Journey to Zero Waste: Convert Beauty & Skin Products To These!

In mid of 2017 there was a huge changes i made regarding to things i use to my body.

When i turn thirty last June i feel more conscious about things i use and consume, like lotion, toothpaste and also i saw lots of trash wherever i go. I felt bad for contributing more waste to earth, moreover it will caused side effect to our own body.

I just realized so many chemical in our daily products especially for toiletries, like shampoo, soap and toothpaste. If we read the label, most of soap and shampoo has SLS that makes silkier, fairer, brighter and decrease natural moisture in our skin. Or toothpaste has detergent to make bubbles and scents that coming from artificial ingredients. Do you use deodorant or anti-perspirant to make you less sweaty and avoid bad smell? Check the label, most of them have aluminium that repress the sweat production (which natural body process!) and make our armpit smells good. Can you imagine how many artificial things or chemical we put in our body that actually we don't need? That got me thinking!

Throwback a month before that, i was coordinator for Mosaic, a local program In CISV that focusing on local issue and collaborate with community. We did waste management activities. Even though that time we just did very small activities to compost waste and to see how Biomagg, our partner works with their larva, i read quite a lot about waste management and how to reach zero waste life. You can read the coverage in Bahasa about Zero Waste Management Mosaic CISV Indonesia here and look up the video!

At that moment, i feel like do more about that and sustaining Mosaic for myself. FYI, Mosaic is one of local program in CISV Indonesia that earn big succeed through Orang Utan conservation life in Borneo.

So, at first I change my lotion to body oil and change my toothpaste. Also, with high intensity on traveling i think its good thing to convert for less waste and traveling light. It makes your life 80% easier and hassle free! 

Here i’d like to share some stuff i tried which one i use now and where to get it.

Body Oil

Not a big fan of lotion but i can feel my skin getting dry easily especially when i go to the beach or after swimming. I read somewhere that body oil exfoliate and moisturize more than lotion, and since i hit the age three-o i feel i need this more than lotion or body butter. I fell in love with Klen and Kind, and use Blithe and Bonny scents. I also use their product for essential oil, my personal favorite is spearmint. It’s affordable and works well for me. You can check their products here. Unfortunately, they still use plastic for packaging.

      ToothPaste

Split these toothpaste into three parts: daily, travel and storage

This one is my personal favorite! At first i tried the small size just for trial. It was.. SALTY! Of course it is, it made of natural salt, coconut oil, peppermint and stevia. After few times using it, i can feel the difference, it tasteless, it feels cleaner, and it reduces bad breath in the morning. I use it for a month and i forgot to refill it, so i have to use regular toothpaste for a week and i regret every second. This one is detergent free and you can buy it in bulk with glass jar. I bought it in Green Mommy Shop in Malang, its quite far from my town so i dont ‘t want to waste and bought it for 500 ml! I haven’t try any other products since i’m in love with this one since the very beginning.

Deodorant

Deodorant game is pretty challenging for me. Maybe its a bit too late when i realized that alumunium in deodorant can be very dangerous, but its never too late to switch. I tried several products:

* Dimanja Bumi: Its a deo-cream, with scrubby texture and smells pretty good. Its a balm where you have to apply it a small amount to your arm pit. I tried it half jar and the aftermath feels like sometimes it cannot reduce the odor. Also i felt a bit wet after using it. So, after i finished it i didn’t buy anymore. You can check it here.

* Rain Forest Coconut Deodorant: I purchase it on Green Mommy Shop and it has quite a good review. The texture mostly dry with a bit of oily that comes from essential oil. Rub a bit of deo to your arm pit and actually it feels pretty dry just like baby powder. The aftermath? PUURRRFECT! After a whole day i can still feel my armpit dry and not smells at all. Even when i use it to workout, it keeps me dry. Super recommended! Also, it comes with tin packaging so its a zero waste product.

* Dukha Sukha: Basically its a tawas stick from Bali. I got it from my friend who recommend it to me. She has sensitive skin and the only thing that fits her well are baby powder and this deo stick. This deostick has the easiest to apply just like regular deo roll-on. You only need to get it wet a bit with water and apply it.  I just used it few times, because i wasn’t very sure whether it will stay long for a day. But my friend use it for almost a year and its barely finished. Its pretty pricey thou compare to others above.

* Bonus round: Balea. Actually i bought it last year in Berlin when i was quick shopping in DM to finish my Euro. I feel like better to invest in beauty products because its bloody cheap. For 400ml it was only less than 1EUR! I didn’t use it a lot because i thought it has aluminium (its a perspirant spray!) until i read it and translate it from Deutch that this is aluminium free. I will buy for more, for sure!

Face Moisturizer & Cleaner

Thank God i dont have high maintenance kind of skin that require me to visit skin doctor or facial that much. FYI, i only did facial once for the entire life. I used to use commercially known product such as Garnier or Clean and Clear face wash, tried some water sleeping mask from Laneige, and some random products. My face skin is pretty easy to handle despite during period, i can have few acnes. So i think its harmless to try different products.

Moisturizer:

After few trial and error, i made some mixture of rosehip oil and grapeseed oil, rosehip oil and cucumber extract for daily use. I use Organic Supply oils. I also switch to coconut oil just for exchange and using virgin coconut oil its better with no other additional ingredients. I bought my VCO from Bali Country Side in Sidemen.

Cleaner:

Still exchanging between Rainforest Cream, which actually pretty good and leave your skin smooth, and sometimes micellar water. For me, after those two i still need to wash it with water just to feel cleaner because my skin is quite oily. In exchange i also use virgin coconut oil for cleaner. However, all those products come with plastic bottle and have no replacement yet.

4.       

         Shampoo:

Shampoo from Artesana

Another challenge is to switch from liquid shampoo (because they comes in plastic bottle) to shampoo bar. Not so easy to find, but Rainforest has shampoo bar that you can choose whether for anti-dandruff, colored, or even two in one shampoo. The problem for me, it stills leave me tangled and pretty dry. Actually Rainforest has creamy conditioner that sold in bulk but i haven’t try it. Recently, i tried Artesana liquid natural shampoo. I feel much better but it comes in a plastic so i don’t know if i wanna continue to use it.

  

          Soap:

I tried several products as well, but apparently i don’t really need specific product when it comes to bar soap. Back then we use a lot of bar but i cannot recall the ingredients. So now, what’s more important for me, it is consists of natural ingredients and packed in paper or cloth. I tried Kinanthi Soap, which coffee variant is pretty nice smell and useful for both body and face soap. Unfortunately they packed it in plastic wrap. Then, once i fell for this artisan soap with a very nice packaging, smells so good and even has glitter on top of it. Until it arrived, i read it has palm oil on it. It broke my heart. I use it but promised won’t buy it anymore. Then, i got milky bar soap from Artesana that i bought in Via Via Jogja. Most important actually to avoid SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) & Parabens in both shampoo and soap that has bad impact for skins. So far i enjoy it with my Gambas loofah to switch my previous nylon loofah.

My soap traveling kit with Gambas loofah

So, here it is! I’m still trying and switching every now and then but try so hard to consider whether its plastic free packaging, fair-trade, local made and most important thing less chemical that might cause bad effect to your body. I think the next step will be, cloth pads to replace cotton to clean your face, laundry soap, and maybe woman cup for menstrual. Anyone ever try it all those stuff? Do you have any recommendation or your other personal favorite? Please do share!