#also sorry to say but again. skincare and juice cleansers and all that shit is so pussyfooting. get a massive lip lift.

[bagofbonesmp3]

like with most things I think skincare obsession comes from a place of wanting control of your body but forgetting "beauty" is 90% genetics. which. it's another obsession with control

[sabreean]

Plastic free personal care:

Hair: This is a major category for me because I have a horse’s mane - 2 1/2 feet long, baby-fine but as thick as any 2 or 3 other people combined. — As soon as the current bottle is empty I will switch to bar shampoo. Many companies make bar shampoo and conditioner so there are a lot of naked products to choose from, and I mean a LOT, so making a decision took a long time and a lot of reading. myHumankind makes some, so does Sheets, but I have decided to try Ethique. They offer mini bars for sale so you can give them a try first and are the perfect size for traveling, they sell plastic-free compostable shower storage boxes for the full size bars (the boxes last about 5 years before they start to break down) and they have unscented. I received my Bar Minimum mini today and may hair feels very clean. It didn’t lather up as much as bottle liquid shampoos but maybe it isn’t supposed to. The Ethique web site says that it will “foam” but that wasn’t my experience. Eh, whatevs, it worked. They also have a purple bar set, for us blondes and silvers, and I don’t think *any* other brand makes that in bar/naked form. —I can’t use bar conditioner, I just have too much hair. But Ethique makes concentrates of many of their products - large bars that can be melted with boiling water into a cream/liquid and stored in whatever bottle is already sitting around. So I am going to try their conditioner concentrate when the current stuff is used up and just reuse the bottle that’s in the shower now. —I keep a small container of dry shampoo handy because the crown of my head needs washing a lot more often than is good for the length of my hair. I’m light blonde so the dry shampoos that lighten your hair don’t look weird but that’s a consideration for people with darker hair, and some brands make dry shampoos specifically for darker hair or claim that their all-for-one won’t make you the Bride of Frankenstein. I have Billie right now (two shades available, for light or dark hair, unscented) which comes in a plastic bottle, but only because I got a sweet discount on it with my first Billie razor set and I hadn’t yet gotten on the zero waste wagon. In a pinch, if you have light hair or don’t care about the lightening, you can just use cornstarch. It’s cheap, it’s in every store, it comes in a cardboard box and it’s the main ingredient of some dry shampoos anyway. But looking for an alternative to the Billie has shown that all-natural dry shampoos are more prevalent than I would have suspected. I even found a zero waste, unscented one that’s made here in Hawaii! — Two reasons to hope I love Ethique’s products: they have pet products. And they are a certified B Corp whose business practices and ethics kick the ass of pretty much any other company out there, maybe even Lush. They tick hippie boxes I didn’t know existed. — If I need to set my hair, I use aloe vera juice. If I need to slick it down I use conditioner. If I need to deep condition it, I use whatever oil is within reach. Heat never touches it. The only hair products in my home are shampoo and conditioner. It’s 2 1/2 feet long, “styling” ain’t something that happens here. It braids, it barrettes, it buns, it tails. So while there may be all natural, zero waste styling products out there, I don't use them. Maybe I'll do a whole separate article some day just to point the way but I won't have dick to say about them.

Deodorant: I don’t sweat much and BO has never been a problem - until now. I am going through it at three times the rate I did before. I have a mini unscented deodorant bar in my Ethique sample pack but the full size is a block that requires an airtight container they don’t sell, and a good number of reviewers reported it leaving white streaks on their clothes that don’t wash out. I just used it for the first and I’m wearing a sleeveless dress so I can’t speak to streaks, but it has a pasty consistency that means you have to wash your hands after using. So…probably not going to go with the full size, as much as I want to love Ethique. I ordered the full size Native unscented deodorant, which is a stick in a paper tube that you push up from the bottom, just like that orange treat you got from the ice cream truck when you were a kid). Sheets has the same but not unscented. myHumankind makes unscented but are currently sold out except to current subscribers who just need refills whereas I’d be a first time buyer, and anyway their dispenser contains a little bit of plastic which ain’t no thang if your community has recycling. Ours doesn’t, so I think I’ll stick with the paper tubes. -- Some brands make powders which I’ve tried and while they can be messy, they work. Other brands make pastes that come in glass jars and you apply with some spatula-like thing, but I can’t get excited about schmearing myself like a bagel. As with hair you have a lot of options to work through if you want to go plastic-free or plastic-minimal. -- The obvious question is whether all natural deodorants work for people who sweat heavily and I really don’t know since I’m not one of those. I’ve read the reviews on all the brands I considered and the answer to that question appears to be much “Your mileage may vary”. Everybody's body chemistry is different so ever product performs differently. Some sites talk about "detoxifying" your pits but bitch, please.

