SBTRCT (solid vegan moisturising facial balm)

SBTRCT is an excellent skincare brand, founded by the former execute at male skincare brand Bulldog. He has turned facial skincare on its head, offering a small line of vegan natural skin items (cleansers, exfoliators and face creams, with vitamin C booster).

Avoid beauty products with essential oils if pregnant/nursing. Many skincare items contain cocoa butter and/or zinc oxide (also found in sunscreens, cosmetics and deodorants). So if you live with pets, wash your skin before letting pets kiss you, or avoid items containing them.

Most kerbsides recycle plastic packaging. You can also recycle (including pipettes and hard-to-recycle items) at any Boots store (look for the recycling box).

All are sold in zero waste bamboo packaging, you just buy refills thereafter, which also saves you money. Note the squalane is plant-based (not from sharks, like some brands).

Why choose solid skincare?

Solid skincare is now very popular, as a way to avoid the waste of plastic bottles. Although you can now recycle them, it’s good to avoid them altogether!

Around 95% of cosmetic packaging in the UK is thrown away, adding up to billions of items that end up on landfills. Small miniature items are especially hard to recycle as they ‘fall through the cracks’ of standard recycling machinery, as do black plastic items as (like black bin bags), machines don’t recognise the colour.