We are two friends living on opposite coasts (Brooklyn, New York and Santa Monica, California) that share a passion for living a minimal, zero waste lifestyle and on a mission to help others do the same.
Harper. Lives in Brooklyn with a +1. Sassy pup. Matcha. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Proscuitto.
Charley. Lives in Los Angeles with a +1. Doofy pup. Coffee. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Pasta.
All in Skincare & Makeup
GREAT buy, particularly for infant and toddler aged kids! Our kids LOVED Bubbsi’s Body Cream’s animal shaped bottles, which are made of a soft food-grade silicone, and it became an extra bath toy for us. We love the clean ingredients and very light coconut scent. While it is a bit pricier, it feels like we’re paying a bit extra for a bath toy and lotion in one, and it does get more affordable when you buy the refill pouch!
Mixed. We hesitate to recommend Seaweed Bath Co Face Dewy Face Lotion with SPF given the ingredients that have come to light as well as its cost. We absolutely love the spreadability of the sunscreen and adore the dewy texture it leaves our skin. We also love that it is SPF 30 and that it contains more Zinc Oxide than typical sunscreens, thus relying more on the mineral elements. We will update the article as we learn more.
A STRONG BUY. We used Cocokind’s Resurfacing Overnight Sleep Mask for five months, 1-2x a week and found that it was like a gentle peel — you can definitely feel like working (tingling a bit) on your skin but much gentler than a retinol product that our skin could never really handle. The next day my skin was definitely peeling a little bit and much brighter/smoother without any irritation. We love that the ingredients are relatively clean, but while scent can be a bit odd, we were OK with it. All in all, we love the results for our skin and we LOVE the affordable price point.
GREAT buy! Bubbsi’s Coconut Oil Balm is our go-to baby balm, particularly helpful in the winter (we’re in New England) when the heat is on and our baby’s skin would stay chapped no matter what kind of lotion we used. We found this to be the most effective in combination with a humidifier. We like the solid form factor and found that a very little bit goes a long way. We also love to use this for baby massages. Appreciate the clean ingredients and refillable tub. It’s a buy!
A GREAT BUY. We love Blueland’s commitment to zero plastic and it stays consistent with their Facial Cleanser— no plastic in packaging, reusable bottle, no harsh ingredients (sulfate, paraben and phtalate free) and hypoallergenic. We also loved the scent and experience — it foamed up from a powder into a creamy gel-like consistency. The ingredients are hydrating, with plant-based Oat, Kaolin Clay and Vitamin E. It is a great everyday use facial cleanser and reduces our use of plastic bottles. Pricing-wise very reasonable when compared to other standard options. The powder format also reduces carbon footprint from shipping — liquid is just so much heavier.
GREAT buy if you like the convenience of a stick, but we want to try more. We’re a fan of Aveeno Kids Mineral Sunscreen Stick for Kids - for three key reasons: (1) the stick form factor is great when you’re on the go and you have a wriggling kid, our son actually LIKES it (2) sweat and water resistance means a little more time between re-applications (3) great for sensitive skin. Price point is very reasonable for stick form factor, but certainly more expensive than a liquid sunscreen. Biggest downside is that it does leave a white cast (photos below), so we like to keep some Pipette in the bag too.
Pipette sunscreen is the clear winner from the list we reviewed. The sunscreen has best ingredients, baby-friendly formula, limited cast, and a reasonable price point. We thought the other options (aside from La Roche-Posay) were also reasonable mineral sunscreen choices.
Raw Elements tinted moisturizer with SPF is a zero-waste, mineral-based SPF that is formulated for light to medium skin shades.
It’s a BUY. We purchased Gaia Body 5% Bakuchiol Facial Oil primarily to help with dry skin and it delivered! It absorbed into our skin much better than other oils we have tried in the past (including argan, plum seed, squalane, blue tansy and more. Skin feels dewy and plump, and when we put it on before bed, our skin feels moisturized in the morning (not the case in the last couple of years after having a baby). We also appreciate that there are studies that say Bakuchiol is comparable with Retinol, without the irritation…
Overall, Hawaiian Tropics Tinted Mineral Face Sunscreen with SPF 30 is a buy. Because of the tint, the cast is a bit less noticeable, especially if you blend with foundation. The texture is still liquid (‘milky’) and more easily spreadable compared to other products we’ve tried. In terms of cost, Pipette is a much better deal, but for a tinted sunscreen, the Hawaiian Tropics Mineral is right in the middle in terms of price, which may be worth it given the tint.
