Living a more sustainable life includes switching to products that have a smaller environmental impact. So is it possible to get eco-friendly cosmetics in the UK?
For many people, using cosmetics and makeup is part of their daily routine. But given that conventional cosmetics are bad for our environment, it’s worth looking at sustainable alternatives.
Because they do exist and switching to them isn’t a big deal. But to make sure that you don’t fall foul of greenwashing, here are our 3 top tips for finding truly eco-friendly makeup in the UK.
1. Buy From The Right Company
The first step to take in your quest for sustainable makeup is to find the right company. You want to buy from a business that puts sustainability on their agenda and takes our environment into account when making decisions.
Needless to say, this also means keeping away from companies that pretend to be eco-friendly or engage in greenwashing. But how do you know if a company is just pretending to be eco-friendly but actually isn’t?
You can find out in our article EcoHomLife Explains: The Definition Of Greenwashing.
We are actually quite good at detecting greenwashing, according to a study, as long as we are looking out for it. (Fella and Bausa, 2024)
With this in mind, here are our tips for finding a company that is truly eco-friendly.
Always Suspect Greenwashing
It might sound cynical, but as we have seen, research has shown that if we suspect greenwashing, we are more likely to spot it.
And unfortunately, many companies have figured out that people are willing to pay more for a sustainable product. (Grimmer and Bingham, 2012)
We live in a society where making as much money as possible is the aim for many people. To achieve this, businesses will tell us what we want to hear to get our money.
This means we have to be prepared to sort the good from the bad. So the first thing we recommend doing whenever you are looking at buying a sustainable product or eco-friendly alternative is to look for signs of greenwashing.
For example, is the sustainable product part of an eco-range, and does the company also sell unsustainable products? If that’s the case, they aren’t a truly green company, so keep away from them.
Or maybe they only sell eco-friendly products, but they are quite vague on their website about their claims. A lack of transparency is often a sign of greenwashing, so be suspicious if you can’t find substantiated information.
Just because they put words like “green”, “eco-friendly”, “planet-friendly” or “sustainable” on their website and products doesn’t mean that the business or their products are any of these.
We have found that small businesses are much more likely to put sustainability at the heart of their operations. And a study found that family-run businesses are less likely to greenwash. (Fernandez 2025)
It pays to be vigilant if you want to find eco-friendly products that are made by sustainable companies, because this will help you lead a more sustainable life.
Buy As Local As You Can
When we look for sustainable products, we always look at UK-based companies, because the carbon footprint of a product that comes from your own country will be much lower than one that comes from overseas.
But it’s not just about where they are based, but also where they make their product and get their materials from.
The ideal scenario would be a UK-based company that produces its products in the UK and gets all its supplies from within the UK too. In this case, the carbon footprint of the product would be very small.
However, in many cases, this isn’t a possible scenario. So you try to get as close to it as possible.
If the company isn’t based in the UK, makes their products here and gets their materials from here, the next best thing would be Europe. The further afield you get, the less sustainable the product becomes.
Of course, there are things that can’t be obtained from close by. In this case, look at the supply chain to see if the company makes every effort to keep it sustainable.
For example, do they only choose suppliers that themselves are a sustainable business? This means they source materials sustainably and ship them or finished products in the most eco-friendly way.
But how can you know about this?
Transparency Is Key
A truly sustainable company will be keen to be as transparent as possible and tell you about why and how they are eco-friendly on their website.
When we, here at EcoHomeLife, scrutinise a business that claims to be sustainable, we look at the following things on their website.
About Category
What we want to see in this section is, first of all, something about why the company was formed. Our story, or about us, that gives you an idea behind the motivation for the creation of the firm.
Often this will include the founders being frustrated at not being able to find eco-friendly alternatives that work, or they have seen the devastation that conventional products can cause to our environment.
Crucially, this will also tell you the degree of sustainability they aim for. Some might only focus on becoming plastic-free, or eliminate single-use packaging.
Others might also look at ingredients or the materials they use. The best will look at every aspect of their business and ensure that they operate in the most eco-friendly way possible.
Another thing we are looking for in this category, sometimes it has its own, is a section or page about mission, ethos, sustainability, anything that talks about what the company does to deserve being called eco-friendly.
Here, they might talk about ingredients, materials, manufacturing processes, supply chain, packaging, etc. But they might also tell you how they ensure their day-to-day business operations are sustainable.
