30 SUSTAINABILITY


do not contain significant amounts of medium- chain fatty acids, such as caprylic and capric acids, and primarily consist of longer-chain acids, such as oleic and linoleic acid, which have emollient and thickening properties.


The changing landscape As previously discussed, the UK offers alternatives in several ingredient function categories. Table 2 gives examples of companies, ingredients, and ingredient functions, but the list is by no means exhaustive.


The UK has plenty of options for natural


extracts and seed oils. However, pressure for agricultural space and competing demands, combined with the cyclical nature of crop production and climate change/volatility, may be a challenge in upscaling crop-derived cosmetic and personal care ingredient production in the UK. While many companies in the UK do or


attempt to source oils, natural extracts, and waxes locally, it is difficult in many cases, especially with large orders, for suppliers and distributors to guarantee a UK supply. On a more positive note, many of the oils


and extracts are by-products or upcycled from the food and beverage industry, and many alternative sources that have not been previously grown and harvested in significant amounts are being explored—seaweed, with the UK coastline providing an abundant source with huge potential.


100% and ‘nearly’ totally made in the UK cosmetics There are some examples of companies selling finished products made and sourced entirely in the UK, but they tend to be balms and oils. One such company is Boo Cottage Botanicals, which sells borage and calendula balm with all of the ingredients grown and produced in the UK - borage seed oil, rapeseed oil, camelina seed oil, beeswax, chamomile flower extract, calendula flower extract. They also sell body oil, face oil, and a bath soak product, with all ingredients from the UK. Another company is Hedgewild, which


produces skin balm from 100% British-grown ingredients. Both companies are currently small-scale, with only products based around oils and waxes as 100% British. Table 2 reinforces the point that the UK has a wide variety of seed oils and natural extracts that can be used in oil or wax-based formulations. A company that ‘nearly’ makes the 100%


claim with an impressive 97.5% UK-derived ingredients is Natrl, with its vegan hand cream. Ingredients sourced from the UK include harlequin flax seed mucilage (gel) from The Linseed Farm in East Sussex; sunflower oil from Cornwall; cold-pressed rapeseed oil from Chiltern Cold Pressed in Tring; borage oil from Suffolk; white poppy seed oil from Scotland; camelina oil from East Anglia; and blackcurrant seed oil. The cream’s other ingredients, including oils, natural extracts, emulsifiers, and preservatives, are from a non-UK source. None of its other products claim such a high percentage of UK-sourced ingredients, however,


PERSONAL CARE November 2025


the company is committed to sourcing locally where possible.


Conclusion From the research carried out in this project, it appears that the likelihood of producing a mass market beauty product with 100% UK-sourced and produced ingredients is significantly limited, especially at large scale and with aqueous-based formulations. This is largely due to the lack of UK-sourced and manufactured preservatives, emulsifiers, and other fundamental formulation aids to create more sophisticated and functional products and sufficient quantities of supply in general. However, small scale ‘cottage’ industry level manufacture is possible. The UK has always had a culture of


exploration and invention and it has significant expertise in adding value to raw materials through manufacturing processing to create superior functionality. In many aspects, it is leading the way in developing ‘homegrown’ cosmetic and personal care ingredients that have ‘active’ skin and hair health benefits, especially from plant sources. Conversely, with many of the more


traditional ‘workhorse’ ingredients needed for stable, user-friendly, and appealing products, there are gaps within the formulator’s arsenal for UK-grown/manufactured chemicals. Many of the UK gaps appear within the


areas of preservatives (specific and standalone), emulsifiers, fragrances, and surfactants, although this gap is starting to close, with new UK start-ups and companies pioneering alternative moisturisers and emollients, new sources for emulsifiers, and new bio-based surfactants, including several who are members of CCUK. While this is positive news, product


formulators continue to require a large selection of potential ingredients to solve product performance, formulation and production challenges, which are currently unavailable from a ‘purely’ UK source. As previously mentioned, there is a consumer trend towards simplicity,2


with


potential associated advantages to cosmetic manufacturers and the UK produced ingredients. However, even with this trend in mind, a ‘simple’ or ‘minimalist’ cosmetic or personal care product can have upwards of 10 ingredients or more. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, such as The Ordinary facial oils, which only contain one ingredient. Manufacturers must always perform a ‘balancing’ act between simplicity and cost- effective performance. From a traditional food crop-sourced


perspective, the UK will likely see high and ever- increasing competing demands, with food and nutrition always the priority sector, although increasingly land is becoming earmarked for solar panel farms to produce energy. With the low availability of unused productive land in such a small island, there will continue to be barriers to large-scale production of homegrown ingredients, especially those used at high levels within cosmetic and personal care products, unless this is understood on a strategic level and may need to be subject to incentives from government. However, with new research and innovations


in using ‘biorefinery’ and upcycling approaches, which maximise value and minimise waste, the use of land for non-food crops and exploration of new marine habitats, coupled with the resurgence of old feedstocks, such as lanolin from British wool, there is undoubtedly potential.


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