Are Bath and Body Works Clean and Sustainable?

Bath and Body Works is an extremely well-known brand with a broad line of products, from body care, hand soaps and scents, sanitizers, and possibly their most popular candle scent.

The company operates over 1,900 locations and 6.4 million Instagram followers as of the moment of writing. This indicates how popular it is. It's possible to find the Bath and Body Works store in virtually every shopping mall across North America.

What do they score on the basis of their the use of sustainable ingredients and clean packaging? We rated the brand according to these three pillars which we believe to be responsible brands.

Ingredients

Bath and Body Works is not transparent about its ingredients. It's impossible to find ingredient lists online for products on Bath and Body Works' website.

In our research, we found that the brand leaves plenty to be desired in the area of ingredients. The majority of their products contain at least one ingredient that we recommend avoiding.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it will provide some suggestions of possible ingredients that could be problematic in Bath & Body Works products.

Fragrance

Bath and Body Works uses chemical fragrances in nearly all of their products. Read our complete post to learn the reasons we do not suggest products that contain chemical fragrance. Artificial fragrances are also present in candles.

Methylisothiazolinone

This preservative is present in many Bath and body items. It is connected to allergy to inhalation toxicity and even neurotoxicity.

SLS/SLES

SLES has been linked with cancer and SLS causes irritation to the skin. You'll find it in several Bath & Body Works washes and bath products.

Parabens

These preservatives are frequently employed in personal health products. They're possible endocrine disruptors and could be substituted by less harsh preservatives that are widely employed in other products that are available. There are parabens in numerous brands' products.

Sustainability

Most (xxx products) are sold in single-use plastic containers. The company does not offer any recycling, refill, or return programs. Examples include bath bombs that are wrapped in plastic shrink wrap single-use - a more sustainable alternative would be selling them package-free such as Lush.

Their candles are the only example of a reusable product that we could locate. They come in glass containers that can be reused or recycled , if properly cleaned. Because of this, the brand gets an F-grade on sustainability.

Animal Rights

Cruelty-Free

Bath and Body Works is not a cruelty-free brand. The brand is distributed in China, where laws dictate that the use of animals in finished products is possible. Therefore, the brand cannot be considered cruelty-free.

Vegan

Bath and Body Works is not vegan-friendly. There is no transparency in their ingredients, which makes it difficult to determine the products that are vegan. They're given a failing grade because they do not prioritize vegan ingredients.