Sustainable Skincare.

April marks one of our very favourite days of the year: International Mother Earth Day. If you didn’t already know, over at Lulu & Marula HQ we’re all about conscious consumption and natural, thoughtfully sustainable skincare, so any excuse to celebrate good ol’ Mother Nature (and all the wonders she gives us!) is a definite WIN in our books.

Hang on – what even is sustainable skincare?
We’re glad you asked! Being thoughtfully sustainable means that we don’t test on animals (EVER) and we use minimal glass and cardboard packaging that can be recycled, or even reused. (Hooray, super cute travel bottles for ALL your toiletries!) In addition to this, most of our products are anhydrous (without water), which means that a reduced amount of water is used in our products and their manufacturing processes. Because the ingredients that we use (across the whole range) require less processing to get from their raw or mineral state into a pressed oil or powdered clay form, we avoid having to use large volumes of water to process or extract all the very best goodies from our ingredients.  

Why sustainable?
As consumers, we think it’s pretty darn important that we are all more conscious, on a daily basis, of what we are consuming – which includes what we buy, use, and throw away. By asking ourselves ‘Wait, what is my impact on the planet within each of these categories?’, we can help to make an informed decision on whether we actually need to buy, consume, or throw that item away. At the end of the day, we are huge believers in the difference that even the littlest changes can make on the planet, which is why we also work to empower local businesses by using ingredients and packaging that is, wherever possible, made and sourced in and around South Africa.

Why we’re such darn big fans of Mother Earth.
Since the very beginning of Lulu & Marula, we’ve been all about using only plant-based ingredients that actually work – and that’s still true today. We’re as passionate about results as we are about nature, and we don’t believe that you have to compromise one for the other (in fact, we think they work best when hand in hand! So, International Mother Earth Day gives us the chance to reflect on our consumer behaviour and set a few new goals to make positive changes to both our individual consumption, and our waste creation. Because at the end of the day, individual small changes = notion to a much bigger change.

How can I check if products are actually clean?
1. Look for minimalist packaging. Try to steer clear of products that have unnecessary additional printed cartons, leaflets and inserts, as these are not always recyclable, depending on the finish of the board.
2. Make sure the products have ethical certifications. Fair Trade, Ecocert, Soil Association, Organic, and Beauty Without Cruelty all talk to different things in the realm of clean beauty, but they all also indicate that the brand has positive ethical intentions.
3. Take note of reduced water usage. Having either no water in the formulation (like most of our products!), or no water needed to use it means that there probably weren’t copious amounts of water used in its production.  

Ready to join us on our sustainable skincare journey with products that actually work? Just click through to shop now – and stay tuned to Facebook & Instagram on International Mother Earth Day (22 April) for a chance to WIN your own little piece of heavenly skincare.

Team L&M x