The Body Shop

Last Updated: January 6, 2024

How Ethical Is The Body Shop?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here’s a summary of The Body Shop’s ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is The Body Shop cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on The Body Shop’s policies.
The Body Shop is cruelty-free. None of The Body Shop’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals anywhere in the world.
Not all of The Body Shop’s products are vegan, but they have some vegan options.
The Body Shop is a Certified B Corporation, meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Some of The Body Shop’s Sustainability & Environmental Initiatives include:

  • Favor ingredients classified as readily biodegradable
  • Strive to ensure they have a low water footprint value and low eco-toxicity
  • Measure and aim to increase the levels of ingredients from natural origin, which is any ingredient that comes from plant matter formed from physical, fermentation and other low-impact processing methods
  • Ensure 100% of their natural ingredients are traceable and sustainably sourced
  • Use of ingredients from ‘Green Chemistry’ in which those that come from environmentally friendly processes and techniques, reducing the generation of chemicals which are hazardous to the environment
  • Working fairly with their farmers and suppliers and helping communities thrive through their Community Trade Program of sourcing quality ingredients and accessories from expert producers across the world and enriching economically vulnerable communities.
  • The Body Shop claims their mica is ethically sourced without child labor.
    The Body Shop’s products come in plastic packaging. Some of their eco-friendly packaging initiatives:
  • their focus is on using fewer plastic materials where possible
  • using more plant-based and recycled materials
  • they offer a Return.Recycle.Repeat scheme letting customers return their empties in stores to be recycled and repurposed
  • working towards making their packaging 100% recyclable (currently it’s at 68%)
  • using more post-consumer recycled materials, currently 25% is using PCR and their goal is 75% by 2022
  • offering a Refill scheme that promote a circular economy
  • launched their Community Fair Trade recycled plastic program
  • Learn more about The Body Shop’s eco-packaging initiatives here
  • About The Body Shop

    The first global beauty brand to fight against animal testing, The Body Shop provides cruelty-free skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products.
    COMPANY BASED IN: UK
    PRODUCTS: Skincare, Bath & Body Care, Makeup, Fragrances, Makeup Brushes, Hair Care
    CERTIFICATIONS: Leaping Bunny, Cruelty Free International, PETA-Certified

    The Body Shop

    This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

    Is The Body Shop Cruelty-Free?

    🐰 The Body Shop is a cruelty-free brand. None of The Body Shop’s ingredients or products are tested on animals anywhere in the world.

    How Did We Conclude The Body Shop is Cruelty-Free?

    The Body Shop has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist, which includes ALL of the following:

    • ✓ The Body Shop confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
    • ✓ The Body Shop confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
    • ✓ The Body Shop confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law

    By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, The Body Shop is a truly cruelty-free brand by our standards.

    Is The Body Shop Certified Cruelty-Free?

    Yes. PETA and Leaping Bunny recognize The Body Shop as cruelty-free.

    Is The Body Shop Owned By a Company That Tests on Animals?

    In 2023, The Body Shop was sold to a private equity group, Aurelius.

    Is The Body Shop Sold in China?

    The Body Shop has confirmed they do NOT currently sell their products in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.

    Additionally, The Body Shop does not currently trade in mainland China, in duty free stores or elsewhere. In June 2014, the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), responsible for regulating animal testing in cosmetics in China, abolished the mandatory requirement for animal testing for domestically-produced cosmetics. We publically welcomed this new approach by the Chinese authorities. We look forward to selling our products in China at some stage in the future.

    At the moment, The Body Shop is selling a range of its ethically-produced, cruelty-free products direct to Chinese customers through T-Mall, a Chinese online marketplace. Chinese customers, who have long bought The Body Shop’s products through stores in other markets are now able to buy our original, high quality products online and have them delivered to their own homes.

    Our Leaping Bunny-certified products remain cruelty-free through the Chinese government’s special Cross-Border E-Commerce arrangements, which is not subject to animal testing.

    What’s going on with China’s animal testing laws in 2024? Some cosmetics sold in China can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, without meeting those conditions, animal testing is still legally required for most cosmetics sold in China in 2024.

    Is The Body Shop Vegan?

    ⭐️ The Body Shop is a 100% vegan brand. All their products are vegan, and are formulated without any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.

    Are The Body Shop’s Products Certified Vegan?

    Yes, all of The Body Shop’s formulations are certified vegan by The Vegan Society.

    Ethical Mica Mining Policy

    Mica is a mineral that’s used in cosmetics to add a shimmery effect. But the mining of natural mica has been linked to child labor and human rights violations.

    Unless the company discloses its mica mining policy, we have no way of knowing whether its mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.

    So I asked The Body Shop if their mica is ethically sourced without the use of child labor and they responded by stating,

    “Mica (a mineral found in rocks) makes cosmetics sparkly and white. You may have heard some controversy about mica and unsafe working conditions – but don’t worry. We only buy from suppliers who don’t use child labour and ensure good safety standards.”


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    1 thought on “The Body Shop”

    1. Hi! I have been researching different companies for a geography presentation I have to do at school, and was really struggling to find anything that wasn’t overwhelming me with information. When my mum sent me this, it helped so much. Thanks!

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