The word “natural” is thrown around a lot in our world today but have you ever stopped to wonder what that actually means when it comes to skincare? We often reach for natural products as a gentler alternative or to feel more connected to the natural world, but unfortunately the products we pick up from the drug store that are labeled as natural are not always what they seem.
To begin unpacking what natural skincare is I like to begin with the definition of “natural”. The definition of natural is “Being in accordance with or determined by nature.” By this definition it is typically assumed by consumers that products that are labelled as natural are created with pure plant and animal based ingredients and are free from harmful chemicals and preservatives, however that unfortunately is not always the case. The term “natural” in skincare is unregulated, meaning that there are no guidelines that producers have to follow when it comes to labeling their products as natural, this often leads to harmful ingredients being added into products labeled as natural. This is both harmful to the consumer because they aren’t getting a product with clean ingredients and to small businesses who truthfully use the term natural to market their products because it creates a distrust in the term.
“So why don’t small businesses who use actual natural ingredients just use the term organic?”, you may be wondering. Getting the certified organic label on your products is a long and expensive process that typically isn’t in the budget for small business, especially at the beginning even though they may use organic ingredients, so marketing with the term natural is typically the next best thing. Another problem when it comes to organic labeling is that if a small business is sourcing local ingredients, those ingredients could be organically grown but if they are not certified organic the term organic cannot be used on the labeling.
So how can you as the consumer ensure you’re getting high quality, truly natural skincare products? My biggest piece of advice is shop small! Go to your local farmers market and talk directly to the makers or send an email asking questions about their ingredients if you’re curious, any small business owner will be more than happy to tell you about their ingredient sources and processes! At Mountain Wisdom we work hard to source the best ingredients for our natural healing products. We have direct relationships with the farms that we source our tallow from, ethically wild craft our herbs by hand and buy organic or organically grown herbs when needed. We also strive for full transparency in our sourcing and processes so if you ever have questions about where something is coming from or how a product is made we are more than happy to share! Learning about different ingredients that are often used in skincare is also important as well as using resources like the EWG database when you are choosing to shop at larger stores. By learning about what the term natural in skincare means you as the consumer are able to make educated decisions on where to source the products you decide to use on your skin, which is important because as we all know, your skin is your body’s largest organ.