Join me in my journey towards a more sustainable beauty lifestyle in my 2020 beauty resolutions. Also, looking back on 2019 and my makeup purchases (a best-of, of sorts). Happy new year!

2019, I was trying to navigate the sustainable beauty landscape and my place in it. I was looking at the #shopmystash challenge, my impact on the environment through my consumption, and how easy it is to be swept up by the beauty industry’s temptations.

In 2020, I want to challenge myself further.

The tenets of sustainability are the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle. And I feel I did ok: I drastically minimised my beauty shopping, I branched out into reusable products, and tried to recycle everything as much as possible.

The structures of the industry

shop my stash challange 2019
All the makeup I bought in 2019 (skincare not featured because my turnaround is too quick) in the following pics. I feel like this is an ok amount for me, and what’s even more important: there were only four duds!

The thing is: I think I could do better. As I wrote here before, the conversation about sustainability centres on sacrifice. Consequently, people react aversely to it: nobody wants to suffer, and nobody wants to let go of their shiny toys.

The deluge of new things

And I get it, I really do. Life is hard, and I love my comforts – and beauty is definitely one of them. The problem is, in my feed (my own personal filter bubble) only a few brands (the big hitters) crop up. They distribute the message of products I’m supposed to covet, and I do. This deluge leaves me wondering: is that the next big thing that I’m missing out on?!

Try it, you’re a beauty junkie!!!

how to become more sustainable
If you’re interested in review, I wrote about the Mothership I Subliminal palette, the Natasha Denona mini nude palette and the Physicians Formula CC Powder. The Mx Factor Creme Puff Blushes are always in my favourite lists.

But: we’re beauty junkies! (You’re here, so that’s why I’m assuming.) We LOVE researching products, and are eternally curious. This year I saw that sustainable beauty products can totally be better than conventional ones, and that the conversation doesn’t have to be about missing out and sacrificing products you loved before.

It’s out there!

It has to be about discovering new and exciting sustainable brands who’ve heard the message: You don’t have to wear only beige eyeshadow (look at Madara!). You don’t have to skimp on glitter (look at Beautycounter or ProjektGlitter). You don’t have to deal with alcohol and sensitising fragrance in your natural skincare (eh – drawing a blank here). So: this is my goal in 2020 – find those brands and tell you about it.

Do not put each other down…

beauty trends 2020
Both highlighters are reviewed here, Maybelline’s Superstay Matte Ink is my fave longlasting lipstick, and MAC’s new Love Me lipstick formula can be found here and here. Lumene’s lipbalm was a flop, and you’ll see a review of Dawns Eye Cosmetic’s duochrome pigments (STELLAR!) soon.

We all move along at our own pace in life. And wouldn’t it be great to dismiss that element of self-righteousness and finger-pointing out of the discussion about sustainability? We all focus on different priorities – while your neighbour might be vegan, your best friend doesn’t own a car and you yourself are the recycling queen: don’t demand that others do the same as you do, just because it’s easy for you.

… but help each other up

Celebrate what they do, and maybe you can be inspired (and be inspiring!) and implement a small thing into your own life. So, why don’t you join me on this journey to discover something new?

Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.