From having solar panels on the roof to encouraging recycling on the premises, and eco charities they donate to. Some might also have eco certificates or labels that show they adhere to certain sustainability standards.
Reading this section can give you a good feel about the company and whether they are really sustainable or not.
2. Check The Ingredients
Once you have found a company you trust to be sustainable, it’s time to look at the product. Finding eco-friendly cosmetics in the UK depends a lot on what’s in them.
Generally speaking, most conventional makeup contains synthetic ingredients. These are bad news for the environment for three reasons:
- They are mostly made from petrochemicals, which means fossil fuels
- The manufacturing processes to make lab-made ingredients produces huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions
- Many of these ingredients are harmful or even toxic to aquatic life
We have researched the ingredients used in regular makeup extensively and report our findings in our article about which cosmetics ingredients to avoid.
It’s fairly easy to recognise synthetic ingredients, because they have very chemical-sounding names, like Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydroxyacetophenone.
These are all lab-made ingredients that you can find on ingredient lists of makeup you can buy here in the UK. And they are all either harmful or toxic to aquatic life.
Another thing you’ll notice when you look at what’s in traditional cosmetics is that the list of ingredients is very long. That’s because it contains a whole host of so-called inactive ingredients.
These are used to make the cream, mousse, or liquid the right consistency and texture, ensure it spreads well, and to cover up the chemical smell.
So what about eco-friendly makeup? Well, it will contain fewer ingredients, and the ones that are used will be natural ingredients or at least naturally occurring.
The most eco-friendly makeup you can get at the moment is mineral makeup. It comes in powder form, rather than liquid, and it only contains minerals.
Because it comes as a powder, it doesn’t contain a long list of inactive ingredients, such as preservatives or synthetic fragrances.
The only ingredients on the list should be minerals, which are naturally occurring substances from rocks.
While these minerals have to undergo some chemical process in a lab to make the actual ingredients, they are still better for the environment than synthetic ones used in conventional makeup and cosmetics.
Crucially, the main difference between mineral and regular makeup is that the former is much less harmful to the environment.
So make sure you check out the ingredients. Truly eco-friendly companies will display all the ingredients on their website, explaining how they were sourced and what they are used for.
3. Look For Eco-Friendly Packaging
Finally, one reason conventional cosmetics aren’t good for our environment is the packaging. Most of it is plastic, which has a huge impact on our environment, not least because over 90% of it is made from fossil fuels.
Then there is the issue with plastic waste: there is just too much. Did you know that more than half of the plastic waste you put in the recycling bin in 2023 was sent abroad?
Only around a third of the plastic we recycle at home and that doesn’t get sent abroad actually gets recycled. The rest is burnt for energy creation.
And then we also send quite a bit of plastic waste to landfill. In 2022, it was 20% of all the plastic waste produced in that year.
Where does cosmetics packaging fit in? In the UK, 95% of cosmetics packaging is disposed of in the general waste bin, according to the British Beauty Council.
All these statistics make one thing very clear: we have to reduce the amount of plastic we use. So when you look at eco-friendly cosmetics, the packaging it comes in is very important.
The best type of packaging is zero-waste and refills. This means you buy, let’s say a reusable powder tin, which you refill with mineral foundation. The refills should come in recyclable materials, ideally made themselves from recycled materials.
And it doesn’t just work for powder makeup. You can buy refills for lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara too.
One big advantage of refills is that you can easily switch colours or shades to try out new ones.
So look out for companies that offer refills and recyclable packaging, as this could give you a beauty routine that is zero-waste. Combined with natural ingredients, you can reduce your impact on the environment by quite a bit.
Choose The Beauty Products That Work For You
By following these three tips, you should be able to make a list of eco-friendly cosmetics in the UK. Once you have the list, you have to look at your needs to make sure you find the products that work for you.
These are the questions you need to ask yourself for each makeup brand on your list:
- Do they have the right shades for your skin tone? – for things like mineral foundation, concealer, finishing powder, etc.
- Do they have the colours you want? – for things like mascara, lipstick, eyeshadow, blush, etc.
- Do they have the products you want?
For the last point, you might have to buy from different brands. But it’s also worth looking at the products you use and assess if you really need them all.
A big part of creating an eco-friendly beauty routine is to reduce the amount of different products you use.
So now you’re ready to find truly sustainable cosmetics that suit your needs. Go get them and let your natural beauty shine.
