Beauty Treatments ‘Good Enough to Eat’

23rd April 2014

Beauty students at Blackpool and The Fylde College, a valued EAUC Member, have been producing their own homemade beauty products and treatments as part of a project examining sustainability and ethics in their industry.

Tutors from the School of Hairdressing, Beauty and Related Therapies have been working with the College’s Sustainability Manager to embed sustainability into the curriculum. As a result, students have held lively debates about animal testing in the cosmetics industry and the ethics behind hair extensions, as well as examining exactly what goes into everyday beauty products.

Pam Reynolds, Sustainability Manager at the College said: “We wanted to encourage students to think about what ingredients are used in the making of beauty products and also about the plastics and pollution involved in the production process. By giving them the bigger picture, they can see the impact our everyday lives can have globally and make informed choices in their future careers.”

Level 2 Tutor Jeanette Sinclair took the project a step further and after researching natural ingredients and the benefits they have on hair and skin, her students made their own treatments and demonstrated them to staff and students during a College-wide Green Week. They also gave out free samples and recipes so others could recreate the products for themselves at home.

Carly Buckley, 25, a Level 2 Beauty student involved with the project said: “I made an exfoliating face mask using honey, lemon, olive oil and sugar. I exfoliate a lot at home so I thought it was something I’d be able to use myself. I would definitely recommend it as exfoliators aren’t cheap to buy so you can save a lot of money. All of the ingredients are readily available in the supermarket too.

“It was quite exciting to learn something I didn’t know a lot about. I never would have thought of making my own products. I think it’s an important project; you don’t always know what’s in the products you buy, even some expensive ones leave my sensitive skin red and sore but the one I produced had a natural feel and was better than some of the more expensive ones. I’ll definitely practise what I preach.”