Green brands: The Body Shop

The Body Shop is a beauty brand rated as a sustainable by 77% of respondents who had recently bought from the brand in our survey asking about sustainable brands.

Which? carried out a survey in February 2023 into member perceptions of sustainable brands. We asked members to rate how sustainable a brand was that they had bought from in the past two years, and then to give us their reasons why. We’ve then taken a further look at some of these brands to see whether the reality lives up to the perception.*

The top reasons given for The Body Shop’s sustainability were it being cruelty-free (49%), using natural/non-toxic ingredients (46%) and offering refills/refillable products (35%).

We've looked in more detail at the sustainability initiatives and actions of beauty and toiletry brands, Faith in Nature, Grüum, Lush and The Body Shop, as these were the brands that members viewed as sustainable in our survey, to dig into whether people's thoughts about the brands' sustainability records are backed up.

Read on to find out more about how The Body Shop did, and what you need to know about sustainability issues in the beauty industry.

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Lush: in summary

It's worth bearing in mind that despite all brands having some inevitable shortcomings, the companies featured in this green brands guide have been selected by members as being more sustainable within their markets. 

These are generally brands doing better than average in their sector and should be recognised as such.

Who owns The Body Shop?

UPDATE: The Body Shop has been purchased by Aurelius Group, a private equity firm, in November 2023 (the sale is expected to close in December). This may affect its sustainability strategy and policies in the future. 

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick in Brighton as an ethical, cruelty-free brand. It remained in her ownership for many years, but in 2016 it was sold to L’Oreal. After only a year, it was sold on to Brazilian beauty company, Natura.

The Body Shop and cruelty-free

Not strictly an environmental issue, animal welfare is still very important to some consumers. Historically, The Body Shop was active in campaigning against animal testing and has always been a cruelty-free brand. 

The sale of The Body Shop to L’Oreal was a surprise departure for the brand, as L’Oreal was not fully cruelty-free: it sold its products in China where animal testing was mandatory. The Body Shop's current owner, Natura, is.

Animal testing for cosmetic products is banned in the UK and the EU and has been for some years. However, there are certain exceptions to this. The European regulation REACH can require animal testing to assess certain chemical hazards. It is possible that ingredients requiring this testing could be found in cosmetics.

Additionally, in the past a brand might have said it didn’t test on animals itself, but have sold its products in mainland China. Up until 2021, Chinese trade law required that all imported cosmetics sold in physical stores must be tested on animals before sale. Therefore those brands couldn't claim to be fully cruelty-free – to sell their products on the Chinese market they had to pay for animal testing in China. 

This has now been waived for most ordinary cosmetics, though some ‘special-use’ beauty products, such as sunscreens, must still be tested on animals.

In the past, the Body shop hasn’t sold in China (aside from online) because it refused to allow animal testing on its products. Since the legislation change, the brand is planning to open stores there.

All of The Body Shop's product range is vegetarian. It's not vegan, as they currently use some honey and lanolin, but they are reformulating these ranges to become vegan by the end of 2023.

The Body Shop and ingredients

The Body Shop uses a mix of natural (plant-based) and synthetic ingredients.

Its webpage on ingredients states that it uses parabens (a type of preservative) but is committed to phasing them out as a result of customer concerns. 99% of products are now paraben free.

It is also phasing out the use of BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), which is already subject to heavy EU restrictions to ensure its safe use. The Body Shop also says it restricts the use of EDTA, because it is not readily biodegradable in water. Scroll down for more information on beauty products and biodegradability.

The Body Shop doesn’t use phthalates or triclosan.

The Body Shop and palm oil

The Body Shop does use palm oil but says it is all is 100% sustainably sourced. 

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) system has several different types of certification. Companies can purchase different types of palm oil; segregated or identity-preserved palm oil means that all the palm oil comes from sustainable sources. Mass balance palm oil allows for the mixing of both certified and non-certified oils through the supply chain, so the risk of this product being involved in damaging deforestation is higher. 

What's known as book and claim credits can also be bought – these are like a type of offsetting.

IN 2022, 57.5% of its palm oil that year was certified under segregated (1.5%) or mass balance (56%). The rest was covered by smallholder credits – which can be viewed positively as encouraging better practice among small farmers – and book and claim credits (28%).

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) publishes a regular Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard looking at all aspects of a company’s palm oil policy and procurement. In its last (2021) assessment, The Body Shop scored 13.84 out of 24 – a fairly middle-of-the-pack rating. Some other companies scored in the high teens and 20s. 

This assessment goes beyond RSPO certification and looks at aspects such as how accountable a brand holds its suppliers, examines its palm oil policy and commitments and looks at whether the brand is investing in positive conservation and restoration projects.

