Liz Earle

Is Liz Earle an ethical brand?

Liz Earle is a skincare and beauty brand owned by conglomerate Walgreens Boots Alliance. It receives a poor Good Shopping Guide score on our Ethical Skincare Ratings Table. Liz Earle has many issues to address and should change its business activities in order to reach our ethical benchmark and achieve Ethical Accreditation. Much of Liz Earle’s poor ethical business practices come as a result of being owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, an infamous global corporation.

Is Liz Earle Cruelty-Free? 

Liz Earle is not entirely Cruelty-Free. Though Liz Earle states that it is Leaping Bunny Approved and that none of its products is sold in-store in mainland China, parent brand, Walgreens Boots Alliance has slightly vague a statement on animal testing. The company ascertains that,

 “[n]o animal testing is undertaken by Walgreens Boots Alliance… [f]or our own product brands”,

and that the company does not,

“conduct animal testing on products, or on ingredients used in these products.”

However, Walgreens Boots Alliance does not vouch for the other brands that it stocks products from or owns, stating that,

“[u]ntil satisfactory replacements are available and all regulatory authorities stop requiring animal tests, we recognize that other companies may continue to carry out some animal testing in order to meet certain legislative and regulatory requirements and to protect the health of consumers. As a result, suppliers of ingredients, components and finished goods used in Walgreens Boots Alliance may have to or continue to carry out tests on animals.”

Therefore, consumers concerned about Animal Welfare might want to steer clear of Liz Earle, and the policies of its parent company suggest that some products have indeed been tested on animals.

The Good Shopping Guide considers the activity of the parent corporation when researching the Animal Welfare Policies of individual brands, as we believe consumers should be made aware of this information. If parent corporations own a majority or large shares of a brand, then it can be assumed that the parent corporation will be making a lot of money in sales from the brands it owns. For this reason, The Good Shopping Guide takes the activity of the parent corporation into account when considering a brand’s ethics.

We leave it up to consumer discretion whether or not you choose to buy from individual brands that do not test on animals, but their parent companies do. We believe it is important that consumers are as informed as possible about the products they buy.

Is Liz Earle vegan? 

Liz Earle products are not certified-Vegan and some products contain beeswax and Manuka honey. Also, as a non-Cruelty-Free brand, Liz Earle’s products are not vegan.

Is Walgreens Boots Alliance a good company? Is Walgreens Boots Alliance an ethical corporation?

Unfortunately, the criticisms and controversies of Walgreens Boots Alliance are many.

For example, Walgreens Boots Alliance makes Political Donations, which has resulted in a bottom rating in this category. Any pharmaceutical or drug-related company that has political sway can greatly influence government policy, sometimes against the best interests of public health.

Walgreens Boots Alliance and the opioid epidemic in the US

According to one federal court case, Walgreens Boots Alliance was one of the major pharmaceutical companies charged with fueling the US opioid epidemic. The court filing in May 2020 reported that pharmacies including Walgreens were as complicit in continuing the crisis as the manufacturers of the addictive drugs. According to the complaint lodged in federal court, these retailers sold millions of pills in small communities and incentivised selling large amounts of opioids by providing bonuses for pharmacists who filled out a lot of prescriptions. Walgreens was also accused of collaborating directly with drug manufacturers to promote opioids as safe and effective.

Is Liz Earle a sustainable brand?

The Environmental Report supplied by Walgreen Boots Alliance, the parent company of Liz Earle, is rated as satisfactory by The Good Shopping Guide, and therefore receives a high score for this research criterion.

In this report, Walgreens Boots Alliance tracks where its carbon emissions are coming from (e.g. from transport, manufacturing, heat, and light, etc) and provides evidence of steadily reducing carbon emissions.

How can Liz Earle improve its ethical rating?

The Good Shopping Guide assesses Liz Earle’s score using 15 ethical criteria. For Liz Earle to improve its score, it must implement several unethical business practices, such as Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Irresponsible Marketing of opioids and its vague Animal Welfare policies and statement. Then, Liz Earle, might one day attain The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation.