The Heart Behind WoollyWondersByJo
Today (16th June) is World Refill Day and tomorrow (17th June) is Plastic Free Beauty Day and as both of these are very dear to me, I’d like to share with you some of my favourite products and companies.
And to start with, here is my wardrobe floor! Ignore those beautiful shoes, it’s the other bits I’d like you to focus on.
At the forefront of the picture are 5-litre bulk refills for shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. These are from the UK company Faith in Nature. I have 3 glass pump dispensers in the shower which I fill up from these whenever needed. This isn’t plastic-free but one 5l refill is the equivalent of 12.5 of the individual 400ml bottles, which has to be better for plastic use and as well as reducing the number of deliveries! Me and my hubby use these and we get through less than one a year between us. They also have refill stations around the country where you can get these refilled. If not, I have reused some of the empty containers as plant pots for growing strawberries in the garden.
Behind the refills, is my box of ingredients. It contains a wealth of items that I use to create my own toiletries. I’ve got all kinds of butter (shea, cocoa, mango), various oils (jojoba, castor, almond), apple cider vinegar, rice flour, arrowroot powder, ground almonds, raspberry seeds, beeswax, castile soap base, neem powder, coconut oil, caster sugar, Himalayan rock salt and all manner of empty bottles, glass jars and other bits and bobs. These are from a selection of shops all of which sell to individuals so don’t worry if you can’t buy in bulk:
- Acala – sell a range of cosmetics and toiletries as well as the ingredients to make them yourself. If you sign up for their newsletter, you will receive a recipes e-book for some fantastic things as well as regular updates and new recipes.
- Naissance – this is a company that is very local to me – just a few miles away! They sell every ingredient you could ever want as well as ideas and tips on how they can be used.
- The Soapery – similar to Naissance, they sell all of the ingredients you will need and their blog gives lots of useful information too.
- The Soap Kitchen – another fab site for getting all of your ingredients as well as amazing support and ideas in their Hub.
- Akamuti – is based in West Wales and sells both some ingredients to make your own but they also sell their own hand-made items – their Tangerine Twist Foot Smoothie is heavenly. They’ve also just opened a shop in the beautiful coastal town of Milford Haven. Just to make you aware, their items are made from such fresh ingredients, they have use before dates, and some of them are quite short.
Finally, as with everything, there are some things that I can’t make, either because of the difficulty or the cost and these are my go-to sites for those items:
- Folk Soap – again, this company is very local to me – the next village in fact! I first found them at a local craft fair and decided to try one of their ‘French Green Clay’ soaps for my face (which is incredibly sensitive!). It was gorgeous and lasted for over a year. Now I’ve got the rest of the household using them.
- Vera-Bee – as with anything, you will often see the same brands again and again. Vera-Bee has these brands, but they also have so many more. I follow them on Facebook and they regularly do videos demonstrating how they use the items themselves and will answer any questions you have.
- Natural Collection – this is a much bigger company than the others on my list but a favourite nonetheless, mainly because they sell everything. They have a section that focuses on plastic-free as well as the option to search for products according to the ethics of the individual brands.
- Holland & Barrett – is the biggest company on the list and the only one that I use on a face-to-face basis, mainly for Weleda Skin Food Light and their essential oils and mainly when they have their fab penny offer!
I hope that you discover some brands that you haven’t heard of before and maybe build up the confidence to try and make some of your own.
