Eco-friendly beauty products are a huge file. You have so many different brands, countless products and, unfortunately, there is also a lot of greenwashing, vulgar deception in other words. So how do you find the better brands? We looked into it for you! The result is a nice list of beauty and skincare brands you and the whole family can turn to.
Eco-friendly beauty products: who should you get to know?
This list had to and would come one day. With the launch of my sustainable lifestyle book: NIKS NIEUWS, yet it will surprise you the time had finally come. I sat down and made a good list of eco-friendly beauty products: good skincare, better make-up, beautiful skincare products and also a list of (web) shops where you can find those products. In my book, I take you through my sustainable quest. For each lifestyle topic, I tell you what is going on in (and with) the world, I tell you what the process has been like for me personally and I share lots of tips I have gained over the past few years. Your beauty routine is also covered in detail in my sustainable lifestyle book.
In my book, you will also find shopping lists. Well, they are QR codes to shopping lists, like this article, that is. Because that's more convenient because I can then easily update those online lists when a new brand is added or one sadly disappears. And so this is the list for eco-friendly beauty products and shops.
There it is: your new sustainable beauty guide!
This list of eco-friendly beauty products is not exhaustive, but is meant to get you started. Do you have a great tip? Then feel free to contact me and I can expand the list. You can get in touch via the follow and contact buttons at the bottom of this page.
Are you curious about my book? I get that! You can order it from my webshop. I would love that!
What are eco-friendly beauty products?
When compiling this list, I tried to pay attention to a few things:
- What is the motivation for using/not using certain ingredients? Note: whether something is made of natural ingredients does not necessarily mean anything about sustainability. Sometimes, synthetic ingredients can be used deliberately.
- Do products from this brand have one or more labels or does the brand have a certain track record/authority position.
- Is the brand microplastic-free, vegan or at least animal-tested?
- Can I really not catch them making known misleading claims?
- Is more known about the entrepreneurial story behind the brand?
- Are they doing more for the planet?
Eco-friendly skincare & shower products
- Attitude (established beauty brand with many different products: vegan, animal-tested and with eco-friendly labels)
- Bee Honest (Certified natural care products from Flevoland since 1972 with bee-friendly products)
- Ben & Anna (vegan, microplastic-free and eco-friendly certified from Germany. Many products from this brand are also packaged plastic-free)
- Botanical Beauty (skincare from the Netherlands: natural, organic and sustainable)
- Botma & van Bennekom (minimalist care based on three products, beautiful soaps and all made in Arnhem where the soap factory and shop is also located). Check out our review of Botma & van Bennekom.
- CÎME (natural and organic certified skincare, refill stations are available in some shops)
- The Gardens (beautiful and affordable beauty brand sold exclusively at Holland & Barret)
- Dr Hauschka (beautiful anthroposophic skincare and make-up from Germany)
- Dr Organic (certified organic beauty brand from America)
- Earth-line (certified natural skincare from the Netherlands, on sale at better drugstores). Check out our review on Earth-line.
- Ethique (Solid beauty products ‘bars’ from New Zealand with a special entrepreneurial story from a student. Everything is plastic-free, vegan, cruelty-free and ethically produced. Also on sale at Holland & Barret)
- Farfalla (natural, vegan care with eco-friendly labels from Switzerland, has been around for more than 40 years)
- Flow cosmetics (sustainable beauty brand from Finland that produces in small quantities in-house to avoid waste, own recipes)
- Food for Skin (natural skincare made from residual fruit and vegetable streams, conceived and produced in Amsterdam. Great products with a cool entrepreneurial story). Check out our review on Food for Skin.
- Green People (Established British beauty brand with nice range of natural and organic products. Many products also have environmental and animal-friendly labels)
- HappySoaps (plastic-free and natural care products to make you happy, from the Netherlands)
- Harmony (clear range of certified, natural skincare, on sale at the better drugstore)
- Totally Shea (Small-scale soap-making company from De Rijp with vegan soaps, shampoo bars and natural care)
- Junglück (minimalist skincare from Germany, vegan and skin-friendly)
- Laboratoires de Biarritz (French beauty brand with large range of certified products, is committed to the oceans). Check out our review on Laboratoires de Biarritz.
