Sprout, The World’s First Plantable Makeup Pencils

eyeliner, plantable, eco-friendly, sustainable, These makeup pencils are pretty special, and sustainable from start to end. Recycling in the beauty industry is notoriously difficult, but here’s a clever, patented invention by eco-pencil company Sprout World, that is designed to not only reduce waste, but give something beautiful and useful back to the planet.

Simply use the makeup pencils as normal, and instead of throwing them away when they become too small to use, flip them around, stick the end (green capsule facing down) into a pot of damp soil, and ta-da – beautiful wildflowers will start to sprout within 1-2 weeks!

Sprout Makeup Pencil
Where did the idea come from?

Sprout World is made up of 70% female employees. It was during a routine discussion about the waste problem within the beauty industry, that the team flagged how the majority of people in that room used make-up pencils daily, and therefore, they could potentially play a huge role in giving a second life (and a beautiful one at that) to products that would otherwise end up as waste.

Kind to the skin and planet

Sprout Makeup Pencil
Every element of the pencil is made from natural, kind-to-skin ingredients and materials:

100% natural and ethically sourced
Made from sustainable certified wood
Recyclable sugar cane cap
Plant-based soluble cellulose cap that dissolves when planted, releasing wildflower seeds
AllergyCertified, plastic-free and paraben-free
Sprout Makeup Pencils

Available as an Eyeliner (Black or Brown) and Browliner (Brown)

Price: £10.95 per pencil / £20.95 per two-pack

Stockists: amazon.co.uk and sproutworld.com

An Award-Winning Refill and Recycling Initiative from PureLakes

One of the most annoying things about finding good skincare is sustainability. The search for good, environmentally-friendly, products can seem endless. Well, it is time to call it off: Pure Lakes has won a  National Recycling Award, and rightly so. They have a revolutionary refill initiative which also gives customers 30% off the price when they return the packaging and reorder.

The products are natural and made in the beautiful Lake District. The packaging itself it biopolymer which is made with sugarcane. I have tried their products and they are fantastic and they smell amazing. I cannot recommend this brand enough. They are truly amazing.

 

“Why should loyal customers be out of pocket for doing the right thing…”

Natural skincare brand Pure Lakes has won a National Recycling Award for its revolutionary refill initiative. Their pioneering progress towards ‘closing the loop’ has been recognised in the Circular Economy category at the National Recycling Awards.

Pure Lakes, refillable , beauty, cosmetics, green, eco-friendly,

Owners Claire and Gareth McKeever ask customers to return their original, sugar-based biopolymer bottles to be refilled, rather than being sent refills in additional pouches as is available with many brands.

“Having researched the options,” Gareth said, “we realised that despite using less plastic than new bottles, pouches are not easily or widely recyclable. We have made Reduce, Reuse, Recycle a big part of our business but have gone two steps further and given the entire Refill process a Rethink.”

Pure Lakes Skincare are pioneering this new return and refill process and are the first brand to offer such a comprehensive service. Unlike other brands, the refills are available across the entire Pure Lakes range, with 30% off the cost price to help cover the return postage.

Gareth continued: “From a manufacturing business perspective it is not the most efficient process as all batches are handmade, perhaps one of the reasons other brands don’t offer it. However, we don’t want our loyal customers to be out of pocket for doing the right thing, they should be rewarded for refilling and reusing, and the more people that do it the easier it becomes for us to carry it out.”

Having consciously sourced all their packaging, a refill service that went one step further seemed like the obvious next step for Pure Lakes, which already has a strong reputation for being ethical and sustainable.

On receiving the empties, they are washed and refilled from small batches the team handmakes themselves in Staveley, adding a new date and batch number before returning them to the customer as good as new.

Since launching in 2006, the brand has been using 100% traceable, natural and biodegradable raw ingredients to make their products and all the formulas are free from synthetics, parabens and SLS.

