The best sustainable beauty brands to shop now

By the end of 2020, Molton Brown's entire Bath, Body and Hand collection bottles will be manufactured from 50% recycled PET. But as a first step to erasing disposable beauty, Molton Brown is partnering with Loop. You’re now able to order three Molton Brown Fine Liquid Hand Washes from Loop: Orange & Bergamot, Delicious Rhubarb & Rose and Coastal Cypress & Sea Fennel, all housed in 200ml glass bottles, designed for refilling and reusing. We love the marine notes, cedar wood and bergamot in this one for transporting us to the rugged British coast.

UpCircle has made a name for itself as the upcycling indie brand, which takes everything from coffee grounds to fruit stones, and repurposes them into sustainable beauty products. Swap disposable cotton pads and wipes for this 7-pack of eco-friendly, washable makeup pads, made from hemp and cotton.

Whether you’re dealing with the fallout from acne scars, hormones or sun damage, this clean vegan brightening cream helps to reduce dark spots and even skin tone. Also worth a mention is the completely recyclable packaging, which sets the bar high for other skincare brands: a jar made from recyclable glass, a cap made from post-consumer recycled plastic, even the shive is made up of recyclable plastic. We expect nothing less from this pioneering brand that has pledged to go 100% waste free by 2021.

These tube-free 3-in-1 crayons for eyes, lips and cheeks are wrapped in recyclable paper and can be kept in their recyclable box, handmade from recycled trash by a women’s cooperative in Bali. This juicy orange shade makes even the dullest skin sing thanks to the pop of fresh colour, antioxidants and hydrating plum oil.

When a product’s ingredient list begins with pure aloe vera juice and coconut water, you know you’re on to a good thing. Maui Moisture has replaced the chemically-treated water, which makes up approximately 65 per cent of most shampoo ranges, with these kind to hair (and kind to planet) alternatives. Even the bottle resembles a good-for-you smoothie while inside you’ll find bamboo fibres to beef up spindly strands plus vegan botanicals, which are naturally rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to repair.

If you could bottle sipping perfectly chilled Prosecco in an English country garden in summer – this would be it. Created in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society, beautiful white florals and soft powdery sandalwood are combined with the scent of English rhubarb and an unexpected blast of saltiness. Things get better still when you discover that 5% of sales goes back to the RHS and the fragrance packaging is a biodegradable pulp carton - a first for the world of fragrance. We’re re-purposing ours as a seed tray for herbs.

We all know that hydrating from the inside out is just as important as using moisturiser. Earth Day 2020 is a milestone for Evian as it has been certified carbon neutral across all countries by the Carbon Trust. This follows years of ambitious reductions made at every stage of the product cycle – from conception to product innovation and from production to recycling - in order to preserve the world’s ecosystem. Lighter weight packaging, 100% renewable energy at the Evian factory and more transportation by rail have all contributed to this monumental accreditation. ‘Today’s announcement comes at a moment when we are seeing, in real time, what can happen when we reduce our impact on the planet. Emissions are lower and pollution levels have dropped,’ says Shweta Harit, Evian Global Brand VP. Evian has also announced that it aims to become 100% circular by 2025 – meaning all bottles will be made from recycled plastic and then recycled again, so no virgin plastic is added into the market. Bravo.

Produced in small batches in the UK, this organic deodorant balm is housed in a plastic-free tin, which can be refilled at 34 different locations nationwide. Made from just seven ingredients, including coconut oil, shea butter and olive oil, the deodorants are free from aluminium salts and chemicals and come in four different natural fragrances including this zest orange oil blend.

It’s time to brush up (pardon the pun) on your toothpaste’s eco credentials. Traditional toothpaste tubes are notoriously hard (if not impossible) to recycle and result in over 1 billion of these tubes being sent to landfill every year across the globe. Enter Pärla, which is disrupting the dental industry with a sustainable, ethical and effective alternative: a tablet that’s basically dehydrated toothpaste. Simply chew it for 5 seconds then use your toothbrush to work it over your teeth. It ticks all boxes for eco-friendly tooth care being vegan and palm-oil free. But most importantly it also contains fluoride to stop decay so there’s no compromise.

Not only does this tick an eco box for being packaged in an aluminium tube but it also makes dull skin sing with vitamin-rich pumpkin, apricot seed powder, oat kernel protein and vitamin E.

The Klorane Botanical Foundation develops programs to protect ecosystems around the world while also discovering natural ingredients for hair. Currently, it is using aquatic mint to purify water polluted by heavy metals from an old mining site in France and applying that knowledge to haircare. The success of planting aquatic mint on the banks of the river and using the root inside filtering columns, has made it the star ingredient inside this shampoo for city tresses. Not only is the formula biodegradable but it removes 97% of polluting particles from scalp and strands.

The Body Shop has always been a force for good. Its goal for 2020 is to protect a whopping 10,000 hectacres of forest and regenerate 75 million square metres of habitat. In between all that it has also managed to make cellulose and plastic polymer sheet masks redundant. Plump, juicy skin in just 15 minutes, we hear you ask? Hell yeah, then afterwards you just place the mask in your compost bin where it degrades within a month.

