The leaf on the label

How we work

Why we qualify everything

Green language is cheap to apply and hard to check, which is exactly why it spread. A leaf motif, the word natural, a colour palette in muted earth tones: none of it is a claim anyone has to stand behind, and all of it works on a shopper in a hurry. Consumer protection law takes a different view. An environmental claim must be accurate, capable of substantiation, and must not omit information that a customer needs in order to understand it.

In practice that means admitting products are mixtures. The recycled bottle with the unrecyclable pump, the organic cotton sewn with synthetic thread, the compostable wrapper that only composts industrially. Saying which part a claim covers makes our product pages longer and less satisfying to read than a competitor's single reassuring adjective. It is also the only version that lets you make an actual comparison.

The second rule is stricter and less negotiable. A cosmetic that is presented as treating, curing or preventing a condition is not a cosmetic in law — it is a medicinal product, and selling one without authorisation from the MHRA is an offence. So nothing here treats anything. We will describe what is in a product and what it is for, and when someone asks whether it will fix a skin condition, the honest answer sends them to a pharmacist rather than to our checkout.