This initiative is just one of many choices they’ve made towards carbon neutrality. They’re in the process of raising finance to build a new workshop which if successful will be powered by air source heat pumps and solar panels, where they’ll be able to grow their own ingredients.

www.purelakes.co.uk

www.instagram.com/purelakes

 

Fantastic Haircare: Natural, nurturing shampoo & conditioner bars

Pure Anada’s new Shampoo and Conditioner Bars are formulated to be kind to your hair and kinder to the environment. I love these shampoo and conditioner bars. They do the job wonderfully, all while smelling gorgeous and being good for the environment.

Packed with the powerful cleansing and nurturing properties of plants these small puck-shaped bars deliver high-performance, eco-friendly haircare.
shampoo, condoner, bars, eco-friendly

Pure Anada is handcrafted in the Canadian prairies from fresh, wholesome ingredients where they incorporate the goodness of nature into each of their products. Using ingredients derived from nature, luxurious plant oils, nourishing butters and ethically mined minerals are combined to create a comprehensive range of nurturing bodycare, skincare and haircare products with clean, natural formulations that are free from common allergens and not tested on animals.

Pure Anada is available in the UK exclusively from

Live in the Light – the online natural and organic lifestyle store www.liveinthelight.co.uk

shampoo, condoner, bars, eco-friendly

Pure Anada Shampoo Bars – £9.95
Shampoo Bars from Live in the Light
NEW: These pH-balanced shampoo bars are made with Ecocert approved, biodegradable, non-toxic surfactants. Infused with conditioning cocoa butter to cleanse and nourish scalp and locks – they work beautifully for all hair types!

Small but perfectly formed – at just 7.5cm round and weighing in at only 115g they will provide shampooing for up to 100 washes – the equivalent to 2-3 bottles of liquid shampoo (16oz).

Easy to use: Wet the shampoo bar in the shower stream, lather in the hands, and then apply shampoo to hair or rub the bar directly onto the scalp and throughout hair. Create a foaming lather while massaging the scalp and working the shampoo all throughout the hair. Rinse thoroughly.

Pure Anada Solid Shampoo Bar – £9.95

What is it that makes a solid shampoo bar different from a homemade bar of soap?

Soap is made from oil or butter and lye, in a process called saponification. This process results in a finished product that is great for cleansing the body, but has much too high a pH for the hair. Pure Anada’s solid shampoo bars, on the other hand, have a lower pH and also contain surfactants, breaking up the trapped dirt and oils on the hair and scalp gently, so they can be washed away with water.

Why is pH important for a shampoo bar formulation?

Our skin has mechanisms that regulate its pH, but hair does not. The surface of healthy skin will eventually return to its natural, slightly acidic pH after washing with soap—even with a higher-pH soap (many of them are between an 8 and a 10.)

Hair on the other hand can’t; it doesn’t heal and balance on its own. For this reason, it’s important to understand that one of the major sources of hair damage is using products with the wrong pH on the hair. Depending on an individual’s hair type and health, washing once or twice with soap might not immediately be a problem, but it can cause damage over time.

Pure Anada’s shampoo bar formulation is pH balanced, making it safe to use on a regular basis. It is not the same as a bar of soap which contains saponified oils which are a higher pH.

Pure Anada Conditioner Bars – £9.95
Conditioner Bars from Live in the Light
Follow with Pure Anada’s Conditioner Bar…
Detangle, smooth and hydrate hair with this concentrated, eco-friendly conditioner. Shea Butter nourishes each strand without weighing it down.

Presented in the same cost-effective 7.5cm puck these solid Conditioner Bars also offer the equivalent of 2-3 bottles of liquid conditioner (16oz)

Wet the Conditioner Bar in the shower stream, lather in the hands, and then apply the conditioner to the hair or rub the bar directly onto the scalp and throughout hair. Those with oily hair may prefer to only apply conditioner to the bottom half or to the ends of their hair. Work the conditioner throughout the hair and rinse thoroughly.

Pure Anada Solid Conditioner Bar – £9.95

Pure Anada’s Shampoo & Conditioner Bars are available in six fabulous, natural fragrances…

The Power of Plants: eco-friendly, 100% natural and organic cleaning products

organic, eco friendly, cleaner, cleaning , environmentally friendly

Anyone who reads Frost regularly will known that I am a fan of sustainability. Anything that is good for the environment and cuts down waste has my attention. I also hate nasty chemicals and the fact that most mainstream cleaning products come in single use plastic bottles. Not okay. 

