What's In My Vegan, Eco-friendly Shower

Title:  What's In My Vegan, Eco-Friendly Shower

Today I am going to share with you what’s in my cruelty-free and eco-friendly shower.  While I’ve been buying vegan, cruelty-free beauty products for years now, buying products that are zero waste (and most recently palm-oil free as well) is still fairly new to me.  My shower isn’t completely zero waste at this time, but it’s what I’m working towards.  In the last couple of years, I have found some great brands to support, which I am very excited to share with you.  With all the eco-friendly brands out there, and the internet to make these brands more accessible, now is the perfect time to make your shower better for the animals and the planet!

Shampoo and Conditioner


Unwrapped Life conditioner bar and Ethique shampoo bar


When I first learned about shampoo bars, I was a little hesitant to try them out.  I had been using natural shampoo for many years, and I knew how hit or miss they could be.  But I had heard really great things about shampoo bars, and I really wanted to get rid of some of the bottles in my shower, so I decided to try them out.


It turns out that shampoo bars work even better than liquid shampoo, and my hair loves them!  


I’ve read from a few different sources that there may be an adjustment period when switching to shampoo bars.  I didn’t find this to be the case.  This could be because I was using natural shampoos to begin with, so it may be more of a transition if you are going from drugstore shampoo and conditioner.


The shampoo bar I am currently using is from a brand called Ethique.  Ethique is a brand from New Zealand, that fits all of my criteria (even certified palm-oil free!), and has some really great practices when it comes to helping the environment.  They are 100% plastic free, they donate 20% of their annual profits to charity, and they are working towards becoming a climate positive company.  While I normally will only buy from local brands, I really liked what Ethique was doing and wanted to support them.


So far I have tried the Heali Kiwi and Mintasy bars, and I like them both!  I’d say the Heali Kiwi bar is more for dry hair as it did make my hair a bit oily at times.  The Mintasy bar is working better for my hair type.  I purchased the hair sampler, which comes with three shampoo bars and two conditioner bars.  I love that they have sample size bars so that you can try them out to figure out which bars work best for you.  They also give you a free mini with each purchase; I chose the Mintasy bar.


For conditioner, I am currently using a bar from Unwrapped Life.  Unwrapped Life is a Canadian brand that is also zero waste.  I’ve tried both a shampoo bar and conditioner bar from them and I love the quality!  I believe the ones I tried were the Cancun bars.  The conditioner bar has lasted me about 10 months now, so you can definitely get your money’s worth out of them.  


Another brand I want to mention is Nezza Naturals.  They are based in Victoria, BC, and they were the first shampoo bar I tried.  The bar is super affordable ($8), works great, and lasts a long time.  I previously didn’t use a conditioner bar and my hair never got super dry without one while using this shampoo.  They do have a conditioner bar now, which I have not tried, but it’s probably just as nice as their shampoo bar!


Face and Body


Ethique soap bar and face bar


For face wash and soap, I am also using Ethique products.  The Matcha, Lime & Lemongrass body soap smells really good and doesn’t dry out my skin at all.  Perfect for winter.  The Deep Green face wash is nice and gentle on my skin.  It was really difficult finding a solid face wash that didn’t contain palm oil and worked for my skin, so I’m happy I found this one.  They have other face bars too, so you can choose what’s best for your skin type.


Shaving


5-blade razor from the brand Preserve


Right now for shaving I’m using Preserve razors.  Preserve is cruelty-free, vegan, and their razors and toothbrushes are made from recycled yogurt cups.  They also have a recycling program where you can send your razors back to them to recycle the materials.  


The final product in my shower is this bottle of locally-made castile soap.  My boyfriend uses it as body wash and shampoo, and I use it as a multi-purpose cleaner.  I haven’t found a castile soap bar that is palm-oil free yet, so if anyone knows of one, please let me know!


Island Essentials castile soap

And that concludes what is currently in my shower.  It’s not completely zero waste yet, but I’m excited to keep going in that direction.  I try to be mindful of every product I buy to ensure it is causing as little harm as possible to the animals, the planet, and myself.


What are some of your favourite eco-friendly products?  Let me know in the comments below.  Thanks for reading!

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