My Review of The Earthling Co

Recently, I decided to test out the earthling co‘s line of hair care products, so I bought their hair care bundle with the scent citrus sun (here’s the closest thing to the bundle I found on Amazon). It took a while to arrive because of the holidays, but it was well worth it. Let’s talk about my experience with this eco-friendly product.

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links that will generate me income at no cost to you.

Impact

If you know me or have read one of my other posts about ethical consumerism, you know I am a sucker for plastic-free products. I’ve heard about the eathling co before and just didn’t have the motivation to get their products until now.

What makes this brand so sustainable is that their products- not just their shampoo and conditioner– everything comes either in a glass bottle, or a paper box. Because the shampoo and conditioner are in the form of solid bars, they don’t need to be in a plastic bottle. This is a major decision maker for me when I shop for eco friendly products.

This company is also Climate Neutral Certified, which means that they work with Climate Neutral to not only diminish their carbon emissions, but also to purchase projects around the globe that focus on climate change solutions.

Basically, it is impossible to be truly carbon footprint free as a company, so in order to achieve carbon neutrality, the company must source “carbon credits” from other organizations and non-profits to “balance out” their emissions.

For example, in 2020, the eathling co‘s carbon emissions were around 500 metric tons, which seems like a lot, but really isn’t. In order to offset that amount, the company worked with Sichuan Rural Poor Household Biogas Development Programme and Hernando County Landfill Electric Generation.

The company also is a member of 1% for the Planet, where they are partnered with nonprofits that give back to the environment. This means that 1% of the earthling co’s profits go to partners like Plastic Ocean Project and Global Greengrants Fund.

When it comes to being cruelty free, the company fell short. I did some research and found that this company isn’t Leaping Bunny Certified or PETA Beauty Without Bunnies Certified, which saddens me greatly. The company has a tab on their site with the caption “cruelty free” but it only takes you to a page filled with blog posts with the vague tag of “cruelty free”. That’s not enough for me to believe that they, indeed, are cruelty free.

The company also claims to have ‘vegan” products, but there’s no certifications to be seen anywhere, so it’s really whether or not you believe them. In order to really see whether the products are vegan, you would have to look at each ingredient, and I don’t know enough about those to know whether or not they are animal-derived or not.

For the reasons above, I am giving the company a 4/5 for impact overall.

Quality

The quality of the products is good, considering that half the ingredients list for the shampoo and conditioner bars is certified organic. Things like coco seed butter, coconut oil, lemon peel, kernel oil, sunflower seed oil, and jojoba seed oil are in the shampoo and conditioner bars and are good for the hair. On the other hand, there are things like behentrimonium methosulfate, panthenol, and tocopherol that aren’t organic.

The dry hair shampoo is one of the most naturally derived products from the company, consisting of arrowroot powder, bentonite clay, and some essential oils. The powder is very fine and feels like flour. I love putting it on my hair with a large makeup brush because it makes me feel so elegant.

The earthling co also carries things like bamboo hairbrushes and toothbrushes. As part of the hair care bundle, I got a bamboo comb and it does a great job of getting rid of the more coarse knots in my hair.

Overall, the shampoo and conditioner were easy to use and resulted in non-frizzy, non-oily hair (even though my hair is dry naturally). To use it properly, you have to rub it in circles on your scalp under running water, so that it foams up quicker.

UPDATE: I do have to say that after almost a YEAR of using the shampoo and conditioner, they are still there, but the shampoo bar cracked and splintered because it got wet, then dry so many times. This is a little frustrating because it makes the bar hard to use since it’s in pieces. That’s really the only downside to that product. I am giving quality a 3.5/5.

Variety

Both the shampoo and conditioner bars have seven scents to choose from (including non-scented) and are different colors. The actual versatility of the types of shampoo and conditioner bars lacks because there is only one type of each, and the company claims that it should work on all types of hair.

The dry hair shampoo comes in a light or dark version, the only difference being the presence of coco powder in the dark recipe.

The rest of the products on the site, such as facial bars and solid dish soap, don’t have many options to choose from. But the actual line of products is impressive, considering there’s anything from soap bars to beard oils to facial cleansers to kitchen brushes and soaps. There is even a pet shampoo bar!

Because the company has so many products to choose from, but little variety to the product scents and styles, I am giving variety a solid 3/5.

Price and Where to Buy

DISCLAIMER: THis section of the article was written in early 2021, so prices may have changed.

The price range for these products is high up there, not gonna lie. A single bar of soap will cost you $14 and the shampoo and conditioner bars are $15 each on the website ($19 on their Amazon site). A bamboo comb costs ten bucks! I think that’s a bit unreasonable.

There is a way of saving a significant amount of money when you bundle, like buying the hair care bundle like I did. The bundle came with a shampoo and conditioner bar, dry shampoo, a bamboo comb, and a bamboo soap dish. Those items cost me $60 instead of $72 for the full price of every item individually. So, when you are planning on buying a set, it’s much more reasonably priced..

The company currently does not have any physical stores, nor do they partner with any existing retailers other than Amazon, and even then, many of their products are not on there yet, including dry shampoo and brushes.. So the only way to get all their products is through the website, which is fine, but would be wonderful if the products were ore readily available in, say, a Whole Foods.

Overall, I am giving this category a 3.5/5 for their high prices and inefficient retail partners.

In Conclusion

This company got an average score of 3.5 from me. This is about a 75%. My tops concerns were lack of cruelty free certifications, the cracked shampoo bar, and the slightly high prices. The strong points of this company are its commitment to environmental responsibility, charity, longevity, and transparency.

Overall, this is a nifty brand that deserves recognition to their commitment to environmentalism, and they have potential to be so much more. I want to see the line of products expand and I also want to know that they are cruelty free by getting Leaping Bunny and PETA certified.

The hair care bundle is a great way to eliminate some plastic out of your daily routine and contribute to good causes around the world. Of course, as always, I encourage you to do your own research and dig into the company’s history and roadmap and decide for yourself if it’s worth it to try. Thank you for reading!