The Body Shop has pledged to fully trace or externally certify palm oil (along with five other commodities, including soy and paper) by 2025.

The Body Shop and packaging

Natura, The Body Shop’s parent company, has a target to ensure that 100% of its packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030.

Some stores have refill stations (the latest published figures were 159 in the UK planned by the end of 2022) and there are plans for more – you can use its store finder to find one near you. Aluminium bottles can be purchased for refills of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel or handwash.

In 2022, 52% (by weight) of the plastic packaging used by The Body Shop was made from recycled plastic.

It is moving to using more glass and aluminium packaging as these materials have better recycling rates than plastic. However, choosing the best packaging isn't a simple equation, as producing glass and aluminium can have more of an environmental impact that plastic in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the transport emissions of glass can also be higher because it is heavier than other materials.

To find out more about refills and packaging read our guide on how to buy refillable products.

Other sustainability information

The Body Shop and parent company Natura both have B Corp status, a certification that looks at all aspects of social and environmental performance and sets a high bar for performance. 

The Body Shop has committed to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 42% by 2030. It has commited to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions (purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and end-of-life treatment of sold products) by 42% by 2030. Both targets use a 2020 base year.

Why should we be worried about beauty products' impact on the environment?

Beauty products’ ingredients lists can be bafflingly long and difficult to interpret, but there are certain things to consider when making your choices.

Palm oil

It’s estimated that around 70% of beauty products contain palm oil. It acts as an emulsifier (holds oil and water together), surfactant (creates foam) and moisturiser.

But palm oil has also been linked with rainforest deforestation and habitat destruction. The constantly increasing demand for its use makes it particularly difficult to control how it is produced.

Products might list it as an ingredient, or may use ingredients derived from it. It has a huge list of pseudonyms – lauric and stearic acid being among the more common – which means it can be difficult to avoid. 

Look instead for brands that carry RSPO certification on their packaging or state that their palm oil is sustainably sourced.

The PalmOil Scan app scans barcodes to tell you about a brand’s palm oil commitment and whether it’s an RSPO member. WWF’s online Palm Oil Buyers scorecard can give you more information about a brand’s palm oil policy and how its performing.

If you want to go palm oil free, the Orangutan Alliance Palm Oil Free Seal can be found on some products. Its website also lists ingredient names that may have been derived from palm oil.

Biodegradability

Chemicals in beauty products can have negative impacts on the environment as well as human health. 

Anything found in the ingredients list of cosmetic or personal care products sold in the UK will have been approved as safe for human use. Though they may be restricted to certain amounts – this includes groups of chemicals like parabens. 

Some beauty brands may choose to avoid certain chemicals altogether, or have ranges that avoid the use of synthetic chemicals.

The biodegradability of ingredients used in cosmetics is an important consideration. They may end up being washed down the drain and treated at a water treatment plant – assuming water companies are dealing with it responsibly. But cosmetics may also be wiped off on cotton pads or wipes, which go in the bin. This means they could possibly end up in landfill (though much in the UK will be incinerated). 

Products need to be readily biodegradable in these environments to avoid environmental damage. But the reality is not everything fully breaks down. Synthetic ingredients, often derived from fossil fuels, can be particularly persistent.

Confusingly, the term ‘natural’ is not legally regulated. If using fully natural products is important to you, look for a certification label on the product. This will also increase the likelihood that the natural ingredients are sourced in a sustainable way.

Certified natural and organic cosmetics (the main logos you will see are COSMOS and NATRUE) and household cleaning products (the main logo is Soil Association) are assessed for ready biodegradability. Ingredients will have to break down in a specified time. Cradle to Cradle certification, while not an organic standard, focuses on the full life cycle of a product.

Read more about how chemicals break down in our waterways and how to buy water friendly cleaning products and toiletries.

Packaging

Packaging of beauty products is something to seriously consider when making your choice. According to the British Beauty Council, 95% of cosmetic packaging is thrown away. Items like shampoo and shower gel bottles can usually be recycled with household recycling, but some more complex packaging such as mascara wands and hand soap pumps are unlikely to be recycled. 

Brands that offer packaging-free options, closed loop recycling, refillable options or solid format products like shampoo bars should be commended.

Our research 

*The brands that survey respondents could answer on were preselected based on a previous Which? survey carried out in November 2022 asking members to highlight brands they considered sustainable. 

Other beauty brands rated highly by members in our survey were Faith in Nature (91%), Gruum (86%) and Lush (81%).

Find out more about what supermarkets are doing about the environment? how to buy second-hand online, or what makes a green energy supplier.