The Body Shop Isn't 100% Vegan Anymore

The Body Shop is reportedly no longer 100 percent vegan.

Less than two years after becoming the first global beauty brand to exclusively stock vegan-certified products, the British company has said that this is no longer the case.

There has been no official update or statement, but The Body Shop said it has updated its descriptions and marketing. Nicole Whittle, the vegan content creator behind Vegan Beauty Girl, broke the story on her blog after receiving a direct message. She contacted the company directly, and a spokesperson said:

“We can confirm that 100 percent of our product formulas are vegetarian, and the majority are also vegan. However, we can no longer claim to be 100 percent vegan due to the introduction of a few specific product ranges. Because of this, we’ve updated our communications and no longer advertise ourselves as 100 percent vegan on our website or in our stores. Please rest assured that any product labelled as vegan on our packaging has been thoroughly checked and is completely 100 percent vegan. We take this verification process very seriously to ensure transparency and trust in what we offer.”

The Body Shop’s customer service team separately told Whittle that its non-vegan products were the Spa of the World Kukui Body Cream, which lists beeswax as an ingredient, and the hemp-based Hand Protector Cream. The hand cream is currently still listed alongside a large product picture featuring the word “vegan” on the website.

Plant Based News (PBN) has reached out to The Body Shop for more information.

‘An erosion of trust’

Photo shows a bath bomb-type product alongside soap, lavender, and a candle on the edge of a bath — Adobe Stock The Body Shop previously used animal ingredients such as beeswax, honey, shellac, and lanolin

According to an update on The Vegan Society’s website, The Body Shop sent a statement to the charity in August 2025 to announce the return of non-vegan ingredients – beeswax and honey, specifically – in a “carefully considered” selection of products, “directly in response to our consumers’ voices.”

The Body Shop does not list the new Spa of the World body cream as vegan; however, customers must read the full ingredients to find beeswax. Whittle noted that the company shouted its all-vegan milestone “from the rooftops,” but has not communicated its renewed use of animal ingredients effectively. She described the rollback as “disrespectful and dangerous,” and an “erosion of trust.”

The Body Shop went into administration in February of 2024, less than one month after announcing its 100 percent vegan milestone. Eighty-two stores closed permanently, but cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania’s investment firm Auréa acquired the brand roughly six months later, preserving the remaining 113 locations.