Squeeky cleaners caught my attention because they are 100% natural, organic, eco-friendly, pet safe and vegan friendly cleaning products. I tried out the multipurpose cleaner and I was impressed. It works well and, unlike loads of cleaners I have used, it does not feel like you are breathing in nasty chemicals. No stinging eyes. It works and it is good for you and the environment. What is there not to love? It is also made in the UK. I hope this company goes stratospheric. I cannot recommend them enough. 

It is no surprise that modern day living is more toxic than 30 years ago, more chemicals are used in the home than ever before and pollutants are all around, effecting people, pets, wildlife and our planet. With more pollutants in a normal home than air in some major cities, we do not always think about indoor air quality.

According to the British Lung Foundation types of indoor air pollution include particulate matter (PM) – microscopic particles of dust and dirt in the air, gases – carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide.

We may think our homes are sparkling clean, but air poor quality can affect asthma, COPD and allergies. Indoor air pollution can be caused by many things. These include: cooking, poor ventilation, damp, toiletries and chemicals in cleaning products.

Harsh toxic chemicals found in many household cleaners affect skin, airways, lungs and eyes, with long term research suggesting that certain chemicals cause cancer and can even change our DNA over a period of time.

Squeeky cleaners have created and range of 100% natural, organic, eco-friendly, pet safe and vegan friendly cleaning products which are great for the home and planet. Their products can bring comfort to householders who worry that modern day living cannot be clean and natural without the use of harsh chemicals. All their products are plant based and made with essential oils they are safe, yet powerful and kill over 99.9% of all germs and viruses.

Squeeky cleaners have a range of products to make all areas of the home and garden super clean. One of their most popular products is the Organic Limescale Remover Life Bottle Bundle which brings a super clean shine to bathrooms and kitchens, even to the most toughest stains. The bundle includes a reusable UK aluminium life bottle and refils for just £14.99. For more information visit Squeekyshop.co.uk

 

The Eco-Friendly Christmas Gift Guide.

plastic freedom Bambaw reusable makeup remover padsplastic freedom, handmade soap, bamboo, beauty kubes, eco-friendly, sanitary protection , bean and boy bean and boy handmade gin and tonic soapPlastic Freedom is a great website which has a huge selection plastic free products. They also do gift boxes. They have an array of eco-friendly stuff like Bean & Boy natural handmade soap, Bambaw reusable makeup remover pads, Beauty Kubes Shampoo and Helen Round’s reusable bamboo face wash set.

Plastic Freedom, the online store striving to eliminate the world’s plastic-footprint recommended these products to us and we were very impressed.

Founded by 28-year-old Beth Noy in 2018, @plasticfreedom_was started single-handedly from her spare bedroom. She now sells over 900 products that come from a number of sustainable suppliers, including vegan cosmetics, mother and baby products, plastic-free lunch boxes, kitchenware, travel accessories and everything in between.

Beth Noy lives entirely single-use plastic free herself, and some of her favourite products are: Beauty Kubes, PF x Sol Cup and Beeswax wraps.

plasticfreedom.co.uk

CLEAN TEETH, CLEAN CONSCIENCE

  • A new toothpaste that is 100% recyclable, with no single use plastic tube.

  • Unlike other toothpastes on the market, it contains no harsh soaps, antibacterials, petrochemicals or artificial colouring.

  • 100% natural flavouring, with papaya extract for natural whitening and essential minerals to strengthen tooth enamel.

C:\Users\Owner\Downloads\IMG_0040.jpg

A new toothpaste that is not only good for you but good for the planet is now available in the UK. Happier Toothpaste, from sustainable beauty brand Happier Beauty, has packaging made from traditional aluminium, that is easy and energy efficient to recycle. With 1.5 billion single-use plastic toothpaste tubes thrown away every year, Happier toothpaste is a great swap to reduce your carbon footprint.¹ There’s no unnecessary cardboard box either. Even the postal packaging for the toothpaste is 100% recyclable, wrapped in 100% recycled tissue paper and posted in a reusable bubble envelope.

