Beauty news: The Body Shop becomes the first global beauty brand with 100 percent vegan product formulations

In huge news for the brand and beauty-loving vegans the world over, The Body Shop has just announced that it has officially become the world’s first global beauty brand to achieve 100 percent vegan product formulations across all ranges including skincare, body care, haircare, makeup and fragrance. Yep you read that right: the entire product formulations portfolio has been certified by the Vegan Society.
The Body Shop was also the first beauty retailer to campaign against animal testing in cosmetics in 1989, with a fundamental belief that animals should not be harmed in the pursuit of beauty. It’s what drew a teenage me to the brand without question, and I’m guessing that I’m not alone. And while the fight continues for a worldwide ban on animal testing in cosmetics, for The Body Shop, a fully vegan product range is the next milestone in cruelty-free beauty.
The vegan cosmetics industry is predicted to grow with 6.31 percent compound annual growth rate between 2023-28 and reach $24 billion by 2028. With over one in ten young people saying that vegan is an important factor in their health and beauty purchases, aiming for a vegan product offering should be integral to every brand. Ever-growing focus on climate change has created an even greater interest in going plant-based, and eating habits and general lifestyle choices are closely aligned. For brands these days not to commit to milestones like this defies belief.
But back to The Body Shop! The Vegan Society represents the global gold standard in vegan certification across multiple industries, providing a trusted trademark for The Body Shop products. The certification process is extremely thorough, with a meticulous assessment of every supplier and manufacturer of raw materials within the product catalogue. For The Body Shop, this meant over 4000 ingredients had to be validated for over 1000 products to carry the stamp.
Ian Bickley, Chief Executive Officer, The Body Shop says: “We did it! Every single product formulation from The Body Shop is now certified by The Vegan Society. We know that vegan beauty matters to millions of people around the world and we’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this huge milestone. We were the first beauty company to fight against animal testing in cosmetics. We were the first major global beauty brand to use cruelty-free musk in our fragrances. We have now achieved another global first.”
Director of Business Development at The Vegan Society, Chantelle Adkins, comments: "Today we are extending a massive congratulations to The Body Shop for achieving 100 percent of their product formulations being vegan and certified with The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark. This has been a massive project for them and showcases their commitment and dedication to vegan beauty. We hope that this significant step sets a global standard for other beauty brands to follow and inspires further change to reduce animal use and exploitation across the industry.”
Congratulations to The Body Shop for being consistently committed to doing good – for over thirty damn years!