What is natural skincare and natural skin care products?
Many of you were telling us how confused and overwhelmed you felt by all the greenwashing and information out there on natural skincare products and ingredients. In today’s blog we’re going to explain the difference between some of the most common terms.
Confused? Think they’re all the same? Don’t worry you’ll soon be able to understand natural skin care products like a pro!
One thing to note is that there is no common definitions around most of these terms so understanding some of the basics is the first step in becoming more skincare savvy.
What does ‘natural’ mean?
Natural in a skincare context simply means ingredients found in nature. These could include plants – oils, butters and minerals (like pigments found in makeup) and animal by-products including beeswax and lanolin from sheep’s wool.
What does ‘natural skincare’ mean?
Natural skincare means skincare products made of these natural ingredients. There is currently no regulation around using the term ‘natural’ in a skin care product so any brand can use the word natural on their product even if they have just a small percentage of natural ingredients in their product.
Ok, so then what does ‘organic skincare’ mean?
Organic skincare means skincare products that are made using natural ingredients that are organically farmed. Organically farmed ingredients are grown without using any herbicides, pesticides, GMO ingredients or synthetic chemicals.
There is currently also no regulation of the term ‘organic’ in the skincare industry. A brand can use the word ‘organic’ on its products even if they have a small concentration of a single ingredient in a product.
How can I make sure a product is genuinely a natural skin care product?
We all know what’s important to us in our skincare routines, so if natural skincare and organic skincare are important to you, we suggest you select products that hold a natural certification or organic certification from an accredited third party such as Ecocert COSMOS.
Certified organic and certified natural skin care means brands and products that have undergone a stringent and rigorous third-party certification process to guarantee they genuinely are natural and organic.
They also certify the % of the product that is either natural or organic so you can tell at a glance by reading the label what concentration of the products is natural and organic. For example our Nourishing Radiance Serum is certified 100% natural and 99.5% organic by Ecocert COSMOS and our Superfood Cleansing Balm is certified 100% natural and 82% organic by Ecocert COSMOS.
Good quality certification programmes to look out for in Europe include Ecocert COSMOS, Nature and The Soil Association. Look out for their logos below.
