British beauty
The business of BRITISH BEAUTY
Ellen Cummings examines the changing commercial landscape for British beauty brands and what it means for the salons and spas working with them
British beauty remains a significant international business. The UK exported £4.2 billion of beauty and personal care products in 2025, equivalent to 1.25% of all UK goods exports, according to the British Beauty
Council’s Value of Beauty 2026 report. However, behind that headline figure is a more complicated trading environment shaped by Brexit, regulatory change and tariffs.
For salons and spas, these changes can affect everything from stock availability and pricing to training, technical support and the brands available to partner with.
Two markets instead of one
The EU remains central to British beauty: around 70% of UK beauty and personal care exports went to the EU Single Market in 2025. Although the regulatory foundations in Great Britain and the EU remain similar, businesses serving both must now comply in each territory.
In general, this means a Responsible Person established in both markets and separate product notifications in the UK and EU. Brands must also monitor ingredient restrictions and labelling requirements as the two systems develop independently.
“The cost of compliance is usually regarded as one of the key considerations when a company is looking to export to a different country,” says Nico Shaw Núñez, director of regulation and sustainability at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA).
For smaller businesses, appointing an EU Responsible Person, adapting labels, managing customs and VAT, and registering for national packaging schemes can place a disproportionate burden on limited teams.
Evolve Organic Beauty founder and owner Laura Rudoe says Brexit has changed how the Hertfordshire skincare manufacturer operates in Europe. “We used to deal with individual partners across Europe, and now we work mostly with beauty distributors who can handle the paperwork,” she explains. “That was a practical decision rather than a strategic one, but it has changed the shape of our business there.”
Customs processes have also made lead times less predictable, requiring Evolve to plan further ahead for internationally sourced ingredients.
CACI, which manufactures its systems in the UK and supplies businesses internationally, has encountered similar issues. Managing director Dean Nathanson identifies additional paperwork, EU VAT and import tax implications, regulatory certification and the need for an EU-based Responsible Person among the most significant post-Brexit changes. The company now employs a team specifically to manage the additional export processes.
Packaging moves up the agenda
Environmental regulation is adding another layer. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation began applying generally in August 2026, although many of its requirements will be introduced in stages. For cosmetics businesses, relevant areas include packaging conformity documentation, recyclability, recycled content, labelling and restrictions on certain formats or substances.
Beauty packaging presents particular challenges. Small formats may not suit kerbside recycling, while pumps, compacts and multi-material components can be difficult to separate. Recycled material must also meet the safety requirements needed to protect the formula.
In the UK, extended producer responsibility has introduced reporting and waste-management fees. Charges are increasingly being linked to recyclability, so harder-to-recycle packaging may cost businesses more.
The objectives may be widely supported, but Shaw Núñez says brands face challenging implementation as they prepare documentation and potentially rethink components without compromising stability, hygiene or dosing.
For independent manufacturers, several reforms arriving together can be as difficult as any single requirement. Rudoe says, “For a large group all of that is absorbed by a regulatory affairs department. For a brand our size it lands on a small team who are also trying to run the business.”
Tariffs reshape export decisions
Beyond Europe, the UK–India trade agreement, which entered into force in July 2026, will remove tariffs on most cosmetics and personal care products over the next 10 years, potentially making the market more accessible.
The US, however, has become more expensive. Most UK cosmetics entering the country currently face an additional 10% tariff, while aluminium-based packaging can attract further duties. Although paid by the importer, the cost can affect negotiations over prices and margins.
The British Beauty Council reports that UK beauty exports to the US were 19% lower in the fourth quarter of 2025 than in the first. Its chief executive officer and executive director, Millie Kendall OBE, says brands have responded in different ways.
“There is a mixed bag of approaches. Some brands have doubled down in their home market, while others have moved manufacturing or distribution,” she says. “Whichever way they have tackled it – and some haven’t been as impacted as others – it is still an issue with very little certainty, and it makes your ability to forecast almost impossible.”