Teeth: — When my current tube of Dr. Bronner’s runs out I will try myHumankinds tooth tabs. I used Lush’s tooth tabs for a long time and I think tabs are fantastic - you can put them in carryon luggage without doing TSA’s stupid human tricks and they take up much less space. Other brands make powders which like deodorant powders above can be messy. But read the ingredients if you go the powder route - some store brands are just flavored baking soda which still works well, but at 10x the cost of a box of Arm & Hammer and they can just fuck right off with that scam. Other brands make pastes that come in glass jars and I think I saw one brand that uses a tube made of sugarcane. Or maybe that was face moisturizer. I don’t remember now. — I’ve been using bamboo toothbrushes for over a year and the subscription option means it’s easy to ensure that you are changing out your toothbrush as often as your dentist lectures you about (I also have reminders on my calendar every three months to nudge). I use Brush With Bamboo brushes because the bristles are USDA certified as 100% biobased and am very happy with them. The bristles aren’t falling out and they are soft enough for tender gums. — There are also plenty of zero waste dental flosses and mouthwashes out there. I don’t use floss so can’t comment (flossing makes my gums bleed, has done so my entire life, even dental hygienists have a bitch of a time flossing me and give up quickly). I have used Lush mouthwash tabs and they work very well, I’m sure all the other do too. But I don’t feel a need to keep any on hand. I’ll update if I change my mind.

Skincare: — My current supply of face moisturizer will last me a good while but when it runs out, again, plenty of bar options and oh so many glass jar options, and a few brands use tubes made out of a sugarcane material. Finding a face cream your face loves is a trial-and-error pain in the ass, I may just default back to Lush even with the plastic pot. My skin loves Magical Moringa so much and it’s created to be matte, so I don’t have to worry about the island humidity leaving a shiny oil slick on my face. Plus it’s thick enough and ‘dry’ enough that it stands a far better chance of surviving shipping conditions than Lush’s other products. — I want to try Ethique’s body lotion concentrate when my jar of Queen Helene cocoa butter runs out but it will be hard to convince me that anything is better than the Queen. — My current shower soap is Lush and when they discontinued my favorite I loaded the hell up, so I won’t have to make a decision on that for months. I may just share my partner’s, it’s in a plastic bottle but I love its orangey scent. I use my shower gel to wash my face because it’s Lush so I don’t need a separate gentler face cleanser. But I did use the mini Bliss Bar that came today in my Ethique sample pack and my face likes it quite well so maybe I’ll stick with it. Finding a new face cleanser can also be a trial-and-error pain in the ass…um, cheeks… — I exfoliate my face and body by mixing sugar into my shower gel, on the rare occasions I feel the need for a face mask I use straight honey (creamed/whipped/spun if I can find it), and for toner I mix tea tree oil into witch hazel liquid. Sorry I don’t have any opinions on specialty products out there but for these three things I’ve always been DIY. The toner and honey mask are good options for people with acne because honey and tea tree oil are natural antimicrobials, if that helps ease your sense of loss.

Shaving: I’ve been using Harry’s safety razors for a few years because I did the math - the subscription safety razors live up to their press, you really do save a shit-ton of money over disposables and they work much better. I switched to Billie just before I moved to the island because of the magnetic razor holder that it comes with, and really that was the only reason for the switch, the razors are just as good (although I admit the differently shaped handle of the Billie is easier for me to handle without dropping). -- I use hair conditioner or shower gel to shave with so I can’t comment on shave-specific products that are plastic-free, although there are a lot out there to choose from. The only shave-specific product I’ve used is Cremo and I liked it very much but it comes in a plastic tube.

Lip balm: It’s in a plastic jar because that’s the only way I can get it but I use straight up 100% anhydrous lanolin (the thick stuff, not liquid). It works incredibly well, is unscented/unflavored, and doesn’t wash off too easily. I order it from bulk supply houses like LotionCrafter or Bulk Apothecary because much cheaper than buying it off the shelf at a store. To exfoliate my lips I mix sugar and just enough oil or honey to make a paste. I don’t know that any one oil is better than any other for this, I just use whatever I have around - almond, avocado, coconut, and there’s always olive in the kitchen.

Tools: I use myHumankind bamboo swabs and I love them! The stems are bamboo and the cotton organic. The stems are rigid and strong, the cotton is tightly wound, and both are very important now that I'm regularly gunking up my ears with salt and sand and water. They are going to be great for makeup if I ever get around to wearing any. Maybe in September when we take our long weekend on Maui. -- If I get to the point that I need cotton balls, which I haven't since I moved here, I would probably try the washable bamboo pads that so many places sell. I used cotton balls before because I just...always had them. It's one of those things you always kept in the bathroom because doesn't everybody and your mom always bought them so I did too. Weird how that works, ain't it?

Feminine hygiene: I'll be blunt, don’t ask me. I haven't had a period in well over a decade because I practice menstrual suppression. And I’m of croning age now so it will be a moot point before long. I can’t contribute to this conversation. Sorry.