Beauty news: Emma Lewisham achieves the highest B Corp score of any luxury skincare brand

Emma Lewisham, a brand that from the get go, was striving to bring about real change in the beauty and business landscape on so many levels, has set a new industry benchmark with a record-breaking B Corp score that currently positions it as the highest-rated luxury skincare company globally in the Personal Care Products – Wholesale/Retail category of B Corp.
Undoubtably huge news that was first announced a few days ago on World Sustainability Day, it’s yet another groundbreaking achievement from a brand that continues to redefine what's possible in luxury skincare, while also being extremely efficacious and an absolute joy to use.
"This achievement represents promising progress, but our work is ongoing,” says Emma Lewisham, Co-Founder and Creative Director (above). ”I believe it always will be as we continue to push boundaries, innovating through both skin science and sustainability, keeping this at the heart of everything we do.”
 "We very much see sustainability as a way of being, not a destination. At Emma Lewisham, we want to see an even higher adoption of refills and more material returned to be kept in circulation, which in turn reduces carbon emissions. From inception, I've maintained that transforming an industry requires exceptional products first and foremost. We have never asked customers to compromise quality, efficacy, or luxury for sustainability—and this approach has driven our industry-leading refillable sales while educating consumers on the vital role of circularity in reducing waste and carbon impact."  

Where it began: reframing and elevating the refill
The brand's approach to sustainability began with an important realisation. In 2016, Emma Lewisham uncovered a concerning truth: the beauty industry generates approximately 100 billion units of waste annually, with packaging alone responsible for 70% of the sector's carbon footprint. Drawing from circular design principles learned at a global Japanese technology company she previously worked for, and the environmental values instilled by her New Zealand upbringing, Emma saw an opportunity to create meaningful change globally.
 “The traditional model simply didn’t make sense,” she explains, “and I could see that genuine circularity—not just surface-level changes—was the only real solution. No one was talking about true circularity then, but we knew we weren't just going to participate in the problem; we were going to take complete ownership for our decisions and their impact.” 
Emma continues: “What emerged became the foundational mission embedded in Emma Lewisham's DNA from day one—taking true ownership and solving problems at their source—which saw us pioneering our refillable model and global Beauty Circle program which represent a complete reimagining of how luxury beauty operates and its responsibility to the planet."   
Today, the brand celebrates in the vicinity of 200,000 refills sold—proving consumers will choose sustainability when quality isn't compromised. For many, the transition to refillable packaging has dramatically changed the perception of what luxury means in today’s world. As Dior’s Environmental & Scientific Communications Director Edouard Mauvais-Jarvis once said: “Luxury is also about quality, craftsmanship, and savoir-faire—making qualitative beautiful objects made to last and that can be refilled."

The stats
Emma Lewisham's new B Corp score of 121—a significant increase from its previous score of 90—demonstrates substantial progress across all areas of impact. The improvements span governance, workers, community, environment, and customers, and the new score reflects the immense progress the brand has made since it was first certified by B Corp in 2022. Building on an already impressive score, the core value of continuous improvement is integrated across the wider business: even more reason to celebrate – and reach for – the line-up from this incredible Aotearoa-born, global success story.

 To explore the brand’s offering for yourself and read more about Emma Lewisham’s new 2025-2027 Sustainability Strategy, head here: www.emmalewisham.com/sustainability