Ishga co-founder and director Leon Trayling says tariff concerns have made some prospective US spa partners nervous. The Hebridean skincare brand would consider reducing wholesale costs and margins to protect the commercial viability of long-term partnerships.
Evolve has taken a different approach, establishing packaging and fulfilment infrastructure in the US as its presence there has grown. These decisions require investment, however, and smaller businesses may be less willing to test an unfamiliar market when the cost of entry is high.
The realities of making in Britain
British manufacturing does not remove exposure to international disruption. Skincare brands rely on ingredients and packaging from different countries, while equipment manufacturers may need specialist electronics that are not produced domestically.
The word “British” can also describe different aspects of a business. A brand may be founded or owned in Britain without manufacturing here, while a product formulated in the UK may be produced elsewhere. For customs purposes, origin is governed by the specific rules in each trade agreement rather than where the brand is headquartered or the product dispatched.
Nevertheless, manufacturing domestically can offer meaningful operational advantages. Evolve develops, blends and fills its products in one Hertfordshire location. Ishga carries out its research, development, production and fulfilment on the Isle of Lewis, allowing seaweed to be harvested and taken to its laboratory for extraction on the same day. CACI undertakes its research, development and manufacturing in Britain, although some specialist electrical components are sourced internationally.
Keeping these processes close can improve control over traceability, production volumes, quality and development. It can also support specialist employment: Evolve employs 35 people, mostly women and many locally, while Ishga links international growth to further jobs in the Outer Hebrides.
However, local production should not automatically be assumed to be cheaper or more sustainable. Energy use, materials, production efficiency, packaging and transport all contribute to a product’s footprint. Disruption to an internationally sourced ingredient or component can still affect a British factory.
“You have to look at the whole picture: ingredients, packaging, manufacturing, transport and waste,” says Rudoe. “A modern beauty product can have an international supply chain, and that doesn’t change where the brand is created, owned or made.”
What does this mean for salons and spas?
For professional customers, the clearest benefit may be access rather than provenance. Shorter routes can support stock replenishment, while UK-based training and account teams may be easier to reach. For equipment, prompt servicing, spare parts and loan systems can be crucial.
Yet the quality of the relationship matters more than the supplier’s postcode. Kendall advises salons and spas to look at the wider commercial offer: “Any business looking to buy a beauty brand should look at support packages, training and education, marketing materials and delivery timescales.”
The Spa at South Lodge in West Sussex has experienced both sides through its collaboration with British skincare brand Pelegrims. The businesses developed a vinotherapy concept incorporating material from the hotel’s vineyard, including leaves gathered during seasonal pruning and vine sap.
Spa manager Ian Mackie says relative proximity made meeting, sharing ideas and developing treatments easier, although it was not the reason for choosing the brand. The greater advantage was accessibility. “We can pick up the phone, share an idea and speak directly with the people who are actually making decisions,” he says.
The collaboration has rooted treatments in the landscape outside the spa and given therapists first-hand knowledge of the ingredients. However, South Lodge must work harder to communicate the story because a smaller brand may lack instant recognition.
South Lodge also looked beyond distance when assessing sustainability, considering sourcing, manufacturing, packaging and how vineyard materials that might otherwise be discarded were used. As Mackie says, “Local production can be beneficial, but it’s one factor among many.”
That balance should guide other professional businesses. Buying from a British supplier may strengthen communication, support local skills and create a more distinctive treatment story, but it should not override efficacy, safety, reliability or commercial value.
“The products have to work, the treatments have to deliver results, therapists need to believe in them and the partnership has to work commercially and operationally,” says Mackie. “If all of those things are in place, local provenance becomes a really powerful way of adding authenticity and creating a stronger connection with guests.”
Ultimately, the value of British beauty lies not in the label alone, but in what proximity can enable: responsive support, closer collaboration and more distinctive experiences. Against a backdrop of regulatory change and uncertain global trade, strong domestic partnerships can offer greater resilience – provided performance and commercial viability remain the priority.