As a purpose-led brand, we've committed to supporting people from the very beginning.
When Lauren was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, her sister, Sarah, became her stem cell donor and saved Lauren's life.
As Lauren recovered, Sarah struggled to find natural yet effective products to soothe and revitalise Lauren's cancer ravaged skin.
So she decided to develop her own formulas and, with this act of sisterly love, skincare By Sarah was born.
We know from personal experience that stressed and sensitive skin needs a different approach. That’s why we’ve spent years developing our formulas to find the perfect balance between science and nature, combining personal experience with professional expertise.
Finding alternatives to the latest skin care ‘revolutionary’ ingredients that don’t cause any upset or unwanted side effects. We know that true transformation is a highly personal and individual journey. So we don’t make false promises. The only promise we do make is that all our products will help restore your skin to look and feel its best.
As part of the B Corp community, we are paving the way for a new way of doing things in the beauty industry which is hugely exciting. From our endlessly recyclable glass bottles and minimal packaging, to our commitment to exceptional customer service, we have shown that we go above and beyond to create the best possible experience of our award-winning, proven natural skincare formulations.
We hope you enjoy reading more about what we’ve been working on at By Sarah.
With best wishes,
Sarah & Lauren, Sisters & Co-Founders
Our mission
When we started our business in 2018, it was just the two of us.
But By Sarah is no longer just Lauren and Sarah.
Today, we have thousands of trusted customers who willingly share their stories, support one another and exchange advice and tips.
To have our customers get in touch to tell us about their transformations, recommend our products to others and let us know what they’re thinking is the highest form of praise, validation and motivation we could ask for.
Other than our products, the most important thing to us is our community.
We are proud to be part of a community of leaders driving positive change both within and outside our movement. The rigorous B Corp standards and certification process measures our impact as a business on people and planet through everything we do, and helps us to keep improving.
It’s the gold standard in sustainability; independent validation that a business meets high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving, to supply chain practices and input materials.
A year in review
We found ways to support our community, near and far.
In March 2023, Lauren was a guest speaker at Natural & Organic Products Europe on the topic of "Meeting the green consumer challenge", alongside Millie Kendall O.B.E., CEO of the British Beauty Council, Anabel Kindersley, Co-Owner & Co-Chair of Neal's Yard Remedies, Jessi Baker, Founder & CEO of Provenance and Paige Tracey, BDM at the Soil Association.
In June, we partnered with the UK charity, Yes to Life, gifting skincare for their wellness boxes, going to people undergoing cancer treatment.
In July, we partnered with Oxford University Crankstart Internship programme, supporting interns from disadvantaged backgrounds to work in our business over the summer.
The summer also saw us join Buy Women Built, a collective of female founders supporting each other and championing female-founded businesses.
We sponsored the podcasts of two members of community, Em Campbell (Limitless podcast) and Sophie Elwes (A Life Less Ordinary podcast) to help them reach their goals of producing more inspiring content to help others on their journey - through cancer, or just life.
We were awarded a Runner Up in The Escape 100 by Escape the City. This was a proud achievement as we came in at #159 out of 14,653 nominated organisations! There was a rigorous selection process where we were assessed against 6 criteria: Impact, People, Mission, Planet, Innovation and B-Corp, and we scored most highly in the People category which makes us very happy.
When September came, we supported our charity partners by donating products to In Kind Direct, who send essential toiletries to people in need, and the blood cancer charity, Cure Leukaemia, who support clinical trial nurses in treating leukaemia. Here's Mia with one of our products to add a little bit of luxury to her day and instant relief to hard-working hands.
In January 2024, we launched our new look for By Sarah - after months of work behind the scenes supporting diverse and inclusive teams, plus other female founders wherever we could, like our photo shoots.
In February 2024, we received the Feefo Platinum Service Award for exceptional customer service. We are so proud to have won this prestigious award and be recognised by Feefo for consistently delivering excellent customer service.
Going above and beyond is one of our key values, so to have this recognition means a lot to us - our hard work is paying off and we are keeping our customers very happy. It’s all the more special because every review is verified, so it’s real feedback from real customers (not bots).
Benchmarking progress
- Set out to offer natural skincare that is kind to people and planet. Achieved with skincare being Dermatologically Approved for sensitive skin and launched our first Clinical Trials for Maven Daily Moisturiser and Miracle Eye Cream.
