Zero waste (organic) make-up powder | When A Teen Goes Green

When people look at my make-up stash, they are often quite surprised. There’s a lot of plastic in there still. But there’s a lot of plastic in there because I use what I have. Before starting my zero waste journey I had a lot of make-up which I still use today. Yet, sometimes I run out of things. And then, I do buy sustainable and zero waste make-up. And so today I want to share a switch I made: my zero waste (organic) make-up powder.

Balance in Wearing Make-up

I have to say, I barely wear any make-up. I usually don’t wear any make-up when I work, go to school or stay at home all day. That’s most of my week haha. In this period of my life I try to wear make-up on special occasions. When I attend a party, go for drinks or sometimes in the weekend. And I still struggle with this balance. Sometimes I feel like I should wear make-up everyday, when I see some flawless faces with make-up at school. Other days I see people going to a party without make-up and then I want to quit make-up entirely. I guess it’s a love/hate relationship because make-up can make me feel beautiful but also like I hide myself. It’s a struggle and that’s okay. I see how I feel every single day.

The Base of my Make-up

There is something that has changed over the past years. That is that I don’t wear foundation anymore. It used to be the base of my make-up. It’s gone quite gradually I guess. I actually still have foundation in my stash, I just never use it anymore. I’ll see what I’ll do with that the coming months. Today the base of my make-up is powder. I use the powder and then comes all the rest.

I really like this powder! It matches my skin-tone and is mat. I feel like it makes my skin look flawless when I need it and so it does the job perfectly. For me the powder also lasts long enough, because at the end of the day it’s always still on. I don’t use a brush to put in on, I still use the sponge that I still had from my previous non-zero waste powder. When that totally runs out, I think I’ll buy a brush for the powder. For now, I can postpone that purchase still.

The Zero Waste Make-up powder

I purchased Zao compact powder number 303. The first time you purchase the powder you order the entire make-up powder (not the refill). The powder consists of a bamboo casing, with two parts which are held together by two tiny magnets. In between the bamboo casing is the actual powder. This is a round aluminum cup. It’s quite hard to explain haha, I hope the pictures clarify what I mean.

I unfortunately I did receive the powder inside of a tiny cotton bag, which I think is unnecessary. Therefore I now tell the store to just send the powder without the bag whenever I order anything from the brand Zao. Besides the unnecessary cotton (which is still renewable and recyclable), the powder comes in bamboo and aluminum. The bamboo can go with the compost and the aluminum is 100% recyclable. No plastic and zero waste! The powder costs €23,90. 10% of the ingredients are organic, it’s vegan but does however contain a palm oil derivative. So, my conclusion is that there’s room for improvement, but for now this is the best I could personally find.

The Refill

When you’re out of powder you can order a refill. Then you’ll not receive the bamboo casing again, since you already have that. This refill contains only the aluminum case which you can put in the bamboo casing you already own. This refill comes in a tiny cardboard packaging (recyclable or compostable). The refill costs €11,90. Remarkably lower than the first purchase! I don’t think €11,90 is expensive for a zero-waste, vegan and partly organic make-up powder at all!