We often have an impression that sustainable beauty products are bound to be unaffordably expensive. But the new H&M Conscious Beauty Range is going to prove us all wrong. The motto says everything - “good for people, the planet and your wallet”. Conscious Beauty is in short a purse friendly version of eco-friendly brands like LUSH, Body Shop or L’Occitane. Their products. Ecocert-approved with organic certification. It means that the products consist of at least 95% natural products and at least 10 out of the ingredients have been grown organically.
H&M is well-known for its achievements in offering sustainable but affordable fashion. Now the Swedish retailer is expanding it into the beauty kingdom. The new line incorporated skincare, haircare and bodycare - all comes with a modest cost. The Conscious beauty line includes over 30 products and contains whatever you could think of. From aluminium-free deodorant, dry shampoo, to tinted lip balm and handbag-sized hand creams. It encourages a natural approach to beauty. My favourite feature of the line is that the body care collection are fragranced in two scents derived from essential oils instead of - “vitalising” which is citrus-based mix of mandarin, grape and lime; and “relaxing” which is combination of lavender vetiver and rosemary. Great news for people with sensitive skin, as synthetic fragrances could trigger allergic reactions or other sensitivities. It is set to rival other high street beauty brands like the M&S Autograph, Topshop and New Look Beauty.
The biggest surprise in the new line is the Hydrating Face Mask. Despite its rather unappealing packaging (well, you can’t ask for everything at this cost), it contains all the natural ingredients we love: organic aloe vera, shea butter and jojoba oil. On the other hand, the White Tea and Peppermint Hand Cream has similar contains but with added white tea leaf extract Other products I am looking forward to try are the hand creams. They come in different interesting smells. The more traditional one would be the Sweet Lemon Hand Cream, containing pomegranate seed oil, shea butter, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, beeswax and aloe vera. The packagings may seem a bit minimalist in its design, but they are actually all recyclable or made from recycled materials. H&M first launched its beauty section from last year and had already over 700 products, and were described as “fashion for the face”. So it was expected that a Conscious range would be soon to follow. In a statement, the concept designer of H&M Beauty Sara Wallander said “We already offer conscious choices with our fashion collections so it is natural for us to have the same offering within our beauty collection.” “We always aim to develop our products to high and responsible standards in both materials and production. With the Conscious range we have taken this philosophy even further. We are very proud to now be able to offer organic beauty to our customers.” The release is coinciding with the hyped up the launch of H&M’s new Conscious Exclusive Collection in April.