No personal care items
I feel uncomfortable with the way the so-called "beauty" industry uses the word beauty, as if beauty is something that can be bought. I also feel uncomfortable about how carelessly the word care is used by this industry. It seems to apply to everything from what could be genuinely helpful to useless and even damaging things. I believe that fellow humans spend so much on "beauty" and "care" items, and the "beauty" industry does its best to make fellow humans believe that they need all these things.
I live with an autoimmune skin condition. My skin reacts negatively to many ingredients in personal care products. I grew up in a normal family (that is to say, they were not practitioners of an alternative lifestyle), who believed that if there is in issue, there is something that can be (and should be) bought to address this issue. When I was young, my family members would buy various products for me to help me cope with my skin condition. They meant well. But none of those items were helpful, and in fact most of them caused more pain.
In my late teens and early twenties, I could choose myself what I wanted to use on my skin. It coincided with me stepping on a path of being in the world differently, practising minimalism, voluntary simplicity, and zero-waste. In my 20s, I was doing research in ecological economics. I was reading much about ecological degradation and came across various reports and other literatures on microplastics and overconsumption. I decided to use only natural care products. Oftentimes, natural products were more expensive, and the word "natural" could (and still can) mean various things. In the beginning of my journey, I made a mistake of simply replacing the products I was using with certified "natural" options. A better approach would be to contemplate more deeply if I needed those products. Over time, I minimised my personal care to what I considered to be the bare minimum. Those items included shampoo, soap, multi-purpose balm, toothpaste and toothbrush. At times, I would buy something that I thought would be useful and helpful, such as a solid conditioner and a lip balm. Because all those items were zero-waste and certified "natural", I felt good about consuming them and didn't think I should question my personal care. But then I began to question it. All those natural products still required materials and energy to be made. Oftentimes, those materials would come from far-away destinations. Moreover, I noticed that the only thing that helped my skin heal during flare ups was not using any products at all. I began to wonder if I really could not live without the items I had. I had to let go of some believes. For example, I stopped seeing my personal care as a routine, apart from brushing my teeth. Or perhaps I just started to see my care routine in a very different way. Washing my body, face, and hair with beautiful, clean water became my "routine". I began seeing eating organic and whole foods as part of my skin and body care routine. Walking and living slowly, with as little stress as possible, became parts of my routine. I realised that I would rather spend the money on organic food than skin and body "care" products. At times, my fellow humans said that for them using various products is part of self-care. Personally, I also take some moments to spend with myself every day. But I don't feel that I need to invite any products to share these moments with me. I simply sit and do nothing. I breathe and look at the sunset.
I did not throw away the products I lived with. I simply did not repurchase them when I ran out of them. My personal care consists of a toothbrush.
There are some items we have in our household. They are soap that we use for our hands and toothpaste. There is shampoo that my partner uses and that I use at times when I feel I need it, but mostly I wash my hair with just water. In our medicines pouch (we use an organic cotton pouch for all our medicines), there is a jar of vaseline. There is also a deodorant that we use at times. We do not have any items in our home that are gender or age specific. All of them can be used by us and my partner's stepchild who is 4.
I haven't used makeup since my early 20s, and even back then I used only a few items and for a short period of time. I much prefer the way I look without makeup, and my skin feels better without it.
I do not use perfume, natural or human-made. I used to have lavender essential oil, but I do not use it anymore.