Beauty marketing shapes how we see ourselves.
Ads, filters, “fix your flaws” language and sales tactics train us to look for problems in our faces and bodies. That pressure is designed, not random.
Index:MH sets standards for ethical beauty marketing, based on mental health impact.
Our certification shows which businesses meet those standards, so it is easier to choose brands that do not rely on exploiting insecurity to sell.
FAQs
Index:MH is an independent, non-profit standard for how beauty is advertised and sold. We look at how brands, shops and clinics affect our mental health, then set clear criteria and certify the ones that avoid insecurity-led tactics. Over time, the Index:MH mark will help you see which businesses take that impact seriously.
Body positivity and awareness campaigns focus on changing how we talk and feel. Index:MH focuses on changing how the industry behaves. We turn research and lived experience into criteria, then certify businesses that meet those standards. It is not a hashtag or a campaign theme, it is something organisations have to prove.
It makes it easier to spot which brands and places are less likely to mess with your head. The Index:MH mark will only be given to businesses that meet standards around pressure, language, imagery and sales tactics. As more of them certify, you will have a clearer way to choose where to spend your money based on how you want to feel, not just what you want to buy.
It means they have been checked against Index:MH standards and met them at the time of certification. Those standards look at things like imagery, language, in-store or in-clinic experience and sales behaviour, with a focus on pressure and body image. It is not a promise that they are perfect, but it is a clear sign they have done more than talk about caring for mental health.
There will be an online directory where you can search certified businesses by sector and location. That will go live once the first certifications are in place. For now, you can nominate shops or brands you would like to see meet the standard.
You can fill in a short form to tell us what makes you feel comfortable or under pressure when you shop or see beauty content. We use these patterns, along with research, to shape the standards and to show businesses what people actually want from them.
Yes! You can use the same form to nominate places that feel lower pressure, respectful and inclusive. Positive examples matter, because they show what is already working and which spaces people want more of.
Index:MH develops standards with input from body image researchers, mental health experts and people with lived experience, as well as industry voices. Criteria are based on evidence about what harms or supports mental health, not on personal taste or trends.
Index:MH is starting in the UK, but the issues it tackles are not limited by borders. The aim is to build standards that can be used in other countries over time, working with local partners and experts as it grows.