- Lamazuma (French beauty brand that makes solid beauty products ‘bars’ from essential oils, cruelty-free and plastic-free)
- Lavera (Established German beauty brand with large range of natural and certified products)
- Loveli (beautiful sustainable beauty brand with many fans, nice female entrepreneurial story)
- Mádara Cosmetics (Natural, organic skincare from Latvia with eco-friendly label)
- Marcel's Green Soap (the well-known cleaning brand from Haarlem also has care products for your body)
- Marie Stella Maris (more sustainable skincare (B Corp brand!) with shops where you can find your favourite products refill)
- Naïf Care (natural skincare for kids and their parents, founded by two Dutch dads. Naïf is a B Corp company, a certification for a sustainable business)
- Nature Bar (Handmade natural soap and shampoo bars from Amsterdam, make great use of circular ingredients such as pine needles from Amsterdam Christmas trees)
- Urtekram (Certified natural skincare from Denmark)
- PHB Ethical Beauty (Established beauty brand from Canada and Great Britain with great offerings, ticks all the boxes)
- La Rhode (natural skincare, handmade by Dutch founder)
- Sea-line (natural, certified skincare with Dead Sea minerals, on sale at better drugstores)
- The Ordinary (large Canadian beauty brand based in South Korea, makes pure products and stands for transparency about ingredients and diversity and inclusion)
- True Organic (natural, vegan, cruelty-free skincare from the UK, again with labels. They aim to distinguish themselves by adding less water to products.
- Weleda (arguably the oldest and most famous beauty brand, has been around for more than 100 years. Natural, organic, cruelty-free and certified)
- Wellmark (beautiful, sustainable personal care products with a cool Dutch and social entrepreneurial story, vegan and junk-free)
- Yard soap (artisanal, organic soap-making company from Utrecht)
- Zarqua (clean beauty brand, vegan, works with minerals from the Dead Sea, everything is sustainably packaged)
- Zoa goes pretty (natural care based on essential oils, vegan and certified)
Sustainable make-up
- Attitude
- Benecos (large range of make-up, nail care and also skin care)
- Boho Cosmetics (French sustainable make-up brand)
- Dr Hauschka
- Ere Perez (beautiful beauty brand from Australia with fine make-up)
- gitti (plant-based nail polish and hand care from Germany)
- INIKA (Australian clean beauty brand with labels, also vegan and halal)
- Love the planet (plastic-free make-up from Scotland that is also vegan and cruelty-free is and produces ethically)
- Mádara Cosmetics
- PHB Ethical Beauty
- Zao (natural, organic, vegan and refillable make-up with good labels, French brand)
Sustainable deodorant
Want to know more about choosing deodorant more sustainably? Then check out this article!
Sustainable oral care
Always check if the product contains fluorine though, it is very important!
- Ben & Anna
- Choose!
- Denttabs (also kids' version)
- HappySoaps
- Happy Tabs
- Smyle
- The Humble Co (also kids' version)
- The Bamboo Brush Society (bamboo toothbrushes)
- Zero Waste Club
Sustainable menstruation
- AllMatters (menstrual cup)
- Bamboozy (menstrual cup, briefs and sanitary pads)
- ImseVimse (washable sanitary pads)
- LastPad (washable sanitary pads)
- Lotties (menstrual underwear)
- Mooncup (mensutration cup)
- Naty (sanitary pads made of natural materials, with label)
- Natracare (pads and tampon made of organic cotton)
- Snuggs (menstrual underwear)
- Yoni (pads and tampons made of organic cotton)
- &Sisters (various menstrual products)
Want to know more about more sustainable menstruation? Check out this article!
Eco-friendly sun protection
Zero waste razor
- Bambaw (All kinds of shaving products, including shaving soap)
- Bamboozy
- Zero Waste Club
Durable shaving soap
Eco-friendly care for kids (or that is very suitable for kids)
- buttock boutique.nl (washable nappies)
- blabloom.com (sustainable webshop for baby and children's products)
- Botma & van Bennekom
- Naïf Care
- nappy.nl (washable nappies)
- Urtekram
- Weleda
Want to know more about washable nappies? We have compiled all articles on this topic for you here.
(Web) shops for eco-friendly beauty products
- biggreensmile.nl
- Crisp
- degroenedrogist.nl
- Dill & Kamille
- Ekoplaza
- greenjump.nl
- hollandandbarret.nl
- nourished.nl
- thebocollective.nl
- The Body Shop
- where.shop (sustainable gift shop, online but also locations around the country)
- levenzonderafval.com (webshop for a zero waste lifestyle)
- arkive.nl (sees themselves as the Too Good To Go of the beauty industry, they work with manufacturers and prevent waste by saving products from destruction)
- projectcece.com (aggregate website of online offerings of sustainable clothing, as well as personal care products)
Also useful to know
- Beat the Microbead (free app from Plastic Soup Foundation that allows you to detect microplastics in beauty products)
- Clean Beauty, Think Dirty and Skin Deep Cosmetics Database: (free apps and site that let you scan the ingredients list to learn more about what's in your beauty products)
- Red list Animalrights.nl (They have compiled a list of green, orange and red beauty and cleaning brands. The red list includes brands that still directly or indirectly conduct animal testing)
Photo credits: Angela de Vlaming.
