What does it mean when a brand says they are “natural”?
This is the age old question for every person wanting to incorporate more eco friendly or gentle skincare into their everyday life. When a brand has bright green packaging and advertises natural sounding botanicals, it becomes confusing to know who to trust. Is there any way to tell if a brand is truly natural or just pretending to make more sales?
Short answer, it depends on how you define natural and what you are looking for.
There is no definitive way to look at a bottle of face wash and know that it is natural. The same way you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t put your full trust in a label that says it is natural or appears natural. There is no actual definition of what natural means. Any brand can say that their products are made with natural ingredients. The FDA may regulate cosmetics but it does not regulate a strict definition of natural to hold these products to a higher standard
Is there anything I can trust?
The most clear cut and highly regulated definition of natural is handled by the USDA. It manages when a brand uses the term “organic”. If a brand has the USDA organic seal on its label, at least 95% of the product’s ingredients are made from organic materials such as aloe vera juice or sunflower seed oil. This restricts pesticides, fertilizers, irradiation, GMOs, and is regularly inspected.These products can be extremely hard to find and are not nearly as effective as their slightly less natural alternatives. This is because they are restricted to raw plant materials which are not as good at cleansing or moisturizing compared to ingredients that are created especially to be used in cosmetics. If you are willing to sacrifice functionality for truly natural products, then this is the way to go.
The best thing you can do is find a brand or certification organization that you trust and have heavily researched. In the European Union, COSMOS is very popular and has an extensive list of banned ingredients. If a skincare or haircare company complies with their regulations, then they can advertise a COSMOS seal on their product. The issue with companies like COSMOS, is that it is not very clear why certain ingredients are banned and why some are not. There can be a lot of inconsistencies. A clear example of this would be the Whole Foods “Beyond Clean Beauty” list of banned ingredients. This list bans all Alpha Hydroxy Acids and yet, citric acid is one of these banned acids. Citric acid is found in acidic foods like lemons and is used mainly as a pH adjuster so it feels better on your skin as well as a reactant in bath bombs to make them fizz. They seem to not regulate it, though, as it is found in many of their personal care products.
How do I find a brand that shares my same natural standards?
There is no perfect seal of approval from any certification company. Nowadays, a lot of brands are actually creating their own seal for natural ingredients and advertising it heavily. The best course of action would be to read blog posts like these. Spend the time researching and learning about what ingredients you do and do not feel comfortable with. Look at multiple sources before you decide something is good or bad. Long ingredient names are also not always a negative. All brands have to list their ingredients using something called an INCI which is just a fancy way of saying the internationally recognized name for an ingredient. Something as simple as liquid coconut oil (fractionated) would become Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride. A quick google search of ingredients can tell you if there is anything alarming about that product.
Here are some examples of questions you can ask yourself and research to determine which brands work for you:
Am I willing to sacrifice functionality for a product that is truly natural?
Am I okay with using cleansing surfactants or would I rather just stick with soap?
If I am okay with surfactants, are there certain ones I want to stay away from?
How do I feel about silicones?
Am I okay with fragrance oil instead of essential oil?
Am I comfortable with brands that use petroleum or mineral oils?
Finding a good natural brand takes time
I wish I could say that it was easy to tell if a brand was honest and transparent about their ingredients, but it’s really not. Look for brands that are obvious about their ingredients labels and don’t try to hide them. Learn the most common ingredients that you do not feel comfortable with and find a brand that does not use them and uses green alternatives. Find what you do like as well. Just be wary of brands that tout off certain botanical extracts and then when you look at the ingredient label they are listed all the way at the bottom (the order of ingredients is based on how much is in the product).
Taking the time to find a good beauty brand will pay off immensely when you feel confident about what you are using on your body. The first step, is checking in with your self about what you feel comfortable with. It is so important to find a brand who you trust and shares your same values.
If Aurora Ellen fits into your standards of what you feel comfortable putting on your body, that’s wonderful! We are so glad you trust us to make products for you. If not, that’s okay too. We hope you left our page feeling a little but more knowledgeable about what you do feel comfortable with and find a brand that works with you.
