Plastic free cosmetics and Christmas pledge

First some good news.  I came across a small campaign group called Switch the Stick- based in Bristol- which is successfully campaigning against those plastic sticks in cotton buds which many fools flush down the toilet and therefore into our seas and rivers. SwitchtheStick have been systematically campaigning against the big brands to use only cardboard sticks instead, and in their latest newsletter they say that Boots, Sainsburys and Wilko now stock cardboard stick cotton buds. More brands will surely follow. Well done them. To see their work and sign their petition, please go to www.switchthestick.org

Petitions are an effective way to make companies and politicians alike aware of our concerns and in many cases they can strengthen the arguments of the good among them.  But we can also do more as individuals and make sure that we are not part of the problem.

If you have not done so already, please check out the ever growing bathroom resource list on this blog which lists non plastic alternatives to practically everything you may keep in your bathroom. My bathroom is now 99% plastic free (apart from the ballcock in my loo which quite frankly has to stay there until I replace the loo – I seem to remember they used to be made of copper).

Thanks to everyone on the www.facebook.com/escapefromplastic/ for your suggestions and contributions.

However, when I challenged this group to see if we could find non plastic packaged cosmetics the silence was deafening. I guess we all looked into our cosmetics bags and realised it is all packaged in plastic.

So I googled about and found this Italian company   www.vegup.bio/en/product-category/make-up which says all its vegan cruelty -free cosmetics are packaged in cardboard or corn derived plastic. We ordered some via the online company www.ecco-verde.com/natural-makeup  -which by the way have just launched a line of nicely designed cardboard packaged deodorants www.ecco-verde.com/ben-anna

We bought what we could from Lush (although the lids to the bottles are still plastic and I don’t know if these are recyclable like their other black packaging).

My daughter Amazon who is 21, tested them all.


Her verdict “My left eye is Veg up mascara and my right  is Lush. Pretty similar except Veg up is very sticky to start with so if you rubbed your eye it would go everywhere, so you just have to wait until it dries.  Eyeliner & concealer are from Veg up. The eyeliner works very well, concealer a bit crumbly.”

We both tried the Lush liquid colour eyeshadows and think they work really well especially the metallic range.

What I did realise in the short amount of time rummaging about in the cosmetics world, is what a lot of complete rubbish they are trying to make you buy. Highlighters for this cheekbone, low lighter for this bit of your chin, plumpers, thinners, you name it.  Most of us at my age just need a bit of foundation, some mascara, maybe some blusher, eyeshadow and lipstick.  If you are young  or with  great skin you need  even less. Don’t be conned.

So next up in my quest to go plastic free would be to tackle the kitchen, but it is mid- November and all around me are signs of Christmas marketing. So we will take a short diversion from our room to room pledge and get stuck into Christmas.

 To start with I am going to ask my friends and family not to buy me any presents with plastic in them or packaged in plastic. Will you join me? 

Please go to the www.facebook.com/escapefromplastic/  and share this post on your social media. Let’s see how many agree with us.



If your friends want to know why- I suggest showing them this.


Remember:  don’t  be part of the problem.










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