What's the difference between organic and natural beauty?
Even if you haven’t yet tried organic beauty, you’ve probably heard of it. And if you’re answer is still no, then you might have used organic beauty products without really realising as well known beauty brands such as Neals Yard, Pai, Garnier, Odylique and Skin & Tonic all sell organic beauty products.
But what does organic really mean when it comes to beauty products and why is it so important?
To add even more confusion, “Natural” and “Organic” are often used interchangeably but they don’t mean the same thing at all.
To provide some clarity, we’re going to explain the differences between organic, natural and certified cosmetics.
What does it mean if a beauty product is organic?
An organic beauty product has ingredients in that have been grown using organic farming methods. Organic farming does not allow the use of synthetics fertilisers, genetically modified (GM) ingredients and herbicides. Sounding prettier already right?
Organic cosmetics, beauty and wellbeing products use organic ingredients, such as calendula or lavender, wherever possible.
To make sure they work and don’t go off too quickly, many cosmetic products need ingredients that don’t come from nature, such as emulsifiers, which blend oil and water.
How do I know if a product is organic?
Unfortunately, the use of the term organic is not currently regulated in relation to cosmetics (it is with food and drink), which means there’s no guarantee that products which say organic on the label only contain ingredients which would meet strict organic standards.
Thankfully, independent certification exists – where you see the COSMOS or Soil Association logo, you know that every step of the process to make that product has been checked by unbiased experts.
Certified organic cosmetics meet strict standards which guarantee that organic ingredients are used where possible, and that those ingredients which cannot be organic are made using green chemistry principles, which means no toxins and no nasties.
Okay, so I understand what organic means, but what about natural?
The natural cosmetics industry (also unregulated) is estimated to be much larger than the organic cosmetics industry. Different views on what natural actually means have led to more greenwashing. ‘Nature inspired’ and ‘from nature’ - sound familiar? These are terms you might have seen or heard before. What’s considered to be natural varies widely depending on whom you ask – with some companies saying that artificial ‘nature identical’ ingredients made in a lab are natural.
To help you identify truly natural products, we offer COSMOS natural certification. We believe that if a product is natural, the majority of ingredients must be from nature. No endangered plant species may be used and no GM ingredients. Any non-natural ingredients which are necessary to keep the product fresh or make it work should meet strict standards and green chemistry principles.
Why the hype?
The good news is that the organic and natural beauty industry is blooming (pun intended), with a 14% year on year growth in sales of certified cosmetics - that's the 8th consecutive year of double digit growth. This means that you beauty evangelists are leading the way for transparency and clarity - and doing it whilst looking awesome! The skin is the body’s largest organ, so it makes sense to care about what we put on it.
There you have it, our whistle-stop guide around certified organic and natural cosmetics. Beauty has many forms; synthetic doesn’t have to be one of them. Want to know how to make the switch from skincare novice to organic expert? Find out which ingredients to look out for or take a look at the brands we certify.
Give your beauty routine some lovin’, look for our logo and trust the quality and integrity of what you’re putting on your skin.
