Elizabeth Arden

How ethical is Elizabeth Arden?

Elizabeth Arden, a make up brand owned by MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. is given a low ethical rating by The Good Shopping Guide. Unfortunately, this brand receives a low Good Shopping Guide ethical score in our Ethical Make Up Ratings Table and has therefore not yet met our minimum benchmark. This brand has several areas to improve upon before it would likely qualify for our Ethical Accreditation.

About Elizabeth Arden

Elizabeth Arden, a Canadian-American entrepreneur, established what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc. and established a cosmetics industry powerhouse in the country. At the height of her career, she was one of the richest women in the world and the only proprietor of the company. The business became a fully owned subsidiary of Revlon, Inc. as of September 7, 2016. Revlon, in turn, is owned by Ronald Perelman, a multi-billionaire investor and his holding corporation, MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated.

In what areas does Elizabeth Arden perform poorly?

Elizabeth Arden receives such a low score from The Good Shopping Guide as it does not score well in very many of our research criteria, which investigates a company’s commitment to ethical treatment of the Environment, Animals and People.

Elizabeth Arden is not cruelty-free and conducts animal testing when this is required by law (such as in countries like mainland China, where animal testing is mandatory for products sold in shops). Elizabeth Arden therefore receives a low Good Shopping Guide score for our Animal Welfare research criterion.

Since MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. is a private equity firm, we would expect Elizabeth Arden to provide and publish its own sustainability goals or commitments. Although Elizabeth Arden does have a sustainability page on its website, this falls short for a brand of this size, as it contains no evidence of either progress or targets. Neither does Elizabeth Arden stock any products that are certified organic.

As a result, the brand receives a bottom rating in the Organic and Environmental Report criteria.

In what areas does Elizabeth Arden perform well?

To its credit, we can find no evidence of Elizabeth Arden committing any instances of Irresponsible Marketing, or investing in Armaments or Nuclear Power industries.

How can the Elizabeth Arden brand improve its ethical rating? 

The Good Shopping Guide’s score results from 15 ethical criteria in relation to Elizabeth Arden. To reach our ethical benchmark and qualify for our Ethical Accreditation, Elizabeth Arden has several issues to deal with; the brand must consider making a bigger commitment to the Environment and working towards measurable environmental targets.