Beauty minus waste

(From left) Face wash concentrate; shampoo butter

In conversations about sustainability, the beauty industry is often spoken of as a major offender given the many ways in which it negatively impacts the environment. While ingredients such as microbeads and microplastics contaminate water bodies, the large amounts of packaging used can choke landfills - in fact, as per a recent report, 142 billion units of packaging waste was produced in 2018 alone. This is where Rustic Art, a Satara-based personal care brand, hopes to change the status-quo by introducing products and processes that minimise wastage. They produce a variety of vegan and cruelty-free products, which are sold as waterless concentrates - by not using water as filler, they can pack in more product to reduce the amount of packaging material used. The platform claims that their shampoo butters and face washes last three times longer than their conventional counterparts.

Our take

We tried out the wild rose face wash concentrate (Rs 200 for 50 gm), which is suitable for dry to normal skin. At first impressions, we were pleased to observe that we could recognise all the ingredients on the label. The product is sold in a plastic travel-friendly jar (they've tied up with a subscription service to collect and reuse empties). Although the instructions recommend using a coin-sized amount of the product, we'd suggest using a much smaller portion. Being a concentrate, the face wash takes some time and quite a bit of water to lather and then swells in volume. The application takes some getting used to; we found ourselves rinsing repeatedly to remove the entire product. The formula stings if it accidentally enters your eyes, and has a strong scent, which we had mixed feelings about. On the plus side, it did a commendable job of cleansing off our make-up, without leaving the skin feeling dry.

We were far more impressed with the cypress hemp oil shampoo butter (Rs 265 for 50 gm), which also comes in similar compact packaging. A little goes a long way and the shampoo lathers quickly on our damp hair. As promised, it also washes off easily and is gentle on our strands - the results were evident in the reduced amount of post-shampoo hair fall and its volumising effect. However, do pair this with a deep hydrating conditioner.

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