar itself is very convenient for travel since it is one less liquid to travel with and it is lightweight.
The Full of Grace Serum leaves my skin feeling so soft and nourished, but it may be too heavy for sensitive skin types. I bought mine from Lush and they have a range of bars for different skin types though.
There are also moisturizer bars like this
on Amazon if you prefer.
Moisturizer bar from Lush
Shampoo
For zero waste shampoo, I bought a Jumping Juniper shampoo bar from Lush which cost $10.95.
I’ve used shampoo bars from lush before and they are great in terms of convenience for travel and eco-friendliness.
When I had tried using them, I had a bad experience because it felt like it was stripping my hair too much. This could’ve been because I picked the wrong bar for my hair type, or just because of the water quality in Italy. Hard is an understatement when it comes to the water quality in Italy and I’ve had problems with my skin and hair the whole time I’ve lived here so it’s hard to tell what the cause was.
I decided to give them a second chance, chose a different type of shampoo bar, and need a longer timeframe to know if the same thing will happen again.
If you can’t buy from Lush, there are also shampoo bars on Amazon like this one
.
Conditioner
For conditioner, I tested out the Happy Happy Joy Joy conditioner from Lush. It’s low waste, not zero waste, since it comes in a bottle, though the bottle is made from 100% recycled plastic.
The thing with this is that it is $14.95 for a 100ml bottle. For me, that’s way too expensive for what you get and I wouldn’t buy it again for that reason.
I’m saving this one exclusively for travel to make it last and get the most out of it and still trying to find a good alternative for conditioner. I’ve found this one on Amazon
that might be worth a try.
Toothpaste
I tested the toothpaste tabs from Lush.
These are very convenient for travel because, again, it’s one less liquid you need to pack and they are more practical and economical than travel size toothpaste tubes.
Personally, I wouldn’t use them at home though because of the cost.
Overall, I will continue to buy them to use for travel but will stick to the toothpaste I currently use for in the home.
There are also these on Amazon
that might be worth a try if you prefer Amazon to Lush.
Toothpaste tabs from Lush
Toothbrushes
I also swapped my toothbrushes to biodegradable, bamboo toothbrushes from Wowe Lifestyle. It cost $11.97 for a pack of 4.
The toothbrushes work out to about $3 a toothbrush and last 3 months, and this is a reasonable cost in my opinion.
There’s not much different in terms of usage between these and plastic ones, the big difference is the fact that they are a lot better for the environment.
These are fantastic! I’m sold on swapping to these and I will buy these again when the ones I have need replacing. Wowe also sells dental floss, straws, and a lot of other plastic-free products.
The Wowe toothbrushes were the best swap in my zero waste toiletries challenge
Other products I have tried
These are some extra swaps I have made this year that I didn’t include in the monthly challenge.
Instead, I have been replacing items with plastic-free alternatives as products run out.
Reusable makeup wipes
I bought a set of reusable makeup wipes from Amazon
which have been convenient, saved me a lot of money, and reduce a lot of waste since I had previously used disposable makeup wipes.
These come in a bag which I use to store the dirty ones and wash them in. I store the clean ones in an old jar that I cleaned.
Baiden Mitten
I’ve shared this before on social media, but these are amazing!
I bought my Baiden Mitten from Amazon
and it is a microdermabrasion glove that can replace all your face and body exfoliators. It saves you a lot of money over time and a lot of plastic waste.
The intense scrub from the glove is very similar to what you experience in a hammam and leaves your skin so silky and smooth.
Castile Soap
I recently found Castile Soap
when I was trying to find low waste household cleaners. The Castile Soap can be used as shampoo, soap, and shaving cream to name a few toiletries uses.
Since I am now using it in the house, I may use this as shampoo if the shampoo bars don’t work out or my budget gets tighter.
Here’s my full review for swapping household cleaners for more information.
Dr Bronner’s Castile Soap
Budget progress
This month’s changes cost $65.77 in total.
The budget for the year is $600 and so far we are up to $382.15. There is $218.85 remaining for the last 3 months.
Overall thoughts on swapping to zero waste toiletries
Swapping to low waste and zero waste toiletries went fairly successful this month.
Some of the changes have stuck and I really love them, some need a little more investigating but overall, I’m happy with the changes. I still have other things like razors, dental floss, and wax strips to swap once they need replacing and will continue to test alternatives as they run out.
I think that as I continue to make these swaps and others as well, I’ll lean towards products from Amazon instead of Lush.
The biggest suggestion I have is to experiment as much as you can and to avoid it being too overwhelming just pick a couple of items to start with then just replace things with eco-friendly alternatives as they need replacing.
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