Less bottles, less expenses, more noble and healthier products… There are only good reasons to adopt minimalism in the bathroom! The Slow Cosmétique movement explains how.

Every day are sold hundreds of thousands of shampoos and other bottles of creams and various skin cares. Result? A multitude of waste, a polluted environment (including liquid plastics), a crowded bathroom and cosmetics not always good for our health, not to mention the huge impact on our wallet.
The Slow Cosmétique movement has a principle:”consume less but consume better”! So to pamper the planet and preserve your health, we give you some tips for a bathroom as minimalist as it can.

Minimalism, what is it?

For some years, this term squats magazines, websites and blogosphere. Minimalism is getting rid of the futile to refocus on the essentials and thus focus on real needs.
A minimalist bathroom is nothing more than a place where you unclutter superfluous cosmetics, both on the side of the number of bottles, but also on the composition side, going towards more rough and versatile products.

A minimalist bathroom with Slow Cosmétique? Why is that?

Let’s start with some numbers (pay close attention):

• 75,000: this is the amount of packaging of cosmetics and hygiene products thrown away each year.
• 965: it’s the annual budget, in euros, that a household spends on the world of cosmetics.
• 1000: this is the number of cosmetics with undesirable substances identified by the french association “UFC-Que-Choisir” in 2017.

Frightening, isn’t it ? This is why it is urgent to adopt Slow Cosmétique daily for products that are:

• Ecological: which respect above all our planet ! STOP the nasty chemical ingredients that pollute and kill animals and YES to natural and organic ingredients.
• Healthy: healthy cosmetics that respect the human and do not deteriorate in any way its health by privileging the principle of precaution.
• Intelligent: effectively responding to the winning trio cleaning / hydration / protection needed by the skin.
• Reasonable: who said that the skin needed a plethora of overpriced products to be healthy ? Nay, she is content with little !

Here are the 10 essential and multifunctional ingredients to have at home :

1. A cold saponified soap: To replace the polluting shower gel and wash the body, the face and sometimes even the hair too. Long live the 2 in 1!
2. A hydrosol: To give a touch of pep’s awakening, as a facial tonic lotion for example.
3. A plant-based carrier oil: To cleanse, moisturize and nourish all skin types.
4. A plant-based butter: To come to the rescue of damaged feet, cracked lips and even to massage baby.
5. An essential oil: To answer to many daily ills.
6. A clay: To make fearsome face masks.
7. An aloe vera gel: To help hot bodies, thirsty hair or shaved skin.
8. Baking soda: To make toothpastes, deodorants or scrubs.
9. Honey: To soothe, moisturize and heal the most capricious skin.
10. Lemon: To cleanse the skin or perfume a care, and even serve as a household cleaner.

By learning how to make the most of each ingredient, you will know how to associate or substitute them according to your needs, so that they become a real Swiss army knife both in the bathroom but also in the kitchen, for cleaning, for the health, etc.

And because having noble ingredients, raw and little processed is good, but turning to the zero-waste side of the force is better, think to gradually adopt :

• Solid cosmetics (soap, solid shampoo, solid toothpaste)
• Washable cottons (and washable napkins since you’re at it)
• A compostable toothbrush
• Oriculi (say good bye to cotton swabs)

And as a bonus? A DIY recipe to put all this into practice! Because it will be back to school before you know it and you want to keep your beautiful tan, here’s how to do the “sweet and salty Body Scrub” from the book Adoptez la Slow Cosmétique by Julien Kaibeck:

In a large bowl, mix with a fork, a spoon and a spatula:

• 4 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of a carrier oil, to choose from olive, hazelnut, sweet almond, macadamia or argan.
• Optional: 3 drops of essential oil of lavender or lemon, sweet orange or peppermint.

In the shower, moisten the body with warm water and then massage the preparation on the elbows, knees, feet, shoulders and then all over the body. Rinse thoroughly with warm water.

Of course there are many other very simple tips and recipes to live minimalism in the bathroom. In Slow Cosmétique mode, we will also focus on the quality and provenance of the basic ingredients, preferably supporting committed artisans, with real craftsmanship and honest communication, without false promises. If this aspect is also important for you, the Slow Cosmétique movement recommends the brands recognized by the Slow Cosmétique Award, most of which are grouped on the collaborative Marketplace where they sell directly: Slow- cosmetique.com.