At Irene Forte Skincare, we believe beauty is more than skin deep. Our company’s existence is part of a much wider system of people, nature and organisations, and we are committed to ensuring that our processes and products are as sustainable and ethical as possible at every stage of the cycle.

Certified B Corporation®

In recognition of our ethical standards, we're a Certified B Corporation®. B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. 

Positive Luxury Accreditation

We have also been awarded the Butterfly Trust mark by Positive Luxury for our sustainable excellence. The Butterfly Mark identifies luxury brands that meet the highest standards of verified innovation and social and environmental performance – offering transparency at the point of sale and equipping people to make more informed purchasing decisions. 

Vegan & Upcycled Ingredients

We recognise our responsibility towards sustaining our local community. Where ingredients cannot come from our organic farm in Sicily, they come from neighbouring areas in Sicily or from reputable farmers in the Trentino region.

We ensure that our ingredients come from crops that are not over-farmed or treated with harmful pesticides. We have also integrated zero-waste upcycled ingredients, made from nutrient-rich plant-based leftovers. Our insistence on plant-based sources means all of our ingredients are Vegan. The properties of plants and fruits are incredible, so we strive to understand and protect nature rather than harm it in any way.

We are strongly opposed to harmful ingredients, such as mineral oil and plastic microbeads. Our philosophy is to only use what is necessary, and to use naturally derived alternatives to synthetic colours and preservatives, and harsh surfactants.

Refillable & Green Packaging

The cosmetic industry is the biggest user of single-use plastic. 'Zero Waste' reported that more than 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, most of which are not recyclable.

We are doing what we can to minimise our contribution to the crisis by maximising our use of sustainable packaging. Our boxes are made out of paper with 100% recycled fibres and we only use vegetable-based inks. Our inner boxes are also 100% recycled fibres with a watercolour painting of our organic farm painted by an artist based in the North of Italy. Our spatulas have been created by hand by a carpenter based in Puglia using sustainable Italian olive wood. Our bottles and jars are recyclable glass, where up to 31% of each glass product is made from PIR (Post Industrial Recycled) material. Many are refillable with a replaceable inner component. The refill component can be recycled once used through our recycling programme in partnership with First Mile (a QR Code on the box explains next steps). First Mile recycles the refill shredding it into flakes, which are then converted into plastic pellets to make new plastic products for things such as car parts and pipes, giving it a second life. For the non-refillable products, the lids and pumps can also be recycled via the First Mile programme.

Discover more about our recycling scheme here. 

Contributing to the Wider Community

By staying true to our Italian roots, we keep all aspects of our production in Italy.

Just as we support local farmers, we also support local artisans who create our display materials, tools and special gift packaging.

Sicilian ceramics are featured in all our luxury spas, where we use ceramic trays, inhalation bowls and foot bowls, as well as traditional Sicilian painted tiles. In our retail stores, we use ceramic cubes decorated by hand with Sicilian designs to display our products. These ceramics are all created by Toni Gurreri in Sciacca, a coastal town in Sicily that's a 15-minute drive from our organic farm.

We use hand-plaited Sicilian 'coffe' as gift packaging, made from sustainable palm wood fibres and recycled fabrics. Sicilian hand-made bells start and end our spa treatments, and we also use volcanic stones gathered from Sicily's Mount Etna in many of our treatments.

Our new box liners have been painted by a retired artist based in Northern Italy, while our spatulas are made by a carpenter based in Puglia using Italian olive wood.

We have a charity partnership with The Lady Garden Foundation , which aims to raise funds to extend and improve gynaecological health; and arm women and girls with the knowledge they need to break down the taboos that surround the topic. £1.50 for every Pomegranate Hand Cream sold globally is donated to the charity.

As a next step, we are working on creating a 'social farm' at Verdura that will allow children with autism and older people to engage with the farm and enjoy its natural environment.

Carbon Footprint Standard Accreditation

We've calculated the Carbon Footprint of our operations. As a result, we're verified by the Carbon Footprint Standard Accreditation. We've started carbon offsetting with Tree Planting at our organic farm in Sicily, and are working to be carbon neutral by 2030.