- Set out to inspire greater transparency and education in skincare. Achieved with skincare video tutorials with our co-founder, Sarah, and inviting more of our community to share their skincare stories.
- Set out to support our community near and far. Achieved by donating products to In Kind Direct, Cure Leukaemia, Yes to Life, and Charitatt in Slovakia.
- Set out to contribute to collective action in the B Corp community. Achieved by Lauren speaking at NOPEX and educating on B Corp at other events throughout the year.
- Set out to treat all workers with kindness and fairness. Achieved by maintaining Living Wage employer status and paying people fairly.
Our community
Our community is at the heart of everything we do.
We understand the emotional impact of stressed, sensitive skin like no one else does. It's why we go above and beyond to support our customers at every opportunity.
🙌 We personally respond to every email and message with empathy and understanding. You are not treated as a generic customer, put in a long queue or answered by a chatbot.
🙌 We offer personalised advice whether you're looking to try our skincare or not. You are not pressured into buying anything at all and are free to share what's really troubling you.
🙌 We only formulate skincare for stressed, sensitive skin, free from irritants and marketing BS. You will not experience buyer's remorse or a crowded bathroom cupboard of half-used products.
Both of our founders take the time to ensure every email, social media message, or comment is thoughtfully replied to - sharing their passion, expertise and empathy at every opportunity.
Supporting skin health
Natural, soothing and restorative. This is our rule for everything we make.
We know from personal experience that stressed and sensitive skin needs a different approach. That’s why we’ve spent years developing our formulas to find the perfect balance between science and nature, combining personal experience with professional expertise. Finding alternatives to the latest skin care ‘revolutionary’ ingredients that don’t cause any upset or unwanted side effects.
We know that true transformation is a highly personal and individual journey. So we don’t make false promises. The only promise we do make is that all our products will help restore your skin to look and feel its best.
"After having chemotherapy every 2 weeks for the past 3 years, my skin was pretty much ruined. I had nearly given up hope - until I discovered the Hero Facial Oil. Even after only a week, it’s made a significant difference." - Steph, 5 star review
“They’re the perfect marriage for a stressed out and spread thin mom of two female entrepreneur, and have given me so much in terms of not only physical well being but also mental well being 💛" - Maria, 5 star review
“Having had cancer myself and been very nourished physically and mentally by the products, this was the ideal gift. Thank you Lauren and Sarah for understanding it all so well.” - Tessa, 5 star review
Our very human approach to beauty is seen at every touchpoint, including our imagery - our images of models are never retouched, and we embrace all forms of beauty.
Benchmarking goals
In 2024/25, we aim to further develop our customer education and excellent customer service with personalised tools for customers to better understand their own skin health, and feel empowered with more knowledge and transparency in skincare.
A lighter touch
We use glass packaging which is made from 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) glass. PCR glass has a smaller carbon footprint than virgin plastic.
Every tonne of glass re-melted saves 246kg of carbon dioxide emissions as well as decreasing the energy needed to make glass and reducing reliance on virgin raw materials.
Specifically, we choose amber glass bottles as the amber glass helps to protect the integrity of the oils inside by protecting against UV light radiation.
Did you know? Glass is infinitely recyclable, meaning no matter how many times you reuse it, its integrity will never be lost. The same can’t be said, however, for plastic as this can only withstand being recycled 3-4 times at best. Plus glass has high global recycling rates so is less likely to become waste.
The full By Sarah skincare range is Dermatologically Approved for sensitive skin and formulated without any ingredients known to cause irritation; free from fragrance and essential oils. We also provide a full ingredient list on the products pages of our website. Plus our ingredients are COSMOS naturally-derived or nature-identical.
Our collection is independently verified as cruelty free with Cruelty Free International and our vegan products are registered with The Vegan Society, with our supplier monitoring system being independently audited alongside our own proactive monitoring to ensure we continue to adhere to their strict requirements.
Benchmarking goals
In 2024/25, we aim to encourage greater education to promote the recycling and reuse of our products and delivery packaging, and commit to researching innovative planet-friendly packaging options, while acknowledging that our products require sufficient packaging so that the bottles are not damaged in transit. We aim to evaluate the options available for offsetting our carbon emissions and becoming a carbon neutral business, with a review of our supply chain to ensure our carbon footprint is as light as possible.
Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to read our Impact Report 2024. If you’d like to get in touch, please drop us an email at care@bysarahlondon.com or follow us on @bysarahlondon, we’d love to hear from you.
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