Ethical shopping guides - Skincare

This is a free buyer's guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. We research the social and environmental records of companies.

More detailed versions of this guide are available. See the links at the bottom of the page.

Best Buys as of May/June 2006

As our ratings are constantly updated, it is possible that company ratings on the ethiscore website may have changed since this report was written.

The brands Faith in Nature, Organic Blue, Honesty, Dr Hauschka, Green People, Neal's Yard and Weleda are all Best Buys.

Brand	Rating
Faith in Nature moisturiser	15
Organic Blue body lotion	15
Honesty Skincare	14.5
Green People skincare	14
Dr Hauschka Moisturising Day Cream	13
Neal's Yard skincare	13
Weleda skincare	13
Lush moisturisers [A]	11
Clarins skincare range	8.5
Aveda skincare products	6
Clinique skincare system	6
Estee Lauder skincare	6
Origins skincare	6
Neutrogena skincare	4
Body Shop skincare	3
Biotherm skincare	2.5
Lancome skincare products	2.5
L'Oreal skincare	2.5
Vichy skincare products	2.5
Boots Botanics skincare	2
Boots skincare products	2
Dove skincare products	0.5
Oil of Olay skincare	0.5

The higher the rating the more ethical the brand. This whole scorecard was last updated from our database on 14 October 2009 but some individual company ratings may have changed since then. Up to the minute information can be seen by subscribers using Ethiscore.
Learn more about our ratings.

Skincare - mini report

Soap and water might be enough for some, but a large proportion of the population uses some kind of skincare products to moisturise, cleanse or to smooth over the bumpy bits. Although the big names may dominate the market in terms of units sold, we’re seeing an increasing number of companies offering more ethical alternatives.

Because there are so many skincare products available, we have not scored any positive product attributes for this table. This means that the maximum score available for brand will be 15. However, Organic Blue, (020 8424 8844), Neal’s Yard Remedies (01747 834 634) and Green People (01403 740 350) are all committed to sourcing organic ingredients for their products. Weleda (0115 9448200) uses biodynamic (a type of organic certification) ingredients wherever it can. Faith in Nature (0161 764 2555) also uses some organic ingredients.

Vegans might want to avoid animal derivatives in their skincare products. Ingredients to watch out for include honey, beeswax, silk, collagen and lanolin. Faith in Nature, Lush, Neal’s Yard, Organic Blue, Honesty Cosmetics (01629 814 888), Weleda, Green People and Body Shop all make some skincare products suitable for vegans.

Finally, consumers might also be concerned about the chemicals used in the products that they put next to their skin. Campaigners such as Greenpeace, WWF, Women’s Environmental Network and FOE warn consumers to avoid ingredients such as parabens, artificial musks and phthalates. Receiving the highest rating on the Greenpeace website (www.greenpeace.org.uk/Products/Toxics/index.cfm) are Green People and Weleda. Weleda and Body Shop’s Olive dry oil mist receive the best rating on the WWF safer shopping website. http://safershopping.wwf.org.uk/

Sorry. No downloadable research report available for this product.