Christmas gift guide: Plastic free and zero waste beauty products

Like many people, I’ve recently been looking at more and more ways to cut right back on plastic use, especially single use plastic and items that can’t be recycled – and I know that some of the folks I regularly buy presents for are very keen on zero waste and plastic free lifestyles. Maybe we could all be a little kinder to the environment…

Home made gifts are great for this but sometimes I want to go out and buy a few nice bits and bobs, so this year I’m devoting a number of my gift guides to topics such as cruelty free goodies, low and no plastic products, zero-waste treats, and fairly traded items. They’ll all be great to give and even better to receive, so let’s start by taking a look at some excellent no-plastic makeup and skincare gifts.

One thing’s for sure, the wider beauty industry really hasn’t cottoned on yet to the demand for less single use plastic in their makeup packaging, so it’s taken a while to find the good stuff but I do think it’s turned out well in the end. Here are my top picks:

Top row, left to right:

• MOA Absinthe The Green Fairy hand & lip balm, £13.50. This pretty balm has been raved about in several luxury magazines, and it’s full of herbal extracts and soothing natural oils. They also make a brilliant no-plastic bamboo and cotton face cloth that comes in a hemp bag, £6.00, that’s another perfect stocking filler – and if you buy it from Big Green Smile you get plastic free packaging too.
• Lush Trix Stick concealer, £11.95. Available in a wide range of shades, so you can conceal, sculpt or highlight. They also make solid no-plastic foundations, and solid no-plastic highlighters.
• Luna Beauty solid eyeliner, £7.50. Comes in a beautiful tin, just right for gifting, and you apply using a wet eyeliner brush. They also make a matching no-plastic mascara in a glass bottle that you can use your own brush with. If you’d prefer a plastic-free eye pencil, try Odylique’s eyeliner in a choice of black or brown, £12.50.
• PHB Ethical Beauty Skin Brighten Gel with neroli and immortelle, £14.00 for 120ml. A lovely big pot of aloe vera based gel with natural brightening ingredients, part of a popular range for different skin types.

Bottom row, left to right:

• Urbapothercary Lips & Cheek tint balm, £10.99. This coloured balm leaves a pretty flushed tint, is organic and vegan, and it comes in a compostable tube with a recyclable label.
• Shade All-Natural Sunscreen SPF25, £9.75 for 100g or £3.75 for a mini 15ml tin. Made with cosmetic grade non-nano zinc, this is a purely mineral sunscreen that’s won several awards.
• Heavenly Organics detoxifying face & body mask, £5.99 for 100g. A big jar of vegan, cruelty free powder to mix with water, containing bentonite clay and kelp. One for your skincare obsessed friend, or anyone who might fancy a little pampering.
• Miss Trucco reusable double-sided cleansing pads for sensitive skin, £15.80 at Ecco Verde. These are cotton terry on one side for makeup removal and hemp with bamboo on the other for exfoliating.

There’s another gift guide for great plastic-free haircare and bodycare presents, so have a look at that too if you’re looking for something nice for your eco-conscious friend or relative.

Also, since different people like different things I’ll be including other types of beauty treats in other gift guides, and I’ll try to mention as I go along about any companies that use no animal testing, products that are vegan, and nice things that have recycled or recyclable packaging too.

Are you enjoying the new gift guides so far? Have you seen anything here you like the look of for a gift, or as a treat for yourself?