Shopping secondhand is one of the best ways to build your wardrobe sustainably, and often times you will end up with a more interesting and personalized closet than if you had gone to the same trendy fast fashion store everyone else shops at. However, shopping secondhand is not without it’s challenges. Not everyone has access to great thrift and consignment stores like those in major cities, so online is a great place to look!

Sustainable fashion can mean many different things, but one of the most important is undeniably material composition. Synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon have become extremely popular in fast fashion because they’re cheap and versatile, but since these garments are created to be thrown away each season, they generate an incredible amount of textile waste. These types of fabrics are not able to biodegrade, and can even harm environments further by releasing microplastics. In 2018, 11 million tons of textile waste was put into landfills in the US alone, making up 7.7% of all consumer waste. While there’s no easy solution, taking a closer look at the tag before purchasing an item can significantly reduce the amount of synthetic (i.e. petroleum based) non-biodegradable fibers that we generate.

The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions and is the third most polluting industry, right behind fuel and agriculture. What’s more, clothing production has almost doubled since 2000, and being thrown away at a far faster rate. The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second. That needs to stop, and how do we do that? By ditching fast-fashion.

Just because you don’t have access to a nail salon doesn’t mean your nails have to suffer. I started doing my own gel manicures at home over a year ago as a way to save money, and it’s surprisingly easy! All it takes is a little patience. Keep reading below for the exact tools I use and the tricks I’ve learned to make them perfect!