Wild

Wild is a British personal-care brand built around refillable products, best known for a natural deodorant sold in a reusable aluminium case with compostable refills. It was founded in 2019 by childhood friends Freddy Ward and Charlie Bowes-Lyon, who set out to remove single-use plastic from the bathroom [1]. The company is based in London, and its deodorant reached the UK market in spring 2020.

In April 2025 Wild was acquired by Unilever, which described it as the UK's leading refillable deodorant brand [5]. The founders remained to run the business, and the brand continues to trade and stock its products in thousands of UK stores.

Ward and Bowes-Lyon started Wild in 2019 after asking, in the company's words, "what if you could make personal care with less plastic waste?" [1]. To answer it, they approached the design agency Morrama to develop what the brand calls the world's first refillable deodorant with plastic-free refills. The design took about nine months. Its central idea was to move the twist mechanism into the reusable case itself, so the refill could be made entirely of compostable material — pulp-moulded paper of bamboo and bagasse that, according to Packaging Europe, breaks down within six months of home composting [6].

The founders chose aluminium for the case despite its higher cost, betting that a desirable object would justify a price well above conventional deodorants; the £12 deodorant pack sat against typical single-use sticks priced around £2.50.

Wild launched its deodorant in the UK in spring 2020. The sourced founding date carries a minor conflict: the brand's own About page and Packaging Europe record the company as founded in 2019, when design work began [1], while WWD and BeautyMatter give 2020, referring to the product launch [7]. Both figures describe the same timeline — company work in 2019, market launch in 2020.

The brand began its B Corp certification process in February 2021. By 2024 it reported net sales of £65 million, having raised roughly £10 million in external funding, according to WWD [7]. In the years after launch it moved from a direct-to-consumer model into wide retail distribution.

Unilever announced its acquisition of Wild on 1 April 2025, folding it into a personal-care portfolio that includes Dove, Vaseline, Rexona and TRESemmé [5]. The deal terms were not officially disclosed: WWD and BeautyMatter report the price as undisclosed [7], while Packaging Europe and several other outlets cite a figure of approximately £100 million [6]. Unilever framed the purchase within its Growth Action Plan 2030 and its focus on sustainability-oriented brands. As a condition of the deal, founders Bowes-Lyon and Ward stayed on to run the business.

Wild's stated mission is to eliminate single-use plastic from bathrooms by making refillable, plant-based products that perform as well as conventional ones. The company positions itself as the UK's number-one natural deodorant and describes its aluminium case as one "that lasts for life" paired with compostable refills [3]. It frames its work through the language of B Corp certification, saying that such businesses "see money as a means, not an end." Its tagline is "Naturally effective. Effortlessly refillable."

The products carry a premium position relative to mass-market deodorants, a choice the company ties to the durable, reusable case rather than a disposable one [6].

Beyond the original stick deodorant, Wild's range has grown to include roll-on antiperspirant, body wash, hand wash, lip balm, soap bars and shampoo bars — most sold on the refillable model. The brand states that its formulas are largely natural in origin, citing figures such as 98% natural ingredients for the stick deodorant and 99% for the lip balm.

For deodorising, the company highlights sodium bicarbonate, which it says creates "an unhospitable environment for the bad bacteria which cause BO," alongside sage oil and, in some antiperspirants, zinc ricinoleate. A roll-on formula uses a chicory-root prebiotic that the brand says supports beneficial skin bacteria. The products are described as vegan and free of parabens, phthalates and, in the deodorants, aluminium. The central innovation remains the refill system itself — the compostable bamboo-and-bagasse cartridge developed with Morrama [6].

Wild's certifications include B Corp status, achieved with a score of 110.8 against a passing threshold of 80, according to the company [3]; Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certification; and Vegan Society certification. The brand reports a customer base of more than four million and says its refill model has diverted substantial quantities of plastic from landfill.

Wild is an active brand under Unilever ownership. Following the April 2025 acquisition, its founders continued to lead the company, and its products remain widely stocked across UK retailers including Tesco, Boots, Waitrose and Sainsbury's, with a US retail partnership through Target [7].