OUR GREEN BEAUTY HOTLIST

Take a more sustainable approach to looking good with our round-up of the brands making a difference

The brands that are taking sustainability seriously

There are many reasons for thinking more consciously about your beauty shopping: you might be worried about the volume of plastic in your bathroom, concerned about animal testing or keen to spend your money on brands from socially responsible companies that give back. Few of the brands here would claim to be perfect, but they’re all taking big steps towards a better future, by minimising wasteful packaging, reducing their impact on the environment or supporting socially responsible initiatives. Many are vegan (or have vegan offerings) and all are cruelty-free, though that’s a trickier topic than you might think, as you’ll see from our section on animal testing. Importantly, the products you see on these pages are all used and loved by the

Good Housekeeping beauty team. We hope you’ll discover something you love, too…

LUSH

Lush has always championed minimal packaging and now sells almost anything you can think of in solid form (from body lotion to foundation and face oil), needing nothing but the paper, cardboard and potato starch packaging it’s transported in. Storage can be challenging, but if you’re serious about a low-to-no-waste bathroom, Lush leads the way. The 37.9m shampoo bars sold in the past 13 years equates to a saving of 2,850 tonnes of plastic packaging, says the brand.

We love… Glow Stick Solid Highlighter in Pipit, £12

FAITH IN NATURE

Sustainability is easier to buy into when it comes with the weekly shop. This cheery range looks and smells more expensive than it is and can be popped into your basket at Sainsbury’s or Ocado. Plastic is 100% recycled and recyclable but also ultra-light, which reduces carbon emissions by keeping freight weight down. Refill stations are in independent health food stores nationwide and the most popular products come in 5L containers.

We love… Lavender & Geranium Body Wash, £5.79

SOAP CO.

From a small East London factory with a big heart, Soap Co. produces soaps, bath potions and body care using renewable energy and employing a largely blind, disabled or otherwise disadvantaged workforce – guide dogs welcome! Bee-friendly botanicals are incorporated wherever possible and packaging is scrupulously eco-friendly (think wool, compostable biofilm and non-toxic glue). Importantly, all the products feel luxurious and smell wonderful.

We love… Rose Bath Oil, £22

SOAPER DUPER

Every use of these vibrant washes, scrubs and moisturisers feels like a treat and every part of the tub, tube or bottle goes easily into the recycling bin (there’s no metal spring inside the pumps, which otherwise has to be removed by hand first). The brand has also donated £150,000 to Wateraid since launching in 2016, providing clean water and improving hygiene conditions around the world. We love… Ginger Root & Eucalyptus

Salt Scrub, £11.99

Beauty brands are taking big steps to reduce their impact on the environment

Organic ingredients are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides

WE ARE PARADOXX

This Irish brand favours aluminium packaging, which has the benefit of being endlessly recyclable and, unlike most widely used plastics, doesn’t release toxins when breaking down. Ingredients are often locally sourced and formulas are multipurpose and potent, encouraging us to buy and use less. The company donates 1% of its profits to 1% For The Planet, an enterprise that helps businesses to fund environmental charities around the world. We love… Hangover Hair

Elixir, £30

MEDIK8

With effective and un-flowery skincare, Medik8 has surprisingly green principles at its core. Last year, this family-owned business saved three tonnes of plastic simply by replacing the inserts in its cartons with recycled card. Glass bottles are 40% recycled (the company is aiming for more) and its buildings are run on renewable energy. Medik8’s own charity, The Zipper Foundation, donates a minimum of £15,000 to animal welfare every year, in memory of the family’s beloved dog. We love… Mutiny Alternative Lip Balm, £19

NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES

It’s best known for its body oils and bath salts, but facial skincare from Neal’s Yard Remedies is also standout and ticks more boxes than just the organic one (products for sensitive skin and anti-ageing are excellent). Having petitioned and lobbied against bee-harming insecticides and microbeads, this year the brand launches Project Frankincense, a tree-planting campaign to help protect the endangered Boswellia sacra tree. We love… Wild Rose Beauty

Balm, £40

BYRE

As a dairy industry by-product, an estimated 870,000 tonnes of whey goes to waste every year. Byre combines powdered whey with good-for-skin ingredients such as aloe vera, vitamins and sustainable poppy seed oil to produce its delightful body washes. A donation from product sales goes to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, helping to support farm workers facing adversity.

We love… Full Cream

Body Wash, £5

AXIOLOGY

The cardboard sleeves holding these punchy lipsticks and pretty crayons are made from recycled paper waste in Bali, in a factory that employs a mostly female workforce. The smart gold casings inside are recyclable and colours are formulated entirely from plant-based butters, oils and pigments. Zero-waste blushers and highlighters are on the way, in pencil-like formats that blend straight on to the skin. We love… Lipstick in Philosophy, around £24

DR. CRAFT

The brainchild of academics who are specialists in natural product chemistry, Dr. Craft’s purple shampoo avoids the use of synthetic pigments to dial down yellow tones in blonde and grey hair. Instead, it uses anthocyanins, extracted from the skin of blackcurrants that would otherwise go to waste (including those left over from the manufacture of Ribena).

