SUSTAINABILITY
Can cosmetics be made totally in the UK?
Jane Evison - Cosmetics Cluster UK
Many people in the UK will be familiar with the British government campaign slogan, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’, which aims to help promote overseas business. There is increasing interest in promoting and onboarding manufacturing in the UK from an economic point of view, especially due to the imposition of import tariffs for US market, global supply chain disruptions and also the need for job creation. Many UK consumers, according to market
researchers Mintel, are looking to ‘stay local and buy British’ in the light of cost of living challenges. Plus, the drive towards more sustainable, local and traceable production, together with an interest in more simple formulations, with fewer ingredients, is an increasing trend in the industry. We know that the UK can manufacture
beauty products and ingredients domestically, and historically it has been a world leader in manufacturing. The UK supply chain has many strengths, but can it provide sufficient home- produced materials that are commercially viable at a scale large and consistent enough for the mass market? In this project, Cosmetics Cluster UK (CCUK)
asked the question: “Is it possible to make a cosmetic product totally or wholly from raw materials sourced in the UK?” The answer is probably ‘Yes’, but how realistic is that? The aim of the project was to help CCUK
identify any specific gaps in the supply chain that we could then raise with the UK government or business interests to help develop UK production in a more targeted way. For example, could it strategically involve the agricultural sector or the bioeconomy? As our aim is to connect the UK beauty industry supply chain, this is a key area of interest for us.
Making cosmetics Making cosmetics involves a series of steps in the supply chain: research and development into new technologies by universities and start-ups; raw material feedstocks; raw material manufacturing; product development; product manufacturing; packaging; and distribution and logistics. The areas covered in this paper deliberately exclude packaging and distribution/logistics, but includes the feedstocks and manufacturing of ingredients that are incorporated into cosmetic products. The UK has well-established manufacturers
of preservatives, perfumes, cellulosics and surfactants, but they mainly rely on feedstocks
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from abroad, as the UK’s climate, geography and cost lets us down, as can be seen later in this article. The first stage of the project, which involved
a group of our members, was to identify the ingredients used in six common formulation types, understanding their composition, and whether or not they are, or can be wholly sourced in the UK. This article discusses our project, its findings and our recommendations.
What we did Firstly, we obtained ‘example’ formulations, supplied by CCUK members Croda and Scott Bader, for a range of products, including body oil, serum, face wash, hair conditioner, lotion, and balm. We then proceeded to filter the ingredients list from 53 to 19, based on function (moisturiser, preservative, conditioner etc.) and those ingredients common to more than one formulation, to come up with a list of ‘common’ example ingredients in each category used in many commercial products today. Through a combination of consulting CCUK
members, speaking to ingredient suppliers at UK cosmetic and personal care conferences, such as the SCS Formulate event, desktop- based technology and ingredient scouting (including the use of AI algorithm-based
ABSTRACT
A project from Cosmetics Cluster UK (CCUK) has considered the resilience, self-reliance and capacity of the UK cosmetic ingredients supply chain by studying if it is possible to manufacture, at commercial scale, a beauty product from raw materials totally or wholly sourced from production in the UK. Ahead of this month’s SCS Formulate trade show in Coventry, UK, CCUK presents the findings
software), and follow-up conversations with a number of ingredient suppliers, we were able to develop a generalised picture of ingredients that could be ‘wholly’ sourced in the UK. The definition of ‘totally’ or ‘wholly’
sourced, refers to either natural ingredients sourced from crops grown in the UK, or synthetic or semi-synthetic ingredients, where starting materials were made in the UK. For the purpose of this study, the source
of the materials used to make the starting materials for synthetic or semi-synthetic ingredients was not explored, and it would be very difficult to find such data. Sourcing of packaging or packaging materials was not included in the exercise, but could be the subject of an extended project.
November 2025 PERSONAL CARE
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