There are certain high street shops that come to my mind when I think of eco-friendly skincare – namely The Body Shop and Lush. I also tend to trust brands sold at Holland and Barrett (I think because they’re one of the few places I can buy the yeast pate that I like and Nutritional Yeast Flakes). But having looked into which brands do offer actual eco-friendly skincare it looks like I might have to rethink where I buy things from.
Please note some of the links in this article are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small amount of commission, at no extra cost to you, which helps me to pay the running costs of this website.
Companies / brands to avoid
The main reasons to avoid these brands is that they, or the company that owns them, tests on animals, have dubious environmental records or contain toxic ingredients amongst other things.
Some may surprise you, they surprised me…
- Unilever; Dove skincare, Lux skincare, Ponds skincare, Vaseline skincare
- Boots UK; Boots skincare products, Botanics skincare, No7 Skincare
- L’Oreal; Kiehl’s skincare, L’Oreal skincare
- Simple; Simple skincare products
- Garnier; Garnier Skincare
- Procter and Gamble; Gillette Skincare, Olay Skincare, SK-II moisturiser
- Lancome; Lancome skincare products
- Vichy Laboratories; Vichy skincare products
If you’re going to avoid one company then make it Unilever. Unilever test on animals even when the law doesn’t require them to, not all the time obviously, but they do not have a great record on animal testing. Unilever “has still fallen short on the delivery of forest protection, remedy for labor and land rights abuse prevalent in its supply chain, and lacks adequate systems for identifying, cutting or reforming suppliers responsible for atrocities including the use of violence, intimidation or criminalization of Human Rights Defenders”, in a report by Rainforest Action Network.
Eco-Friendly Skincare Brands UK
Now that we’ve covered some of the brands and companies to avoid let’s look at some of the most transparent brands currently selling eco-friendly skincare in the UK.
What to look for when trying to find eco-friendly skincare:
- Cruelty free
- Vegan
- Organic
- Fair Trade
- Palm Oil Free (or at the very least RSPO certified Palm Oil)
Read all about Palm Oil here.
The most eco-friendly skincare brands in the UK are:
- Lucy Bee Skincare
- Queenie Organics
- Conscious Skincare
- Odylique moisturiser (Essential Care (Organics) Ltd)
- Bentley Organics skincare
You can find the full list and an in depth article on the pros and cons of each company here. All of the above skincare brands are highly rated when it comes to the ingredients they use (and don’t use) and for being cruelty free.
Where to buy eco-friendly skincare online?
Some of the brands mentioned above are available on websites like Boots. You could also try and buy them on Amazon, but I’m always a bit wary of things on Amazon as I’m not always convinced the products are real. However for other skincare brands check out the following websites.
&Keep sells a variety of eco-friendly skincare, mostly plastic free items including facial soaps, moisturisers and lip butters etc, as well as a few items that do contain some plastic, but the plastic is mainly just the pump. For example this Organic Face Wash comes in a glass bottle with an aluminium lid, however if you want the pump you will be ordering plastic. What’s great about &Keep is that they don’t send you the pump as default, you actually have to request it, and of course the pump will be reusable.
Veo, like &Keep, sells some great products in zero waste packaging. You will find plastic in their facial oils and serums and a few other products, as they have pipettes or pumps to use the product.
Vegan and Cruelty Free but Not Plastic Free
The Body Shop are by no means perfect, but they’re definitely going in the right direction. They “were certified cruelty free by Leaping Bunny” and they also have a good range of vegan products. They are not getting rid of plastic any time soon, which is understandable as plastic bottles are a lot cheaper than glass, however they are certainly improving their policy on plastic, and if you order online your packaging is recyclable.
Green People (Organic Lifestyle)
Green People have organic certifications and have won numerous awards for their skincare range, so I thought it was well worth including them in this article, although they don’t really sell zero waste products.
The Ethical Superstore mainly focusses on natural products and ingredients rather than plastic free. But they do have a lot of products on their website and you will find zero waste soaps and shampoos etc.
If you’re looking for eco-friendly make-up check out Love The Planet.
Beware of Greenwashing
There’s an awful lot of greenwashing going on when it comes to health and beauty. You, like me, might be attracted to products which have organic or botanicals in the name, because they sound like they should be better for the environment. This is not always the case.
When you want to check out a company’s ‘green’ / ethical credentials firstly look for the following pages on their website:
- A sustainability page
- Policy on animal testing
- Modern Slavery Statement
- Their tax policy
Having these pages isn’t enough though. Don’t be fooled and make sure you read what they’re saying carefully. I’ve used Holland and Barrett as my example below but you can find similar statements on loads of websites. Think about what they’re actually telling you.
Holland and Barrett – are they eco-friendly / ethical?
A company which states that “UK tax obligations are met”, might not be paying their fair share of tax and that’s because there are loopholes which allow businesses to avoid paying tax in the UK.
Another statement to look out for is “We send zero waste to landfill”. It sounds great, but when you see this statement on the Holland and Barrett website you have to ask yourself – how is that possible? Their head office might not send anything to landfill but their shops are full of products in plastic packaging.
Both of the above statements can be found on the Holland and Barrett corporate website (for some reason not on the consumer website) and disappointingly this is what is said about animal testing:
“We ethically source all of our beauty ranges and are proud to offer many brands that are Leaping Bunny certified, which is the gold standard for non-animal tested consumer products. Therefore, you can have peace of mind when choosing your natural beauty products.”
Notice that they state that they offer many brands that are Leaping Bunny certified and not that all the beauty ranges they sell are Leaping Bunny certified. If everything they sold was not tested on animals they would be explicit in telling you this.
If you like what I do and want to support me, you can buy me a ‘coffee’ which helps with the running costs of the website. Alternatively come and say hello on facebook, twitter or pinterest.
PIN ME
