258

 Extremely minimalist skin and body care

In my previous entry I sketched some notes about my extremely minimalist wardrobe. In this entry, I will write down my thoughts about extremely minimalist skin and body care. 

I practise minimalist living for ecological, aesthetic and spiritual reasons. When it comes to my skin and body care, the reasons are somewhat more nuanced. I think about the enormous "beauty" industry that equates consumption of its products with self-care and even self-love and puts pressure on humans to wear makeup and dye their hair. I think about the chemicals that are being both absorbed into, and washed off, our bodies when we use various products made by that industry. I also think about my own health. I live with an autoimmune skin condition. My skin reacts very negatively to many ingredients such as perfumes and preservatives in skin and body care. From my childhood, I came to associate skin and body care products with discomfort and even pain rather than with self-care or self-love. 

Just as is the case with fashion, I never liked makeup. Here I am of course referring to my personal preference for myself. At times I used to wear makeup but I always preferred the way I looked without it. Before I moved to Sweden, I used to live in England. In England it rains often, and I loved the feeling of rain water on my skin. I didn't want any makeup products to stand between me and the rain. I stopped wearing makeup completely in my early 20s. I'm 34 now. 

Due to my autoimmune skin condition, at times I need prescription skin medication, so my consumption of skin and body care products is not perfect. But I have also noticed that using extremely minimalist skincare has been very beneficial for my skin. 

At times I make my own simple skin and body care products from natural ingredients such as shea butter, almond oil, argan oil. Sometimes I add lavender or tea tree essential oils, but I do it rarely. Essential oils require much raw material for their production. 

The products in the picture above are the ones I normally use. I don't necessarily buy from the same companies, as I try to buy local products whenever I can. In the picture there is a toothpaste packaged in aluminium, a wooden toothbrush, a solid shampoo, a crystal deodorant that was unpackaged, and a jar of unscented balm. The balm comes from a small Danish business. I also use bar soap for my hands, body, and face. I own a lip balm from a small Swedish company, packaged in paper. I often keep it in my backpack. 

In general, I like multi-purpose products. For example, the balm I can use for my face and body. When I go to a more southern destination in summer, which happens extremely rarely, I get mineral sunscreen in a pharmacy. Here in the Nordics I prefer to protect my skin from the sun in summer by wearing clothing with long sleeves. 

There are some items that my loved one owns that are also part of our household. In general, we do not separate my items from his. 

Trigger warning: self-harm 

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There is one object that is more sustainable but that I discontinued using due to self-harm. Some time ago I replaced a plastic razor with a reusable one. I found it easy to use but I had to discontinue using it due to self-harm. I borrowed a plastic razor from my partner and then purchased one myself. For a while, I felt bad about this, as a plastic razor is certainly something that stands out. At the same time, sustainability practice cannot be perfect, and using plastic razors was something that I was prepared to accept. 

257

 Extremely minimalist wardrobe

For many years, I've maintained an extremely minimalist wardrobe. My reasons are ecological, aesthetic, and spiritual. As for ecological reasons, as a degrowth researcher, I believe that overconsumption takes place. I want to play a small role in addressing this issue. I do not think that me living with a lot less than what is the norm in our society (the Nordics) makes an enormous ecological difference. But I do try to change culture in a small way, by normalising wearing the same clothes every day, for all occasions. 

I acknowledge that in many ways it is a privileged position. I've never had to wear a uniform, and generally there is no dress code in academia in the Nordics. But I have heard it many times from my fellow humans in academia that I need to dress differently to claim power and even to "be attractive". None of these phrases sounded convincing to me, and oftentimes they went against my values. So I stayed on the path of living with very few clothing items. I do not have clothes for different occasions. I wear the same things for resting, walking, travelling, teaching, formal and informal meetings, formal and informal events. If an event has a strict dress code, I will not attend it. For example, I skipped all my graduation ceremonies, weddings and even funerals. This is not to say that my fellow humans should do this. There are other options such as borrowing or renting appropriate clothing. 

Aesthetics is very important to me. I do not think that talking about aesthetics in the context of sustainability is shallow. From my personal experience, I notice that living with very few objects that look beautiful to me is easy. I also believe that highlighting the aesthetic sides of sustainability makes fellow humans more interested in it. By beautiful I do not mean perfect or new. 

Spiritual reasons relate, for example, to letting go. Letting go of expectations, societal norms (e.g., how women should look), the rhythms of the fashion industry, and even thinking in terms of nature's seasons. Focusing on myself, the kind of human I want to be, on nature by taking from nature only what I genuinely need. 

I always feel the need to share some disclaimers. As an individual, I have never been interested in fashion. I have always felt drawn to certain colours and fabrics. In addition to that, I live with an autoimmune skin condition, so many fabrics feel unpleasant and uncomfortable to me. In the worst case, I would get severe skin irritation. So I've always tried to avoid synthetics. 

I do not count my clothes. At times, there is a little bit more, at other times there is less. Mostly it depends on the climate. For example, I've lived in England and northern Sweden. It's much colder in northern Sweden, so I had to invite mittens and a scarf into my life. 

I live with my loved one. At times, I borrow his clothes. It's not because I don't have enough but it's a habit I've developed. 

Recently I identified a few items that I will donate. They are no longer a suitable size for me. 

When my clothes wear out, I turn them into cloths. But I do not stop wearing something if it has a hole or a stain. I find holes and stains beautiful. Whenever possible, I repair my clothes. I'm not very good at it, but repairing in imperfect ways also works. 

And here are all the clothing items I live with: 

2 white linen shirts

3 pairs of sweatpants

3 white tank tops

1 black tank top

1 long sleeve top

1 pair of shorts

1 white t-shirt

a few light pink cami tops 

1 night dress

underwear (I have not counted)

1 jacket

1 scarf

2 unisex hats (to share with my loved one)

3 pairs of shoes (2 pairs of sandals and running shoes)

arm warmers

socks (I have not counted)

All my clothing is made from either organic cotton or linen. A couple of items are made from organic bamboo viscose. I'm still unsure about bamboo viscose. It's one of the very few fabrics I can wear but it's still a semi-synthetic material. The jacket is the only item that is made from polyester. I wish it was made from another material, but it gets cold and wet in the Nordics, and wool takes a long time to dry and is heavy. 

Everything I wear is either white, beige, or black. Some items are grey and brown. I mentioned aesthetics above, and these are the colours I personally like. They are calming to me and remind me of nature. Having very few colours in my wardrobe makes laundry very easy too. I own nothing with patterns, writing or explicit logos on it. 

There are some downsides of living with very few items that I can mention. Living with so few items means that clothes wear out quicker. If something happens to an item of which I only have one, I will have to replace it. It can be expensive to replace objects that are certified organic and sustainably made. But it is absolutely necessary that clothes are well-made. It is impossible to maintain a well-functioning extremely minimalist wardrobe with fast-fashion items. At times, perhaps living with a bit more objects would work better. For example, it rains a lot in Copenhagen, and as I walk everywhere and don't own rain clothes or an umbrella, some days I have many wet objects in my home and much less to wear.