I think you’ll agree when I say:

It’s really hard to tell when a brand is greenwashing.

But does it have to be?

This is the first in a series of posts where I take a closer look at the sustainability of natural skincare brands to see if they’re as sustainable as their marketing suggests.

I’m sure your ethical values are different to mine, so I’ll do my best to cover all bases.

I decided to start with Odylique as I recently reviewed some of their products (and instantly fell in love).

As I did a whole bunch of research, I figured I’d share some of it with you while it is still fresh in my mind.

In this post:

1. Who is Odylique?

2. Odylique’s green credentials

3. Where are Odylique’s products manufactured?

4. Ingredients and chemicals

5. Is Odylique vegan?

6. Are their ingredients ethically sourced?

7. Inclusivity

8. Packaging

1. Who is Odylique?

30 years ago, the beauty industry was anything but natural.

Margaret, the founder of Odylique, used her training in aromatherapy and herbs to create organic products to soothe her children’s eczema.

Since then, Odylique’s values have remained the same. Every ingredient has a therapeutic value.

2. Green Credentials

In the UK, the term organic isn’t regulated in cosmetics.

Any company can label their product as “organic” even if only a couple of ingredients are. They can also get away with using ingredients you wouldn’t find in a certified organic product.

So how do you know if a product is what it says? That’s where green credentials come in.

Green credentials are third party organisations that hold companies to high ethical standards using a set of criteria.

Odylique’s products are certified by the following:

• Soil Association Organic (from 2016 this is called COSMOS)

• COSMOS Natural

• Peta cruelty-free

• Fairtrade ingredients (sugar, shea butter etc)

Some credentials apply to individual products (like Fairtrade) whereas others will apply to the brand (like Peta cruelty-free).

Odylique have also received:

• Ethical Shopping Accreditation

• Ethical Consumer ‘best buy’ rating

• B Corporation certification

3. Where are Odylique’s products manufactured? 

Odylique is pretty unique when it comes to creating its products.

The majority of brands outsource their production to factories. It is cheaper to produce products in China and other Asian countries due to their much lower minimum wage. This means brands can lower the price point for customers but it comes with an environmental cost. Another reason companies outsource to factories (including in the UK) is because they don’t have the knowledge or specialist equipment to do it themselves.

This is where Odylique really stands out. 30 years ago, Margaret, the founder of Odylique, used her training in aromatherapy and herbs to create organic products for her children’s eczema.

This expanded into a small business with Margaret making a range of natural products by hand. Today, it’s Margaret’s daughter running the company and her products are still handmade in an eco workshop in Sussex.

My favourite thing about Odylique is how they’ve stayed true to their values all this time.

4. Odylique Ingredients & Chemicals

All of the ingredients in Odylique’s cosmetics are naturally derived; they don’t use any synthetic fragrances, preservatives or colours.

There are no microplastics or petroleum derivatives that often sneak their way into mainstream brands advertising themselves as “natural.”

Odylique have personal experience with eczema and as a result exclude common allergens, including gluten, dairy, salicylic acid and nut oils. The latter is quite rare for natural beauty brands who frequently use almond oil. I also like that that they don’t add loads of essential oils to make complicated fragrances. And there is definitely no controversial ingredients or GMOs.

If you have read my previous review, you will know that I’m seriously impressed with how effective Odylique’s products are. Odylique have put a lot of thought into the active ingredients in their formulas and I definitely noticed an improvement in my skin after using their products.

5. Is Odylique vegan?

Odylique is certified cruelty-free by Peta and all their products are vegetarian. There are a couple of products that contain sustainably sourced beeswax.

Sustainable beekeeping, when done properly, can be incredibly beneficial to bees. Unfortunately most beeswax and honey comes from harmful manufacturing practices so it is always important to check when buying a product that isn’t vegan.

Odylique cares about the environment and has sourced its organic beeswax ethically. You can read their policy on animal products here.

If you don’t want to use beeswax that is absolutely fine, the majority of their products are vegan and are clearly labelled. What are your thoughts on beeswax? Let me know in the comments below.

6. Inclusivity

Odylique have a small range of makeup. While they do not sell foundation, they do sell three concealers, a fair, medium and dark.

I contacted Odylique and they informed me their dark concealer covers a number of different ethnic skin tones and they’ve had no requests for any darker tones.

They also mentioned they try their lipsticks out on people of different skin colours to make sure they offer a choice that works as universally as possible.

As Odylique only use naturally-derived ingredients, they only have a mineral sun cream available. This is fine by me as I only want to use physical sun creams, but I have pale skin so it’s easy for me.

I asked Odylique how their mineral sun cream is for people of colour and they said:

“The whitening effect of our sun cream is minimal, but there is a slight one - as with most zinc-based creams that don't contain nano-size particles. That said, no one of colour has complained about this and ours mitigates some of the whitening by using Karanja oil and herbal extracts which have fairly strong colour tones. We are in the process of developing a new cream and will definitely take a look into the interest in tinted sun cream as part of our market research. We're also developing a tinted moisturiser that will aim to suit a wide range of skin tones.”

Currently, Odylique only has one sunscreen because it costs over £2000 to test a products UVA and SPF.

7. Are their ingredients ethically sourced?

When a product is made in the UK, this doesn’t mean it is instantly sustainable. A product can be manufactured in the UK, but chances are it still imported the individual ingredients.

To be sustainable, a brand must source its ingredients from people who are paid fairly and have safe working conditions. When suppliers aren’t paid fair wages, they cannot afford to make ends meet and the community becomes trapped in poverty. This is where issues like child labour and human trafficking arise.

The green credentials help a lot here. Organic certification proves that their ingredients were grown without dangerous pesticides and in better working conditions.

Odylique is also the only Fairtrade makeup brand in the UK. They source their shea butter and sugar from Ghana where farmers are paid fair wages. This gives them the means to invest in community projects and funds education for hundreds of children.

7. Odylique’s packaging

Although it is clear that Odylique has given a lot of thought to their packaging, it's my opinion that this is one of the areas they can still improve.

It is a controversial topic because there is no easy solution that works for everyone.

While a circular economy that involves reusing packaging is the zero waste goal, I appreciate that it is not black and white. Especially when you add in Odylique’s focus on reducing transportation and creating products without powerful preservatives.

Odylique uses a mixture of recycled plastic, virgin plastic and glass.

Odylique has studied their carbon footprint. They are conscious of how far each material has to travel and have even broken down their choices and explained why they have chosen plastic over glass packaging in a few instances.

They have lowered their carbon footprint by making their products by hand and using packaging that is created locally to their eco workshop in Surrey.

A summary of Odylique’s packaging:

• All glass is imported from Europe and isn’t air freighted. 

• Plastic packaging is used when glass is not safe, for example, in shampoo bottles.

• Odylique’s plastic packaging is produced near their workshop in Sussex, cutting out carbon emissions from transportation.

• All products are 100% recyclable and contain a minimum of 50% recycled plastic from milk jugs.

• All 200ml bottles, 50g and 175g jars are made from 100% recycled plastic.

• Odylique is currently exploring packaging made from sugar cane.

As a consumer, I’d like the option to send back plastic packaging so it can be cleaned and reused.

So there you have it, Odylique are one of the best brands I’ve come across for their ethics and I really do love their products.

If you decide to buy anything with Odylique, use code LAZY20 for 20% off your purchase (affiliate).

Have you tried any of Odylique’s products before?