"Ethical" skin and hair brands that sold to big beauty And what to use instead → Sellout: Medik8 · Now owned by: L'Oréal Went B Corp in 2024, then sold control to L'Oréal, which faces 11,000 cancer claims over its relaxers. Switch to: Evolve Organic Beauty · Founder owned. Handmade in Hertfordshire by the founder who still owns it. Certified for living wages and living hours. Sellout: The Ordinary · Now owned by: Estée Lauder Built on transparency and low prices. Estée Lauder swallowed it whole, then paid $210 million over claims it misled investors. Switch to: Ziaja · Still family owned. Founded 1989 in Gdańsk by two pharmacists, still family owned. Simple actives at chemist prices. Sellout: Youth to the People · Now owned by: L'Oréal Sold as the clean answer to legacy beauty. L'Oréal bought it in 2021, exactly what its customers were avoiding. Switch to: UpCircle · Founder run. Started by two siblings who noticed cafés binning coffee grounds. Its serums are built from that waste. Sellout: SheaMoisture · Now owned by: Unilever Built on a shea trade the founder's grandmother ran. Unilever renamed its skin-lightening cream after backlash, then kept selling it. Switch to: Alaffia · Founder owned again. Its founder lost control to investors, walked out over how the Togolese women making his products were treated, and bought it back in 2025. Sellout: Burt's Bees · Now owned by: Clorox A beekeeper's beeswax brand from Maine. Clorox, the bleach company, bought it and was later fined for greenwashing. Switch to: Fushi · Founder owned. Hand-blends fresh pressed organic oils in London, with only its two founders in control. You are rarely told. Ethical brands get bought quietly. Nothing on the bottle changes, so most people never find out. L'Oréal alone owns 40 brands. L'Oréal says its products are safe and that the hair relaxer claims have no legal merit. Support ethical companies. Use the Conscious Spend app to know who owns what you buy and how ethical any company is. 🔗 in bio - @conscious.app