Hair
Hair care is a major part of your everyday routine and I bet you spend a good deal of time making your hair look good, I mean who doesn’t. But have you ever thought about what’s in your products or how your products are tested? Animal testing is a very upsetting and unnecessary process that so many popular brands use. Animals are held captive and the chemicals are placed on their skin, in their eyelid, and cause them a great deal of pain. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has been working for many years to ban animal testing. Over 40 countries and some states in the US have limits or bans on the testing of animals, but as a whole, it is not banned in the U.S. The Animal Welfare Act is the only federal law that has been implemented. Unfortunately it only sets minimum standards on how animals should be treated. The U.K. banned animal testing in 1998, showing how unnecessary it is for other countries to continue it. It is important to support brands that are cruelty-free, vegan, and PETA approved.
DIY
Hair care includes anything from shampoo to hair serums to shaving cream. There are so many different products for different types of hair and most of the time companies overcomplicate their ingredients. With diy, you can make your own products with simple and natural ingredients like water and lemon.
Refill
Hair care doesn’t come with much single-use plastic, but in most cases the products are plastic which means you’ll eventually end up with plastic waste. Use your old shampoo bottles or practically any container you have around and fill up on hair care products at your local refill shop. Find one near you here. Razors are another story. Because they are disposable, they create a lot of waste. You can buy a refillable razor that allows you to replace the blade when needed. While bamboo brushes and combs aren’t refillable, they are reusable and will last you forever. They are affordable and unlike most brushes, plastic-free.
Buy New
Plants have natural healing properties. Red algae can rid your hair of pollutants, fermented rice water smooths hair, and plum oil hydrates. You can read about it all the different ingredients that benefit your hair here. The chemicals are unnecessary so when you go to buy new hair care products, buy the all-natural option, the low-waste option, and the environmentally-friendly option.
My Picks
Prose
After taking a hair care quiz, Prose crafts the perfect products for you. They use the healing properties of natural ingredients to take care of the different issues you are having with your hair. For example, if your curls have lost their definition, Prose will add flax seed extract to fix that. They also do a subscription that saves you money and keeps up your hair health.
cruelty-free, sulfate free, phthalate free, paraben free, free of GMOS and dyes
working towards zero-waste and carbon neutrality
100% recycled and recyclable, organic, eco-certified, certified B corp
by human kind
A personal care brand that makes all-natural hair care products. They are dedicated to zero-waste products with their best seller being a shampoo bar. All of their products, except the zero-waste bars, are refillable.
recyclable bottle, reusable pump
sulfate-free, organic, vegan(except for the floss), fair trade
Klorane
A personal care company founded in 1965 in France whose products are made with botanicals and plants. Their shampoo bar is 100% biodegradable and because they are concentrated, conserve water.
plant-based, sulfate-free, biodegradable, vegan, paraben-free
Aveda
Aveda is natural hair care company that has all-inclusive Aveda salons globally. The founder, Horst Rechelbacher, was inspired by his mother’s career as a herbalist to create a hair care company rooted in the power of plants. Aveda has a full circle recycling program where they collect used bottles and recycle them. Their bottles are made from100% post consumer recycled PET.
vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-fee+sulfate-free options, silicone free, manufactured with 100% wind power, natural scents
Function of Beauty
Customized hair and body products made with safe ingredients. Function of Beauty chooses the perfect miz for you based off of your hair type, hair struggles, and preferences.
sulfate free, paraben free, phthalates free, gluten free
Avoid
Aluminum
Pthalates
Parabens
Artificial scents and colors
Sulfates
vegan, cruelty-free, sulfate free, paraben free, phthalate free, silicone free, dye free, fragrance free option
Let’s Compare
By Human kind Shampoo
Price: $15 for a 4 oz bar
Main Ingredients: sunflower seed oil, coconut oil, sustainable palm oil, safflower seed, castor, water, sodium hydroxide, essential oils
Packaging: recycled paper box with soy based ink
Prose
Price: From $25 for 8.5 fl oz
Main Ingredients: tailored to your needs, all-natural
Packaging: from recycled bottles and recyclable
Dove
Price: $8.29
Ingredients: Aluminum, Stearyl Alcohol, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isopropyl Palmitate, PPG-14 Butyl Ether, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, PEG-8, Fragrance (Parfum), Dimethicone, Silica, Polyethylene, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Steareth-100, BHT.
Packaging: plastic
Size: 2.6 oz
Check it out
Jonna Breitenhuber
Jonna is the mind behind Soapbottle, a kickstarter project she thought of during her master’s studies. The packaging is made from soap and is filled with hair and body products making it waste free. Learn more here.
Bottega Zero Waste
Bottega Zero Waste is a great resource for zero-waste body and hair care products. She has youtube videos that take you through the process of making your own products. She also has online courses and a blog. Check out her website here.
Benjamin Stern
At 16, Benjamin Stern invented a plastic-free pod that reduces the use of plastic bottles that come with hair and body products. The water soluble pods are filled with products and dissolve instantly. Learn more here.
Monique Simmonds
Monique Simmonds is a botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in England. As director of the innovation unit, Monique studies the medicinal properties of plants and has worked with major companies to incorporate plant-derived compounds into their products.
Sources
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/animal-experiments-overview/
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/government-required-animal-testing-overview/
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/cosmetics-testing-faq
https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act
https://prose.com/ingredients
https://www.kloraneusa.com/blog/happy-earth-day
https://www.aveda.com/sustainablefuture
https://www.aveda.eu/living-aveda/responsible-packaging
https://www.functionofbeauty.com/our-standards/
https://byhumankind.com/collections/get-started