Reusable Cotton Pads

Reusable cotton pads:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hi, my name is Emma and I try environmental swaps so you know what you should and shouldn’t be investing in. We all know that doing our bit is essential, but some of the alternatives are so expensive! Therefore, it is important to know which are worth it before making the switch. One day, hopefully they will all become the cheaper option. But until then, I will trial these items and let you know before you try it for yourself!

Why is this swap necessary?

The majority of cotton pads and face wipes contain plastic, and even those that say they are biodegradable there is currently no standard for how long this needs to take. Therefore, they could claim that taking 200 years is biodegradable, which doesn’t count, in my opinion.

I had been using the Simple Biodegradable Make Up Wipes and in addition, to my suspicion on their ‘biodegradable’ status, the packaging wasn’t recyclable and they are quite pricey compared to alternatives. (Ranging from £1.50 to £3.49.) They also weren’t particularly good for my skin as it is quite sensitive. Due to this, I was recommended Micellar Water which is gentler. The packaging itself, although plastic, is recyclable. So double waste removal.

But why reusable cotton pads? It takes huge amounts of water to produce very little cotton. As water is a scares resource cotton causes environmental degradation to produce. It also uses a vast amount of chemicals, and a lot of the cotton pads contain plastic too, making them no better than the facewipes. Therefore, single use cotton pads are not the environmentally friendly route that they initially appear.

My Swap:

I purchased a 20 pack of reusable cotton and bamboo pads for £8.99, making them 45p per pad. They also came with a wash bag, as seen on the right. This is 35x more per pad to my usual buy, and therefore to be economically viable would have to last 35 uses each, that's 700 uses total. At the moment, given I’m not wearing much makeup, I probably used an average of 2 a day since buying them, meaning the product would have to last me 350 days. I’ve been using them for 9 months now and there is no sign that they need replacing yet, therefore I am confident they will reach the 350 days mark. The product does claim they would last 1000 washes, making them much better economically, but I have a long way to go to get to 1000!

Positives:

As I said, I have been using reusable cotton and bamboo pads for over 9 months now, and there is no way I would go back. Like a lot of environmental alternatives, they are expensive per item but I do believe they will pay themselves back.

They are so effortless; putting them in the wash with everything else, and as I got a pack of 20, I don’t run out between washes. I’ve also found that because they are reusable, I am less stingy with using them. I never really wanted to use more than one makeup wipe, and if I didn’t have a lot of make up would often keep them to use again. (I know that’s bad.) Because using more than one at a time does not mean running out and having to buy more, I am much better at taking my makeup off, happy to use however many it takes to remove my makeup properly.

Using micellar water with them is just as good at getting makeup off, if not better. And as it cleanses your skin too, better for you. There has been a lot out about how makeup wipes are actually bad for your skin and can cause breakouts, so it’s doing even better in that department too!

 Another additional skincare benefit is that they can help exfoliate your face. I am prone to spots and break outs, so this one was not quite as noticeable for me. However, my friends have noticed this considerably. I guess that is just dependant on skin type, but should not be relied on as the only exfoliation you do.

 Negatives:

The one downfall I would say is that they can get makeup stains. This doesn’t affect their performance, working just as well after 9 months than 9 weeks. Below is a comparison between a stained, non-stained and bamboo face wipe. However, if you are concerned about this, there are three ways I would suggest to help avoid it and minimise it:

1      1) Giving your face a wash before using them, this will take off some of your make up first, therefore, less to stain.

2.       2) Using the same pads for the same type of makeup removal, use, etc. I tend to use the same ones for toner, which doesn’t stain, and the ones that have been used for heavy makeup together, limiting the amount that are stained.

3.       3) Adding a little stain remover before washing them. Just make sure it is one that your skin won’t react to. Of course, it should come off in the wash, but always good to exercise caution.

This also means that I don’t use them for nail polish remover. I rarely have my nails painted, so this doesn’t affect me massively, but where I have, I used toilet paper as a quick fix. However, if you do use nail polish a lot, having a dedicated one or two can work.

Conclusion:

Despite the few negatives I think they are very much worth it and would never switch back. Becoming cheaper and appearing in main stream stores and supermarkets means that the initial cost barrier is decreasing. They are great for both my skin and the environment and I’m glad that I could make this my norm. 5 stars from me!

If you would like to see a review for a specific product, please let me know! :)