Ethical & Sustainable Beauty Brands: The Master List
Ah, the master-list…
Over the last few years we’ve kept a running tally of the most sustainable skincare and eco friendly beauty brands. That is, according to our specific sustainable and ethical beauty criteria – which you can read all about at the bottom of the list.
Now we’ve taken to time to to compile all these gems in one convenient location. One list (not ring) to rule them all, so to speak.
We’re adding to this list all the time but if there’s a specific type of product that you can’t find any good options for – let us know and we’ll see if we can source some stellar ethical beauty brands for you.
We hope this is a helpful resource for choosing brands and products that are the best for you, animals and the environment.
Oh and just so you know what the color next to each criteria means – see below.
*This post contains affiliate links
Navigating Sustainable Beauty
Green means that the brand fully meets our criteria
Orange means that the brand meets our criteria, in part
Grey means the brand did not respond to us
Red means that the brand does not meet our criteria
A
B
C
More to ‘Cs’ to come…
D
Available: Amazon | Amazon UK | Nourished Life
*Read more about Dr Bronner’s approach to palm oil here
More to ‘Ds’ to come…
E
More to ‘Es’ to come…
F
G
More to ‘Gs’ to come…
K
More to ‘Ks’ to come…
L
More to ‘Ls’ to come…
M
N
O
More to ‘Os’ to come…
P
More to ‘Ps’ to come…
R
S
More to ‘S’s’ to come…
T
V
More to ‘V’s’ to come…
W
More to ‘W’s’ to come…
Y
More to ‘Y’s’ to come…
Z
More to ‘Zs’ to come…
1,2,3…
More to ‘1,2,3…’s’ to come…
Finding Eco Friendly Beauty Brands
If you’ve read some of our other sustainable ethical beauty brand guides, you’ll notice some of our brand favorites who will undoubtedly be making another appearance here because they’re great.
But how do we find the best sustainable and eco friendly beauty brands? We’re glad you asked!
We use our sustainable personal care criteria as a guide.
For new readers, that means we look for brands and products that are:
- non-toxic
- vegan
- cruelty-free
- palm oil free
- made from ethically-sourced ingredients and
- in recyclable (at the very least) but ideally compostable or reusable (zero waste) packaging.
Yup, it takes us quite a bit of time to find these eco friendly makeup and skin care brands that meet all (or most) of our criteria.
It’s also important to know that we are not a certification body nor are we auditors. We have taken the approach that trusts the brand in question to tell us the truth and assume the most important metric is progress and awareness, not perfection.
If you know that any of the ethical claims below are not true, please let us know in the comments below.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON SUSTAINABLE AND ETHICAL SKINCARE BRANDS
Beauty should always be ethical and sustainable. But it’s often not so black and white.
While the increased demand for eco friendly beauty products is a great shift towards conscious consumerism it comes with its own pitfalls – discerning legitimate brands from greenwashing.
So feel free to refer to this list in support of brands that are doing better for you, our animal friends and the environment.
Hi there! I’ve been looking to get some tubing mascara and was looking at Thrive Causemetics… I was wondering what you think of them sustainability-wise?
Hi Ally, I’m sorry we haven’t done a deep dive on them yet. Thanks for telling us about them though. If helpful we have an article on zero waste mascara here .
Green & Frugal should be on this list! They are a Canadian brand that makes green bodycare affordable and the quality is amazing. Products are actually natural!
Wow, this was so helpful! My goal in 2022 is to learn more about sustainability and only purchase from companies that make sustainable efforts and ethical sourcing. Thank you for this list!
Hello!
Wow, super informative blogs and great listing such a cool idea – so thank you guys! If you’re still taking submissions, I would add The Solid Bar Company. They are a female founded/owned/run skincare business from near Oxford, UK.
They have cruelty free, 100% vegan, non-toxic, 100% palm oil free, plastic free, zero waste, ethical sourcing, biodegradable packaging so would be good to include if you have the time!
Thanks,
Michelle x
Would you guys be able to add Youth to the People to this list? Thanks in advance!
Hello, I would love to see what you all think of Love Beauty and Planet, they are a ‘green’ company but have been accused of greenwashing
http://www.raspberrythriller.com/2019/03/29/companies-that-are-greenwashing/
Thank you
Thanks Tae, we haven’t heard of them until now! Will keep an eye out!
Hello!
Just came across this list. This is such a great project! If you’re still taking submissions, I would add ILERA Apothecary. They are a Black-owned skincare business from Detroit. They are working towards intentional packaging, but their products are definitely trustworthy and ethically sourced 🙂
Thanks Amanda, they sound awesome!
Hi Joy,
I would add Shea Botanics (sheabotanics.com). They are a new brand who are striving to tick all the boxes for clean beauty, being ethical, sustainable and eco-friendly.
Oh my gosh I have a really great brand you need to add that meets all your criteria! Check out seawitchbotanicals.com!! They’re a B-corp, working towards zero waste, all vegan, no synthetics, no plastics, ethical sourcing, and even all their shipping packaging is recyclable OR TOTALLY COMPOSTABLE. I’d love to see them represented here.
You forgot Avirida.com ! They have compostable packaging & plant a tree for every sale
what is the worst cosmetic brands from a sustainability perspective
Hey Ginny, there are so many that greenwash and just don’t care about their environmental and social impact that I wouldn’t be able to pick one and honestly we spend all our time looking for those doing the right things. This article might help as a start: https://www.peta.org/living/personal-care-fashion/beauty-brands-that-you-thought-were-cruelty-free-but-arent/
You might look into Altilis Beauty and consider adding to this list!
Thanks for the tip!
Another great sustainable brand based in the UK is Bianca Elgar!
https://www.biancaelgar.com/
Great thanks, we’ll take a look!