From small independents to the internationally renowned, let’s hear it for these brilliant British beauty brands.
Only Curls has been serving curly girls for the past eight years. Their most recent drop, Purple Curl is specifically designed to cut brassiness in silver and blonde hair.
£12 each onlycurls.com
Gaia’s blends are made in the English countryside using traditional methods, food-grade ingredients and pure essential oils. Used in some of the country’s most prestigious spa and resorts, we’ve been relying on the Awakening Body Wash to kickstart our mornings.
From £18 gaiaskincare.com
Tanning brand Utan’s founder Rebecca Mone has worked with beauty expert Jamie Genevieve (MUA and founder of VIEVE – another great British Beauty Brand) to create a spray-on tanning water which creates buildable glow with minimal effort. The vegan formula is anti-bacterial and also contains Scottish lavender, aloe amongst other plant extracts. No stained hands, and you can even mist it over makeup.
£18 utan.co.uk
Ameliorate means ‘to make better’ and it’s a statement the brand takes seriously. Their expert ranges – each targeting a different concern from ingrown hairs and dry patches to keratosis pilaris (chicken skin) – get the job done. Even if your skin is relatively straightforward we defy you to find a better body cream than their Illuminating Glow.
£24 ameliorate.com
Green People have something for everyone. Certified organic skin and hair care, body products, sun protection, children’s and men’s ranges, makeup – even toothpaste. All products are efficacious and ethically made. Over the past 30 years this family business has consistently innovated, winning multiple awards along the way. Their Firming Serum has recently been reformulated to offer even greater moisturisation.
Ciate London dominates on the socials. Their Brazilian Glow Bronzing Serum went viral on TikTok and Instagram and still sells out as quickly as it is restocked.
£25 ciatelondon.com
Farm Girl by Sarah Jane is all about non-invasive, ethical, natural skincare. This home-grown brand is based on the family fruit farm in Essex but you can buy the full range online, including the BHA 2% Liquid Exfoliant which gently removes build-up and debris, making skin apple-smooth.
The Bamford range from Daylesford perfectly encapsulates the Britain of the Cotswolds set. Elegant, luxurious, tasteful and incredibly desirable. The latest fragrance, Woodland Moss is a sylvan symphony of earthy patchouli and angelica with herbaceous sage, balanced out by softly floral rose. Rooted in nature, this is forest-bathing bottled.
From £25 bamford.com
The remarkable Faith in Nature join the ranks of the (certified) B-Corp. One of the most committed brands we know: we applaud their jumbo-sized refills, their zero-waste bars and their affordable price point.
Soap bar, £2.99 faithinnature.co.uk
The popularity of CBD products says a lot about the stress levels of our nation. Dreem Distillery used high-grade, broad-spectrum CBD oil to harness the full benefits of the hemp plant and blend it with a host of other therapeutic natural oils.
Into The Deep bath oil, £75 dreemdistillery.co.uk
Espa might sound French, but it was started in founder Sue Harmsworth’s kitchen back in 1992. Bringing together mind, body and spirit through the benefits of aromatherapy it has become one of the world’s leading spa and skincare brands.
Overnight Hydration Therapy, £39 espaskincare.com
Rob Calcraft and Antony Buck, founders of Ren Clean Skincare, are genuine British beauty disruptors, introducing the UK to the concept of ‘clean beauty’. Recent bestsellers include the Evercalm range, designed to calm and protect all skin types but especially including sensitive and eczema prone.
From £10 renskincare.com
Recently spotted on Dragon’s Den, Faace skincare is predicated on our hormones and our life cycles: hence Period Skin, Stressed Skin, Tired Skin, Menopause Skin and Sweaty Skin. Straightforward, uncomplicated skincare, rooted in science but designed to be used and understood by those of us who don’t have a PhD in chemistry.
From £10 wearefaace.com
Mabelle O’Rama is busy distilling emotions in her olfactive studio where her poetic fragrances are rapidly earning her cult status. The latest, Forbidden Bloom, twins frangipani and gardenia, and is a summer-soaked moment of pure joy.
From £35 mabelleorama.com
SBC freshly make their problem-solving skincare in small batches, here in the UK. For on-the-go hydration, their Hyaluronic Hydra-Mist is hard to beat. Soothing and cooling it drenches skin with moisturisers which are locked in with ultra-light glycerin.
Sacha Lord took her years of experience in the fragrance industry home to Oxfordshire during the pandemic and created Lord’s Fragrance House. Each of her blends references a different place and memory. We love Pengelli Forest, inspired by the oaky woodland in West Wales – not least for its unspeakably pretty limited-edition glass casing.
We could fill pages with the much-emulated rose gold of Charlotte Tilbury’s eponymous range. We’re obsessed with her makeup and skincare and also applaud her recent partnership with F1 Academy. Lola Lovinfosse will be on the track, racing the Charlotte Tilbury car for Rodin Motorsport and embodying both brands’ desire to “empower, inspire confidence and encourage young women to chase their dreams”.
Lotil’s competitively priced creams and lotions are genuine skin saviours for many. Their latest launch is filled with rich emollients to repair and restore dry, chapped hands.
£3.60 lotil.co.uk
Lottie London’s Super Fake Mascara remains one of the best we’ve ever tested. A completely joyful range.
£7.99 lottie.london
Thee colourful, fruity tubs of joy are joining M&S’s stellar line-up in their beauty halls. Burst Bodycare, made with 98% natural ingredients come in a choice of five fragrances, including this sweet cherry.
From £5 marksandspencer.com
No roundup of British Beauty would be complete without Penhaligon’s. Their latest, AlUla is inspired by a forbidden oasis on the incense trade route, through which spices, silks and other luxuries would make their way across the dessert. Close your eyes and inhale the heat of warmed plum, laced with spices including soft vanilla, musky patchouli, the warmth of saffron and the woody sweetness of cardamom. Alcohol may be verboten in AlUla but the potency of this heady scent brings to mind the booziness of a rich digestif, enjoyed on an unforgettable night.
From £110 penhaligons.com
Petra Strand launched Pixi London twenty years ago in her store just off Carnaby Street. This range keeps on getting better. From the original glow tonic to their latest launch which combines lip balm with sheer colour in one little chubby stick.
British-born skincare at brilliant, budget prices. There is real passion and expertise, as well as high-performance ingredients, in each bottle, jar and tube. The latest range delivers vegan collagen derived from the acacia tree combined with marine extracts to firm and smooth, while the fresh marine scent gets to work on lifting your spirits.
From £12 superfacialist.co.uk
Barry M has been giving us trend-led makeup since the early 80s. In fact, can you even call yourself British if you’ve never had one of their products in your makeup bag? Their latest nail colours provide glazed nails in a range of this season’s shades.
£4.49 barrym.com
Adam Reed is internationally recognised as one of the key players in the hair industry. Beloved by celebs and fashionistas, his own collection of fragrant hair care launched last year to universal acclaim. The award-winning Reset dry shampoo will freshen and revive while also nurturing scalp health.
Bertioli beauty have managed to capture the fresh sweet scent of the water meadows at Thyme in Southrop by combining the essential oils of botanicals including river mint, thyme and chamomile. The rural retreat invites guests to ‘take a breath’ and the applying the balm forms a ritual which enables this wherever you are. Apply to pulse points, breath and relax.
From £22 bertioli.co.uk
