Truth and beauty

Slather like it matters

By CHRISTINE LIU

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Ever since you've gotten that reusable tote bag to cart your crap around town, you've felt pretty good about saving the world one unused plastic bag at a time. Same goes for that rough-and-tumble drinking vessel strapped to your side (less wasteful than throwaway bottles of water), or a coffee mug in tow to replace the endless paper parade of by-the-cup caffeine. However, head to any cosmetics counter—or any given aisle at your local pharmacy, really—and rows of excessively packaged products are an unblinking inevitability. An eco-conscious beauty stash may seem like a frivolous luxury, but just as your skin doesn't deserve a pointless array of badness, neither does the environment.

PLANTLOVE BY CARGO | $21

It's awesome what you can do with corn, especially with the absurd surplus at our disposal. Biodiesel's got potential and fresh cornbread's pretty bad ass. In addition, the tube for Cargo's PlantLove lipstick is made entirely from corn, an arguably renewable and abundant resource. The outer box is constructed from paper studded with wildflower seeds, so you can simply stuff it under some soil and watch the green literally grow.

Emily Higgins, makeup artist at Boston-based cosmetic retailer Beauty and Main, agrees that many of her clientele are concerned about the environmental impact of the products they purchase. "We have a lot of customers that are very specific in their needs; they're looking for things that don't have parabens, formaldehyde or a lot of preservatives," she says. "They're definitely savvy in their ingredients." Higgins remarks that the PlantLove lipstick, which comes in 15 shades (of which six are designed by celebrities, if you're into that thing), is probably the most eco-branded product at the store for its biodegradable packaging. Though if a painted mouth and a bunch of seeds doesn't seem quite worth the Jackson spent, it's worth noting that $2 from the sale of every lipstick goes directly as a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Additionally, try doing your shopping at a local shop rather than a big-box beauty store—you'll manage to reclaim rose-colored glasses with lips to match.

[Available at Beauty and Main, 30 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 617.868.7171. beautyandmain.com]