An easy guide to going Eco-Friendly: starting with the bathroom

note: this post contains no affiliate links, just me gushing over how much I love these products

I don't wear a lot of makeup anymore. In high school I would spend about an hour in the morning doing my makeup but still never managed to make it look as flawless as all of the popular girls. Once college rolled around, I would do it a least twice a week as I only had classes twice a week but slowly fell out of habit as I had more important things to focus on. Papers, midterms, finals, getting a somewhat decent job, or really any job to help me pay for these classes that grants and finical aid did not cover. Then I only began wearing it on certain occasions, whenever I would go out to diner with friends or celebrate a birthday or holidays, etc. Then 2020 happened. Everyone was forced to stay inside (don't get me wrong, I am not complaining) due to COVID-19 and masks where implemented throughout the country. No one could really see my face anymore so I had not reason to make myself "look good" anymore (because you should never feel like you need makeup to feel pretty!). Recently I was going through my makeup bag and throwing away a ton of old makeup that I no longer wore and was probably way past its use dates. This was also around the time when I decided that I wanted to live a little more eco-friendly and sustainably. So after getting lost on YouTube and somehow on the sustainability side of TikTok I decided that it was time that I live a little more earth friendly.

To start off my new low-waste, sustainably life style, I decided to start with my bathroom, seeing as the average human being spends around 300 to 400 day of their life in the bathroom. I consider my bathroom the place for me-time. Where I get ready and help wake me up in the morning and unwind at night. At least before I have had my coffee or tea.

So I guess the question here is: why did I decided to go low-waste?

The answer is simple: The planet is dying, and if it dies, then we all die along with it.

Shampoo and Conditioner

I started with my bathroom and placed an order for some new shampoo and conditioner as I was running low. I began googling some websites that supply low-waste products and eco-friendly shipping (did you know they make dissolvable packing peanuts?! They are made out of corn and you dump them into the sink and spray them with water and *Voilà*, they disappear down the drain.) to get my journey started. I bought a one shampo0 bar and one conditioner bar, with is just like regular bars of body soap expect they are round and for your hair. These last me so much long the traditional shampoo and conditioner bottle, as it doesn't take a lot to wash my hair despite how long it is. I was my hair maybe two or three times a week, as I am trying to get into the habit of letting the oils build up due to the benefits that it has. I buy my shampoo and conditioner from EcoRoots.us

Body wash

Body wash was the next thing that I ordered as at the time I still had a huge bottle of it. So after waiting for about a month and using what I had left I began buying bars of soap. Now, for some reason that I am not entirely able to explain, I feel so much cleaner when I use bars of soap. It sounds ridiculous but its true. I buy most of my soap bars from work seeing as I work at dollar tree and they are only dollar. But when I feel like spoiling myself I will order from Bare-soaps or Pacha Soap Co. While they are slightly more expensive, that is the reason that I don't order then often. Bare Soaps come in a packaging that you are able to plant in soil and water and end up with wildflowers or milkweeds! Its amazing and I love it, you do have to have to go buy potting soil unless you have some lying around like I did. (I've recently become a plant mom and I love it!)

Bare Soaps:

Pacha Soap Co:

Huppy tooth tabs

It is actually fun to brush my teeth now guys, or maybe I'm just weird. There is something about popping this small tablet between your teeth, chewing on it for a few seconds and then with you start brushing your mouth gets all bubbly. You can even make it a subscription of you can have them mailed to you ever four months along with a cute little blue or pink Huppy canister to hold all of your tooth tablets--every single 248 one.

Deodorant: sustainyourselfshop.com

(it is not letting me ebbed the link so it shows the product like the others, I am not sure why so just ignore that this one does not have a sneak-peek)

Deodorant was a big adjustment for me. Mostly because it required me to detox. Regular deodorant, has chemicals in it that traps the sweat and prevents you from perspiring, hence why it is called an "anti-perspirant". I ordered a detox that go along with it to help draw the the little toxins out so the sustainyourself deodorant would begin working. The reason that I switch was because regular store-bought deodorant was drying my skin and causing irritation, which was so annoying, especially when I am at work or in the middle of class, basically any place "public" because I am not consider zoom meeting and Facetimes to be "public" at this point.

Makeup

Nudi goods' make is now one of my favourite makeup brands. All of their products are complete plastic-free and 100% eco friendly. Personally I am in love with their tinted lip balms in the colours Coral Rust and Sonoma Sun, along with their Lion brow-taming wax. The brow wax has become an everyday essential for me and holds until I take it for bed and I am deeply in love with it. If you don't try anything else on this list just please try the brow wax.

and

elate cosmetics

Discovering Elate Cosmetics was the first time I realized that I didn't have to chose between my recently rediscovered love of makeup or the planet... and if I am being honest Elate is a lot better quality than what I was previously buying. Before, I bought drug store make up and occasionally splurged on Sephora or Ulta. I had this notion that if it was plastic free then for some reason it must not be as good as other products. If it was I figured that I would of seen it in Sephora or Ulta. I was so wrong with this thought process. Elate is now one of my favourite brands of all time. I started by taking their "Create a Capsule" quiz that they have on their website since I wanted to start a new "everyday". Now, of course there were a few colour in the results that we not exactly me but I simply just switched those out with colours that I liked more. As pink was a colour that was recommended to me in a lipstick but I look so much better in a dark mulberry. I love a soft, barely-there-look but with a bold lip colour. When my box arrived, I could not have been more happy and felt like a kid in a toy store.

Even if you do not buy anything that I have listed here, I truly hope you liked reading it and seeing how I have started my low-waste journey. It was a slight shock to discover how much trash and plastic that I consumed in only my bathroom. But that is slowly changing and I am so excited and happy to be playing my part in helping the planet, because every action (no matter how small) matters!

———

Thank you so much for reading! If you would like to support my work, please consider leaving a tip, buying me tea or sharing this piece with your friends and family. Any and all support is highly appreciated! ❤ You can also view my profile on here.

—liv atterson

Liv Atterson is an Indiana based writer, where she is currently finishing a General Studies Degree and plans to continue to get her Bachelor’s in English and Art History. She is an avid believer that you can never own too many books just too few shelves. When she is not reading or writing she can be found studying and drinking her body weight in tea or coffee. She is currently working on her debut book.

For more content, follow her on Instagram @livdrinkstea, and view her blog.