More often than not, the damage you do to your face is irreparable. Your skin is an organ, and that’s why we invest so much in a great skincare routine, drinking enough water, and using the right tools to apply your makeup.
But have you ever thought of what king of makeup brushes you use?
To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it until recently when we moved into our first home, and I decided to be more proactive in our household environmentally friendliness.
Are makeup brushes recyclable?
Well, apparently most aren’t.
According to Stephen Clarke who heads the Communications department at TerraCycle Europe, “120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry. Of these, very few plastic waste items generated in the bathroom are accepted by most public kerbside recycling programmes. Most common beauty products and packaging contribute to the world’s growing plastic waste problem and, without adequate recovery solutions, are tracked for landfills, burned, buried, or simply littered where waste management is insufficient. Many plastic waste items find their way into oceans and waterways, compounding the problem with environmental hazards”.
With 91% of worldwide plastics not being recycled, and plastic taking over 400 years to break down, it’s our individual responsibility to buy makeup brushes that can be recycled.
Where to buy recyclable makeup brushes?
People are becoming more aware of the damaging effect plastic has on our ecosystems so more, and more brands are releasing environmentally friendly makeup products.
One such brand is EcoTools who is Australia’s leading eco-friendly makeup tool company. All their brushes are made from cruelty-free bristles, recycled aluminium, and renewables bamboo brushes so the whole brush can be recycled! Even their sponges are made using USDA certified Ecofoam which is a sugarcane bio-based material.
And all of the EcoTools makeup tools are 100% vegan, cruelty-free PETA certified, and absolutely nothing is tested on animals.
So good for the planet, good for the animals, and good for you.
Does EcoTools have recyclable packaging?
Their makeup tools also now come in compostable packaging that has been infused with plantable seeks so your garden will have new flowers, and the Earth less waste.
This new eco-friendly packaging by EcoTools is FSC certified which means it complies with the international environmental standards such as being from traceable, responsibly managed forests. The packaging is made of plant based materials, printed with soy ink, and sealed with biodegradable glue.
While it’s currently not on all of their products, the new EcoTools packaging is rolling out for all products in the coming months.
How often should you wash your makeup brushes?
According to the Beverly Hills dermatologist Ava Shamban, you should be washing your makeup applicators at minimum every week, and replacing them every 2-3 months. Just for your makeup sponges, “The sponges become filled with skin cells and bacteria can overgrow in that area. If there are any potential allergens remaining in the sponge after makeup application, then it's conceivable that repeated contact could lead to an inflammatory rash.”