EVERYWHERE we look, young people are making an effort to save the planet. These efforts range from metal straws to reusable bottles and tumblers. While these efforts are admirable, we need more
hands on deck. According to a study published in Forbes Magazine, we are throwing out a million plastic bottles per minute and 91 percent of this is not recycled.
On the personal-care front, multinational giant Unilever has entered the sustainable segment with a brand, called Love Beauty and Planet. First, the bottles. We know that beauty brands use a lot of bottles and jars and here, Love Beauty and Planet wants to make a big difference. Each bottle is made with recycled bottles and is 100 percent recyclable. Less plastic will also be used on packaging for items sold on e-platforms, such as Lazada, Beauty MNL, Zalora, Beauty Bubble, Shopee and Watsons.
For now, Unilever is launching three Love Beauty and Planet lines in the country. Each line includes shampoos, conditioners, body washes and body lotions.
Unilever uses only sustainably sourced ingredients like organic coconut oil from the Philippines and Murumuru butter from the Amazon for Love Beauty and Planet. The scents used for the products are natural and ethical, and are derived from ethically sourced essential oils or absolutes from places like Provence.
“These vegan ingredients are not tested on animals. The products are designed to be good for you because there are no parabens, dyes, silicones and mineral oils,” said Dorothy Dee-Ching, Unilever Philippines vice president for beauty and personal care.
You know how conditioners usually take too long to wash out? Unilever invented a fast-rinse technology to help save water.
Once you add water to rinse your hair, the technology breaks down the conditioner into millions of tiny molecules that can be washed away quickly and rinsed out in less time.
Unilever estimates that if every woman in the Philippines shortened her shower time by 10 seconds, that would save enough water to support the drinking water needs of 11 million people for a year.
The products come in 400 ml bottles that offer value for money. Prices are P290 for the body wash and P390 for the shampoos, conditioners and body lotions.
- Pink: Blooming color and delicious glow
- Made for: Colored hair, dull skin
- Key ingredients: Murumuru butter from the Amazon and Bulgarian rose essential oil
- What I think: I love the scent of the lotion and how moisturizing it is.
- Purple: Soothe and serene
- Made for: Frizzy hair
- Key ingredients: Argan oil from Morocco and lavender essential oil from Provence, France
- What I think: The scent is “expensive.” I love the conditioner.
- Green: Radical refresher
- Made for: Greasy hair and scalp
- Key ingredients: Tea tree oil from Eastern Australia and vetiver from Haiti
- What I think: Mine is the unpopular opinion because I think this is the most popular line in the Philippines. I didn’t really like the fragrance because for me, it was too earthy. But a lot of people, including my family, love it.