Overall, Hawaiian Tropics Mineral Sun Milk with SPF 30 is a buy. While it does leave a bit of a white cast, the texture is liquid (‘milky’) and more easily spreadable compared to other products we’ve tried. Additionally, the Hawaiian Tropics is at the cheaper end, competing with Pipette in terms of cost.
Ethique, as a company, is pretty great - a b-corporation with zero plastic packaging who plants trees and donates portions of their sales. Additionally, their ingredients tend to be limited, with mostly natural and those that have low impact on the environment. We loved their solid shampoo and solid face cleanser. We liked their solid conditioner bar and their zero waste deodorant. If we’re using them at night, we don’t mind the solid face and body moisturizers, but the thickness of them are just a bit much for daytime.
Not a buy. While the consistency is great (very lightweight) and it generally blends pretty well — the tinted nature of La Roche-Posay’s Tinted Mineral Sunscreen helps — it does have a bit of a “greyish” undertone. But what we really didn’t like — there’s a kind of chemical smell to it that we really didn’t like, and a number of ingredients that were flagged by EWG as less safe. Finally, there’s the price, it is pretty darn pricey as it is to be used for the face only. We’re pretty disappointed as this sunscreen is on many “top mineral sunscreen” lists in magazines!
ITS A BUY. We LOVE Pipette’s Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50. It is everything we want in a safe sunscreen that we can use on our face and body, and for the entire family — including babies! We’ve tried a few different mineral sunscreens (which do not include benzenes and other harmful ingredients that is not safe for kids, and frankly not great for adults either…) and this one is our current favorite by a long shot. Its moisturizing thanks to the plant-based squalene in the product and there is NO WHITE CAST. Hallelujah.
BUY. We think Terra Beauty Facial Bars are a great option for a clay-based facial cleanser that is also zero waste. No more plastic tubes for your general face wash. We have been using it every day for about a year, and we still have well over half the face bar left! Combined with lavender that both smells nice and is antibacterial - we think that’s a win.
MIXED BUY — but know you will be paying a premium. We really like that most of the lotion is absorbed into our skin, which has been hard to find. The scent is very subtle: while we typically like that, given the price point, we would almost treat the Kate McLeod Daily Stone as a solid, moisturizing perfume. We also really like that it is completely zero waste that there are only a handful of ingredients — and no chemicals.
We are BIG fans of Phlur’s Ameline fragrance! While certainly more of a ‘splurge’ purchase, we think there’s a genuine quality of ingredients that translate to a better perfume here. We appreciate their clean ingredients, packaging, and their commitment to giving back.
Marrick’s lip balm is a strong buy! We love the reasonable price (less expensive than Burt’s Bees) for a plastic-free lip balm that smells amazing and works incredibly well!
Maybe BUY. Lush is one of the pioneers of solid and no waste personal products. You have possibly smelled their strongly fragranced stores in a local mall — and that’s exactly why we are a maybe. Cruelty-free and mostly natural ingredients, with no plastic packaging, and pretty easy on the wallet compared to other solid lotions: we like Lush’s lotion bar in Pansy for these reasons. Personally, we like products with a little bit less scent, so for those sensitive noses, maybe this one is not for you.
We like Grove’s mission of being a b-corporation and its curation of eco-friendly, zero-waste and natural brands —we are going to use it like our online convenience store.
Based on the money report, the fact that Grove Collaborative is a b-corp, we feel comfortable suggesting the VIP membership if recurring items are in your basket. Otherwise, there is no necessary commitment to support your favorite green brands by purchasing through Grove Collaborative — you would just need to hit the threshold for free shipping; otherwise shipping is $4.99.
