10 Cost-Effective Ways to Green Your Beauty Routine

Feeling beautiful and conserving natural resources don’t have to be mutually exclusive endeavors. With a bit of forethought before you hit the makeup counter, you can find cost-effective ways to green your beauty routine. So even if you don’t want to splurge on overpriced all-natural products, you can still help to keep Mother Earth happy and healthy with just a few simple tweaks to your current beauty routine.

Ready to take the plunge into a healthy, eco-friendly approach to beauty? Then read on for 10 tips to help your routine go green.

1. Make Your Own Makeup

You probably already have a favorite mascara, blush and foundation, but they might be chock full of chemicals that are harmful to both you and the environment. Instead, craft your own beauty products at home. You can create your own makeup using natural, eco-friendly ingredients. It’s just one of the many easy and cost-effective ways to green your beauty routine.

2. DIY Facial Products

The DIY possibilities don’t end with makeup. You can whip up your own facial cleansers and toners using earth-friendly ingredients like castile soap, essential oils and distilled water. When you make your own skin-pampering products at home, it’s obviously one of the cost-effective ways to green your beauty routine — but it’s also an opportunity to customize them to your needs. For instance, you can choose a lavender essential oil to calm your mind as it soothes your skin.

3. Treat Your Hair to All-Natural TLC

Are you really getting into the DIY possibilities? Good news — there’s more. You can even make a coconut-honey hair mask, an all-natural hair rinse and dry shampoo at home with just a few simple ingredients. That saves you a trip to the store and some dough as it simultaneously saves Mother Nature from harsh chemicals invading her water supply. It’s a win-win all around.

4. Shop Trusted Brands Online

If you don’t have the time to DIY everything in your beauty arsenal, then you have other options, too. Scour the internet for affordable green brands that use sustainable, organic and otherwise eco-conscious ingredients. Some also enlist eco-friendly practices when it comes to packaging and shipping. Look for brands such as Credo Beauty, Spirit Beauty Lounge and Follain.

5. Read the Labels at Your Favorite Stores

Maybe the best way to keep unnecessary trash out of landfills, however, is to shop in-store, eliminating the need for any extra packaging to ship products to your doorstep. Check out retailers like Target, Trader Joes and Whole Foods. They all offer natural lines of cosmetics and beauty products, and when you choose the store brand, you’ll enjoy affordable price points, too.

6. Find Waterless Ways to Beautify

Is washing your face every night part of your beauty routine? You certainly aren’t alone, but you may be unintentionally increasing your impact on Mother Earth. Instead, switch to using organic face wipes every other night. This will help you to conserve water without sacrificing your complexion in the process!

7. Don’t Toss Half-Full Containers

If you’re in the habit of buying new mascara as soon as you start running a little bit low, you could also be an inadvertently be putting more strain on the environment. As long as your makeup and beauty products haven’t expired, feel free to use them to the bitter end. You’ll save money by going through fewer eyeshadow palettes and decrease the amount of waste you contribute to landfills.

8. Try Multi-Purpose Products

Some eco-friendly makeup companies offer products that play multiple roles in your makeup collection. For instance, you can use a single pot of rosy-hued makeup as lip balm, blush and eyeshadow. When you do this, it keeps more money in your pocket and means you’ll have fewer makeup containers to toss in the trash.

9. Recycle Those Mascara Tubes

Speaking of empty makeup containers, check before you throw them away. You can recycle many makeup containers through cosmetic companies. Take a look your retailers’ website to see if it offers a recycling program. If it doesn’t, consider switching to a brand that does. You may also be able to clean out your old makeup containers and fill them with your new homemade products.

10. Think Small (at Least to Start)

When you first set out to make a big change, it’s natural to want to hit the ground running. But doing so often results in an enormous shift in your lifestyle that’s just impossible to maintain. Instead, take baby steps. Start slowly with one eco-friendly switch, like making your own foundation, and then gradually add on other eco-conscious initiatives. It’ll be easier to create long-lasting habits if you start small.

Sustainable Beauty Is Within Reach

If you thought that bringing your green lifestyle into your beauty routine was either too expensive or too time-consuming, now you know the truth. You can easily find affordable and simple ways to enjoy an eco-friendlier pampering session with just a bit of planning. And there’s no time like the present to start your journey toward a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.