Sustainable Skincare: What to Look For

What exactly should you look for in a sustainable skincare brand? Is it enough if it's labeled as "planet-friendly" or uses earthy colors and nature-inspired logos? Or should you dig deeper?

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This quick guide explores four key areas: ingredients, sourcing and manufacturing, packaging, and certifications. By examining these aspects closely, you can make informed choices that benefit both your skin and the environment.

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Ingredients

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To identify a sustainable skincare brand, carefully examine the ingredients list. Truly sustainable brands prominently display their ingredient lists on both product packaging and website product pages. If you need a magnifying glass to read the ingredient list or have to click through multiple pages to find it, that's a red flag. Sustainable skincare brands stay away from petrochemical-based ingredients that are derived from fossil fuels and release high amounts of carbon emissions during their production. Instead, they use ingredients that are made from renewable, non-fossil fuel sources and break down more easily to reduce pollution.

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Certifications

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Brands often use words like "organic," "natural," "cruelty-free," "vegan," and "biodegradable" on their products, but these terms have no legal definition or accountability. These vague terms, sometimes appearing as images or logos, can mislead consumers about a product's sustainability. To ensure authenticity, check if the brand holds any company or product-level certifications from the following list:

• USDA BioPreferred
• USDA Certified Biobased
• EPA Safer Choice
• Leaping Bunny
• Made Safe
• EWG Verified
• Cradle to Cradle

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Packaging and Shipping

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The cosmetics industry generates about 120 billion units of packaging annually, with 70% of the industry's waste coming from packaging alone. Look for brands taking action to combat this issue. Some of the sustainable skincare brands offer concentrated product formats and minimize container sizes. For shipping, they use minimal packaging materials, avoid plastic, and opt for sustainable alternatives such as glass and aluminium.

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Sourcing and Manufacturing

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Transparency is equally crucial for sourcing and manufacturing. Sustainable skincare brands are transparent about their factories, names, and locations of their supply chain partners, manufacturing processes, and worker rights. Rather than making vague claims, these brands transparently and publicly report their emissions. Some of them even provide a breakdown of these emissions and/or identify their top drivers. Ideally, these brands should have a dedicated sustainability page on their website with all this information.

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Other green flags include brands that prioritize sustainability through mindful consumption. Sustainable skincare brands usually offer a refill program, bulk purchases, and/or reusable containers. Some of them limit the new releases and offer a more evergreen collection. These brands are mindful even in their web materials and marketing emails and do not promote overconsumption there. These brands show their commitment to conscious consumption through their web content and marketing emails as well, avoiding promotional tactics that encourage overconsumption.

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