What Makes Natural Skin Care Different From Regular Products
The beauty aisle can be confusing. Half of the products claim to be “natural,” while the others reference impressive scientific advances. However, there is a fundamental difference between natural skin care products and regular products, and it’s not just a marketing gimmick.
Different Types of Ingredients
Regular skin care products generally use synthetic ingredients. These ingredients are often artificially manufactured in laboratories. It’s also common for these ingredients to serve specific purposes, such as enhancing product shelf life, contributing to specific textures, or delivering active ingredients deep into the dermis. Ingredients like parabens, synthetic fragrances, petroleum products, and chemical UV filters dominate these product formulations because they are cheap to produce, work well, and have been around for decades.
Natural skin care products are on a different wavelength. These products use botanical extracts, essential oils, oils and butters derived from plants, and mineral-based ingredients. When someone researches skin care products on Naturally Linda Skin Care, they are considering products that primarily feature ingredients that have been around for much longer than lab-derived concoctions, ingredients that have fed and protected people’s skin for generations.
Natural does not necessarily mean “from the garden behind my house.” Many natural ingredients are refined and processed. Cold pressed oils, steam distilled essential oils, and even extracted active plant components are all processed. What sets these apart from lab-derived ingredients is what they are made from and the amount of chemical processing they undergo when being produced.
How Skin Processes These Ingredients
The human body deals with natural and synthetic ingredients differently. Plant-based ingredients often contain complex mixtures of fatty acids, vitamins, and phytonutrients that the body can easily digest and use. For instance, jojoba oil (which is used in many natural skin care products) is reminiscent of sebum (the oil the skin produces) meaning it is absorbable by most types of skin.
Synthetic ingredients generally work through the development of a barrier or cause the body to perform an action that would not otherwise occur (e.g., at non-synthetic rates). For example, silicones create a coating over the skin once it is applied, while synthetic retinoids force skin cells to turn over at an accelerated pace, an action that would not occur at the same rate when using a non-synthetic alternative.
These ingredient formulations aren’t harmful, and it’s worth noting that they work. However, they achieve results through interference with existing biological processes rather than working alongside them (like natural products tend to do).
This does not mean that synthetic products are evil. However, it does leave people vulnerable to reactions caused by their skin being unable to respond positively to these unnatural processes. Natural products tend to work more gradually, and alongside existing processes as opposed to colliding with them.
Stability and Shelf Life
Most people have no idea how much effort goes into keeping a product stable. Conventional skin care products use synthetic preservatives that can last for years without bacterial or fungal growth. Parabens, phenoxyethanol, and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are incredible at keeping products free from bacterial and fungal development.
Natural skin care products face more difficulty. Natural preservatives exist (like plant-based preservatives), but they tend to be less powerful than lab-created variants. This means that people need to use higher doses of these active ingredients or a combination of them to achieve the same results as synthetic variants. This is also why some natural products need refrigeration after opening or have limited shelf lives.
Many brands also use innovative designs in their packaging (like airless pumps) to minimize the risk of contamination without having to rely heavily on preservatives. The trade-off is simpler than it seems: would you rather have a product that lasts for eternity or one that lasts a reasonable amount of time but requires more care?
Scent or No Scent
If someone has ever walked through a department store, they know how great conventional skin care products can smell. This smell can usually be attributed to synthetic fragrances. These fragrances can be engineered to smell exactly how manufacturers want them to smell, last for years without fading, and cost very little.
Natural products smell different. Natural fragrances are usually provided by essential oils, which are more complex than synthetic fragrances. They can change quite a bit depending on when they were distilled (meaning the conditions during which they were harvested, distilled, etc.). The lavender in someone’s garden might smell different from batch to batch, meaning one season of harvesting might lead to an entirely different smelling lavender harvest compared to one from the previous year.
Some brands might attempt to gloss over these variances, while others embrace it.
Synthetic fragrances are also one of the most common causes of allergic reactions in personal care products. The used components don’t need to be declared on labels, they can simply state “fragrance” without detailing the direct constituents. Most (if not all) natural products will list which essential oils were used, making it easy for someone with sensitivities to check ahead.
Money, Money, Money
It costs a lot more to produce natural ingredients than synthetic ones. Cold-pressed oil production costs money; so, does extracting active components from plants; and so does practicing sustainable harvesting methods. Someone might find an inexpensive bottle of synthetic moisturizer at the drug store for around $15, however, they can expect to pay upwards of $40 for a similarly functioning natural product.
And this is not just a branding strategy. The cost variances seen between natural and synthetic products reflect reality.
Natural manufacturing processes are often less intensive; smaller batches are produced; and shelf lives are shorter, often requiring refrigeration (increasing costs). Some people see value in spending extra money on a bottle of lotion just because it doesn’t contain ingredients like parabens. Others don’t see a point in spending additional funds on something that works just fine for their skin.
What Makes a Difference for Your Skin
The debate around synthetic versus natural products misses the point in some ways, it doesn’t matter what other people’s skin reacts well to. Some people do great with completely natural regimens, some need synthetic actives for specific concerns, and some combine both, using natural lotions but reach for synthetic treatments when needed.
The differences between these kinds of products are somewhat philosophical (and they also reflect how people’s bodies respond). Natural products work with what is already on the skin and body, using familiar ingredients that the body can easily break down and use. Conventional products take advantage of modern chemical developments to achieve certain goals, sometimes doing this faster than their natural counterparts can manage.
Neither option is better than the other, but it can come down to preference, skin type, concerns, financial situation, etc. Now that you know what really separates these types of products you can make decisions that are right for you rather than simply following trends.