One of eight skincare products featuring sustainably sourced ingredients. This one centres on organic lavandin essential oil, which is extracted from the flower using a 9th century steam distillation process, and effectively purifies pores for a clear, dewy canvas.

Caudalie made many of us aware that each year 14,000 tonnes of sunscreen pollute the oceans and end up in coral reefs worldwide. The main culprits are oxybenzone and octinoxate, found in around 3,500 sunscreen formulas, as they cause fatal coral bleaching. Consequently, Caudalie created high factor sunscreens that avoid these ingredients, are biodegradable and non-toxic to the marine eco system. Also nice: organic grapeseed oil ramps up hydration while antioxidant-rich polyphenols from grape seeds add another layer of wrinkle-fighting protection.

The brand name pretty much says it all. Cruelty-free testing is key to its philosophy; others include CO2 emission reduction and use of sustainable, ethically sourced ingredients such as organic coconut oil. Oh and did we mention the way this leaves a heavenly scent trail of rose petals on your newly nourished hair? Proof that you don't have to break the bank to save the planet.

This brand is founded on ‘green molecular science’ using ingredients grown on the 270-acre estate of the Borgo Santo Pietro Hotel in Tuscany. What this means is applying molecular science to natural ingredients, so every product works on multiple layers of the skin. The entire production process is kept in house, ensuring total traceability when it comes to raw materials, extraction methods and formulation. We rate this face oil as it combines rose extracts with hyaluronic acid and vitamins A to deeply hydrate and improve cell turnover, leading to brighter, fresher skin.

The equivalent of three bottles of liquid shampoo in one solid bar, it pairs coconut oil and cocoa butter with peppermint to cleanse your scalp and smooth hair strands.

It’s the same nourishing rice milk base and soothing scent of cherry blossom. But in a refill that’s healthier for the planet (and your budget) as it saves 70 per cent in CO2 emissions and uses 45 per cent less water. Simply slot inside the original pot.

Not only is this bath soak with jojoba seed oil, mineral-rich Epsom salts and soothing essential oils 100% natural. It’s also made in small batches by people who are blind, disabled or disadvantaged. And the goodness doesn’t stop there. This mineral soak has been crafted with Fairtrade dried tea leaves from NEMI Teas, which provides employment for refugees in the UK.

The hero ingredient in this daily moisturiser is sea kelp, which is sustainably harvested by hand only twice a year before undertaking a three-month bio-fermentation process. To give back to its precious resource, the brand launched the Blue Heart Oceans Fund, which supports conservation projects around the world. In the past this has included the restoration of mangrove trees and rebuilding coral reefs.

Gwyneth Paltrow fangirls over Tata Harper’s products, which she makes on a 1,200-acre farm in Vermont, USA. A beauty spin on farm-to-table, this farm-to-face brand is responsible for the entire formulation process. Something that is no small feat when you consider this serum alone has 69 high-performing botanical ingredients to wage war on pigmentation. ‘Traditional skincare often uses synthetic versions of natural ingredients and a lot of preservatives, so they may already be two years old when you open the box,’ says Harper. ‘We grow many of our own herbs, fruits and vegetables, then cold-press and blend them with a carrier oil to capture all the nutrients and freshness.’ Harper also insists on only using soy-based ink on the cardboard presentation boxes as it has a low petrochemical content and is easier to remove during the recycling process.

Too many pesticides and too few diverse crops is causing colonies of bees to die off at an alarming rate. Our entire ecosystem depends on their saving. One beauty brand, which relies on honey for its skincare, is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that happens. Guerlain has discovered that the Royal Jelly produced exclusively by black bees on an island in Brittany stimulates the Tieg-1 gene, which skin needs to repair collagen and boost elasticity. Sustainable amounts are sourced for this serum. But more importantly, Guerlain has sponsored a full-time beekeeper to look after the 140 hives and raises awareness by lobbying government and visiting schools. All of which has us positively buzzing.

Winner of this year’s Marie Claire Hair Award for Most Sustainable Formula, this shampoo is 100% Carbon Neutral, has a 98.2% biodegradable formula and contains a special surfactant (Quercetano olive oil) chosen to help preserve biodiversity. It also leaves hair irresistibly soft. Excellent stuff.

Sun-kissed, earthy and with a crisp twist courtesy of pear nectar, this is one hell of an uplifting sustainable scent. Even the packaging is considered: the oak lids are made of wood from certified sustainably-managed forests and the compostable cellophane packaging derived from corn. Another fact that’s sure to put a smile on your face: this Earth Day, Clean Reserve is sponsoring the Protect Our Species campaign by the Earth Day Network to help protect endangered bees.

Good-for-skin soap that also exfoliates thanks to rosemary and peppermint leaf powders and is sold in plastic-free packaging for less waste? What’s not to love? Very little as it’s also free of chemicals like SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) that make traditional shower gels lather up. Even fussy skin will be appeased.