The toothpaste itself is also refreshingly different, containing only natural flavourings and no nasty chemicals. Each ingredient in Happier toothpaste has been specially selected to have as minimal impact to the environment as possible. Other market-leading toothpastes contain many artificial ingredients that are unnecessary and, in some cases, harmful. Happier toothpaste contains no soap and instead has a low foam formula treated with coconut oil to create light refreshing bubbles without drying your mouth. Happier toothpaste also avoids Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS) which is commonly found in other toothpastes has been linked with causing mouth sores and ulcers, and is often used in shampoos and body wash.

Happier toothpaste also contains natural ingredients with great benefits. Papaya fruit extract is infused into the toothpaste which aids with whitening and prevents new stains from sticking to your teeth.

The toothpaste is 100% cruelty free and vegan friendly. It has also been specially formulated for sensitive teeth.

Faye Wilson, founder of Happier Beauty said: “Toothpaste is something we put in our mouths twice a day, yet nearly all of us are guilty of being unaware of what is actually in it. I created Happier toothpaste after I started seriously looking at what is in market-leading toothpastes and saw you need a chemistry degree to understand half the ingredients!

“We are completely transparent with our ingredients; explaining what each ingredient does and why we’ve included it in our toothpaste. We never use SLS, triclosan, parabens, petrochemicals, colours, artificial flavours or sweeteners.

“It is also very important to us that our products have little to zero impact on the environment. We’ve taken special care to source ingredients that are kinder to your mouth and 100% recyclable materials for our products right down to the tissue paper the tubes are delivered in.”

Happier toothpaste is available online for £12.00 per 75ml tube, with free UK shipping. It is available in Fresh Mint flavour.

For more information, visit happierbeauty.com.

Beauty Picks: Natural Nail Polish and a Cloth in a Box

When the Duchess of Sussex made her first post-birth appearance to let the world see Baby Archie she was wearing a neutral glossy mani. Ever the trendsetter the look has now become popular.

You can get the look with SensatioNail’s NEW Nailtural Natural Nail Polish in Sheer Selflessness, £9.90 – A gorgeous pastel shade. Normal nail polish has loads of awful chemicals so I refuse to wear it. Thank goodness for the natural stuff.

  • Containing up to 85% plant derived ingredients such as potato, corn & wheat
  • Nailtural contains no harsh chemicals
  • Vegan, cruelty free & 10 free from formula

Nailtural is available from SensatioNail.co.uk, £9.90 each

I also loved the brand new eco-friendly, yet highly effective, alternative to facial wipes – Face It Makeup Remover Cloth, £12,99, Makeupbox-ldn.co.uk, You can take your make up off quickly and it is so much more friendly than facial wipes.

 

The innovative heart-shaped facecloth perfectly contours your face with its two pockets, giving you total control over your cleansing routine. Add your favourite cleanser and a little water, then gently massage across your face in a circular motion – this helps to gently exfoliate your skin too.

 

Created with ultra-soft microfibre fabric, even the smallest amount of makeup gets picked up with the Face It Makeup Remover Cloth to leave your skin feeling fresh, clean and super smooth again.

 

It’s suitable for all skin types, helps reduce environmental waste such as cotton pads and wipes and can be re-used by cleaning in the washing machine for future use. Good stuff.

 

Andalou Naturals Cosmetics

andalounaturalcosmetics, andalou,natural,cosmeticsAndalou Naturals is the number 1 selling natural skin care brand in the US and Canada. I have never used any of their products before but I was very impressed by the literature: Key plant powered antioxidants and the best in Non-GMO, Cruelty-Free, Gluten-Free, Eco-Friendly, Certified Organic, Fair Trade, Vegetarian, Vegan, and Clinically Proven Ingredients. Sign me up. I love organic, fair-trade and natural products. The brand uses Fruit Stem Cell Science and has clinically proven results. I have used their products now and I really believe they work. There is nothing to not love about this brand. Consider me sold.