We love… Dr. Craft Natural Purple Berry Brightening Serum, £21

PLASTIC FREEDOM

All of the beauty and household brands stocked on this lovingly curated website are plastic-free, but founder Beth Noy was still concerned about the cardboard used to send out her orders. She now plants one tree for every order received, by donating to One Tree Planted.

We love… Lani Juice

Cleanse, £20.99

Inform yourself by asking your favourite brands to explain their cruelty-free ethics

CLEAN RESERVE

This vegan fragrance brand cares deeply about ingredients, sourcing through companies that pay Fairtrade prices and support the environment and local communities, whether that’s honouring traditional harvesting techniques or funding clean-water initiatives and medical facilities. Packaging includes compostable cellophane, water-based inks and sustainably sourced wood. Scents are soft, fresh and easy to wear; think clean sheets, airy florals and sun-warmed skin. Even better, its latest launch supports beekeeping initiatives through a partnership with Earth Day Network. We love… Radiant Nectar

EDP,

£82 for 100ml ORGANIC APOTEKE

Skincare by Organic Apoteke is unlike anything else you’ll use, smelling almost as if it’s come straight from your own flowerbed (if you had a high-tech lab in your garden, that is). Formulations are free of emulsifiers (used to blend water with oil, which some believe are drying on the skin) and use sophisticated delivery systems to get organic plant extracts into the skin for a well-hydrated glow. What’s more, every bit of the packaging is recyclable. We love… Rejuvenating Face Mask, £39.95

HAECKELS

This Margate-based brand prizes community and has zero-waste aims. Recent projects included a bartering day, when customers exchanged their own items for products, and upcycling Christmas trees into scented candles (using the leftover wood to power a sauna in a Victorian-style bathing hut). Much of the handmade range includes locally harvested marine botanicals, and beach clean-ups are rewarded with discounts or a full-size body cleanser.

We love… Marine Facial Cleanser, £25

BIOSSANCE

Eco skincare can be richly textured and heavy in essential oils, which is not everyone’s chosen approach, especially where skin is sensitive or blemish-prone. Biossance’s offerings are lightweight, hydrating and soothing, combining silky squalane oil with punchy anti-ageing ingredients such as Bakuchiol (a botanical retinol alternative) and glycolic and vegan lactic acids.

As for the packaging, everything but the pumps and bottle interiors are fully recyclable. We love… Squalane + Probiotic Gel

Moisturizer, £44

BRAMLEY

This countryside-inspired brand is just lovely, from the wildflower illustrations on the bottles to the gentle scents. Ingredients are natural, biodegradable and grown in the UK, while plastic is manufactured using sugarcane rather than fossil fuel. Glass bottles are available, as are 5L bottles to refill from at home – an investment at £140, but one that smells good, looks good and does good by keeping things as local as possible. We love… Shampoo and Conditioner, £14 each

REN

This prestige beauty brand excels in skincare that brightens and/or soothes, as well as gloriously scented (but unfussy) bath and body care. It’s on course to be zero-waste by 2021 through making every component of every tube, pot and bottle recyclable, compostable or reusable. The brand’s latest initiative is working with Terracycle’s new project Loop, which will collect specially created glass bottles from your door milkman-style, to reuse, recycle or refill and return. We love… Overnight Glow Dark Spot Sleeping Cream, £49

‘Natural’ doesn’t always mean better or safer

TROPIC

It’s not easy to find make-up brands that are waste-conscious for reasonable prices so, while Tropic makes lovely skincare, haircare, bath and bodycare, it’s the refillable make-up palettes that stand out: they’re sleek, chic and practical with colours you’ll really use. Double-offsetting carbon emissions has helped Tropic fund conservation work in the Amazon and protect more than 65,000 hectares of rainforest. It also funds one day’s worth of school education in Cambodia, Nepal and Myanmar for every £50 in sales.

We love… Colour Palette, £68

KEVIN.MURPHY

Of the 150m tonnes of plastic currently littering our oceans, this haircare brand stands to remove 360 tonnes through switching all packaging to 100% ocean waste plastic (or OWP). Even the signature palette of beautiful, muted pastels was designed with OWP in mind, as these are the hues most easily achieved from recycling. The products are hardworking, kind to hair and all but three (which contain beeswax) are vegan.

We Love… Ever.smooth Heat-activated Style Extender, £30

THE BODY SHOP

Recycling bins first appeared in The Body Shop stores in the early 1990s, before anyone else had thought to do the same. They’re now back as part of the brand’s plan to collect and recycle 25% more packaging than it sells. Across all of its ranges, 75% recycled plastic bottles are being introduced – that’s better than 100%, says The Body Shop, as a small quantity of virgin plastic (ideally not fossil fuel-derived) keeps the overall supply from degenerating sooner. The latest Hemp range uses sustainably sourced hemp seed oil from a farming cooperative in France. We love… Hemp Overnight Nourishing

Rescue Mask, £18