Natural vs Organic Beauty: What’s The Difference?

Many people are confused about natural vs organic beauty products. We’re here to clear that up!

By Diane Small

More and more women are wondering what’s the difference between natural vs organic beauty products. This is especially true after learning that their cosmetics and skin care products may be full of hormone-disrupting, skin-irritating, health-ruining chemicals, many of which have been linked to cancer. Indeed, from formaldehyde and phthalates to BHA, BHT, parabens and other preservatives, cosmetic ingredients can be anything but pretty.

This fact is all the scarier when you consider that the cosmetics industry is basically unregulated. Especially when compared to other industries like the food and drug sector.

Yep, that’s right. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act doesn’t require the FDA to approve every ingredient that a cosmetic company uses. What this means is that in the USA, some very harsh chemicals are allowed in cosmetics and skincare products.

Anything applied to the skin goes directly into the bloodstream, through the lymphatic system, so you may as well be eating any cosmetic product you’re using. No wonder more of us are choosing cleaner beauty products!

But there’s still some confusion. Mainly, what’s the difference between natural vs organic beauty products? Let’s explore this below.

Natural Beauty

This term isn’t regulated at all. It just refers to anything found in nature. Which is pretty much everything, right?

But the confusion doesn’t stop there! The scientific names of some naturally occurring ingredients might sound a bit synthetic. For example? Sodium chloride is just sea salt, for example. And citric acid is a compound found in lemons and other citrus fruits.

Don’t worry: there are several apps on the market, like Cosmetic Maze or Dirty App, that allow you to enter ingredients of a product or scan its bar code, to know what’s safe and what’s not.

And there are some good articles in Eluxe that walk you through the worst chemicals in cosmetic products. Memorise the top 10 worst ingredients in cosmetics, and avoid them!

Confusing Organic Beauty Labels

Even when a beauty product is labelled as being ‘organic’, it can be unclear. In America, for example, it’s possible to use both the words ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ on a label without all the ingredients even being so.

However, one important exception to this rule includes products bearing the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) Organic Certification label. These products are required to contain 70-94% organic ingredients, but they can also contain chemicals too. They will only say: “Made with organic [up to three organic ingredients]” on the label. If a product is 100% organic, it can bear the higher grade Certified USDA Organic seal.

What's the Difference Between Natural & Organic Beauty Products?

What Does ‘Organic Beauty’ Really Mean?

The standards and requirements of organic beauty products for each country are quite different. It essentially comes down to how each government believes products should be labeled.

In the USA, the umbrella body is the Organic Trade Association. This  grew out of the organic food movement. Their standards for organic vs natural beauty product labelling is clarified in the graphic above.

Internationally, there are various certifying bodies, including:

  • The Soil Association in the UK
  • BDIH in Germany
  • Ecocert in France
  • The NaTrue label in Germany

In general, European organic standards are much higher than American ones. And they can go even further than merely ‘organic’. As we shall see below.

Even Better Than Organic

Even better than certified organic are biodynamic cosmetics. This label means the farms that grow the organic ingredients for the product are focused on  emphasising the development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, and animals as a self-nourishing system without external inputs.

While there is very limited ability to verify such ingredients, quite often biodynamic products far exceed organic standards for purity and care for the earth.

One well known German brand that uses organic, biodynamic ingredients is Dr Haushka. AEOS also uses such ingredients.

What's the Difference Between Natural & Organic Beauty Products?

Is Organic Beauty Really Better Than Natural?

Which products win the organic vs natural beauty battle? While some believe that the only way is organic, there are advocates of synthetic compounds who argue that not all natural and organic products are good for you.

We interviewed Liz Earle, known for her ‘natural’ skincare range, on this topic. She puts some synthetics in her formulae, on the grounds that not everything natural is good. “Cyanide and arsenic are natural and are poisonous, of course,” she told us.

Liz Earle justifies her use of synthetic preservatives by stating that non-preserved products can really grow some dastardly ‘natural’ bugs and become more harmful than those containing synthetic preservatives.

“I have bought non-preserved products in the past only to find they have grown some pretty nasty bugs. I bought one ‘natural’ skin cream only to find that a couple of months after opening it grew asperillus niger, a green toxic mould that causes the deadly farmer’s lung disease.”

While this may be the case, if you use your products in good time, this should never happen. In addition, there are plenty of natural preservatives, such as citric acid or colloidal silver, which kill bacteria.

Not Always Vegan

So, what’s the difference between natural vs organic beauty products? Generally speaking, organic ingredients are those which:

  • are grown without pesticide or herbicides
  • are GMO free
  • meet certain standards for health and safety

So called ‘natural’ cosmetics will not follow those guidelines. And because their ingredients can be rather harsh, they are likely tested on animals for safety.

That being said, note that animal fat, honey and dairy products can all be both organic and natural. So carrying a label of organic or natural doesn’t ensure that a product is vegan. Or even cruelty free.

The bottom line is, do your research. If a company cares enough to use organic ingredients, they’re not likely to use harmful synthetic ones, too. And they’re also not likely to use animal products or do animal testing.

But as with anything on the market, buying safe beauty products is a case of ‘buyer beware’.

Diane Small
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5 thoughts on “Natural vs Organic Beauty: What’s The Difference?”

  1. This is really great information about organic skin products. My wife has recently sworn off mainstream makeup. She doesn’t like the fact that they are full of chemicals that might be harmful. She hasn’t looked into any organic products yet, but I will show her this article and see what she thinks. I didn’t realize that products need to meet rigorous standards to be labeled organic, and that most make-up doesn’t even have to be regulated. That is pretty eye opening.

  2. I love your advice to know your products. Aside from searching for what sort of preservative is in your cosmetics, I imagine that knowing what goes into them would help you understand how they are going to interact with you and your skin. I bet a professional who markets beauty products would be the best one to ask specific questions about the products ingredients, etc.

  3. Interested to see myself widely quoted here! Please be aware that the 2004 study regarding parabens was flawed and since has been widely discredited. The traces of parabens were not found to be in the breast tumour samples but on the glassware used for the experiment (from the washing solution). Unsure why the researchers have never publicly acknowledged this basic error, which led to a global skincare scare. In the 11 intervening years, studies have found no link between parabens and breast cancer – indeed parabens are a naturally occurring family of compounds that keep fruit fresher for longer (a reason why blueberries – a superfood full of parabens – last longer than raspberries). Hope this is helpful. Liz Earle.

  4. Recently I’ve been researching beauty products to see if the ingredients are harmful or not. It isn’t as easy as it seems and I wish regulations were more transparent and effective. After reading through your article, I have a better idea of how all of this works. In general, as you mentioned, if there’s tons of ingredients listed, it’s probably not the best option.

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