This is a buyers' guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. Since 1989 we've been researching and recording the social and environmental records of companies, and making the results available to you in a simple format.
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Score Ratings
Our ratings are live updated scores from our primary research database. They are based on primary and secondary research across 19 categories. Find out more about our ethical ratings.
Score table
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Full Scorecard
The Full Scorecard shows the 'black marks' for each product, by each of the 19 categories. The bigger the mark, the worse the score. So for example a big black circle under 'Worker Rights' shows that the company making this product has been severely criticised for worker abuses.
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Stories and Data behind the scores
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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 Yaoh, Faith in Nature, Organic Blue, Honesty, Dr Hauschka, Green People, Neal's Yard and Weleda are all Best Buys.
Natural, Vegan friendly Face Paints...
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.
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/
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