I particularly love the Moroccan Beauty Oil, A Path to Light Lime Blossom Hand Cream, 1000 Roses Body Lotion, BioActive 8 Berry Fruit Enzyme Mask and their fab Get Started Brightening Kit which has 5 skin care essentials for normal & combination skin. The Get Started Brightening Kit is a great introduction to the brand.

They say: At Andalou Naturals we believe that beauty is a choice; it’s about how you think, feel and behave. Not only is this true for individuals, it’s also true for companies. As an organization we want to create products that are in accordance with who we are and so we set out to not only commit to but to CHAMPION our beliefs and ultimately, lead the way for others to follow suit.

In order to achieve Non-GMO Project Verified status, our Andalou Naturals team, in cooperation with manufacturers and suppliers, had to rigorously confirm that over 200 source ingredients, as well as the manufacturing process for each ingredient, did not include GMOs of any kind. In 2011, Andalou Naturals became the first personal care brand to achieve 100% Non-GMO Project Verification on every single product and today we are the #1 selling facial skin care brand in the natural channel (SPINS Oct, 2016).

We believe that GMOs, and the dependency on pesticides that they create, are in conflict with the wellbeing of the planet and the wellbeing of every single person. To fully protect our soil and our children, it’s not enough for companies to say they use Non-GMO ingredients, to truly stand up to the multinational corporations that are destroying our land and experimenting with our health, we need to verify it, label it and shop accordingly.

While the Non-GMO Project Verified process is a rigorous one—involving a huge commitment of time, capital and corporate transparency to segregate, trace, assess risk and continually test major GMO risk ingredients and their derivatives—it is a wholly worthy commitment and one that should be done.

We take a stand on issues that matter to us, regardless of cost; we always have, and we always will.

We CHAMPION: Cruelty Free, Eco-Friendly, Vegetarian and Vegan, Fair-Trade, Gluten-Free, Natural, Organic, and Non-GMO Project Verified ingredients.

http://andalou.com
Andalou Get Started Brightening Kit – 5 Pieces is available here.

Top 4 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Recycling

You already know the reliable clink and clack of a bottle thrown into a recycling bin, but do you know the environmental impact? It’s hard to talk trash without getting down and dirty. Waste has real and lasting effects on the environment, but so can you. Here are the top four ways you can make a difference by recycling:

4. Cut Costs

The importance of recycling

The importance of recycling

 

Image via Flickr by Jdhancock

Businesses can save big when it comes to office recycling. Small changes can make a huge impact on the life of your business, as well as the life of the planet. Some of the most common waste products including cardboard, paper, and plastic come to landfills directly from companies. In fact, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs for UK determined that commercial and industrial waste in England alone is an estimated 47.9 million tons.

Encourage your employees to not only reuse paper when possible and (as a company) resell it. For example, The University of Washington medical Center in the US saved $110,000 in a single year by cutting landfill costs through recycling and reselling paper and cardboard.

3. Conserve Energy

Energy conservation isn’t about simply turning off lights when you leave the room. Waste already causes a considerable energy deficit through transportation and incineration alone; however, the same items that create the deficit can also be used to fight it. It’s possible to recycle organic waste products such as vegetable oil and even corn.

Recycled organic waste can power everything from cars to kilowatts. Corporations can save as much as 11 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year via vegetable waste.

2. Save Space

No, not outer space, although, we’ve already learned how pollution affects the atmosphere here and beyond. Consider the gravity of garbage. The UK alone has around 2,000 landfills. Only 75% of them still accept waste, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking valuable land.

The more trash we create, the more space we consume. Often times, it’s also land that can no longer be used due to toxic trash like used batteries and other consumer electronics. You can save space by recycling all sorts of things. Common products like bottles, boxes, and cans aren’t the only reusable materials. Consider and compare mobile phone recycling and other electronics recycling programs.

1. Reduce Pollution

You can recycle and reuse simple household items like aluminum to minimize mining pollution. According to National Geographic, “mining and refining virgin aluminum also produces greenhouse gases as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two emissions associated with acid rain.” So, the next time you cook your famous pot roast, consider rinsing and recycling the aluminum foil.

Now that you know how you can make a difference by recycling, it’s time to get creative with ways to recycle and reuse. Share your favorite recycling tips in the comments below.