Natural skincare has evolved from a niche market to a mainstream beauty trend. It's no longer just about avoiding chemicals; it's a lifestyle choice that encompasses wellness, sustainability, and ethical consumption.
As AYA Natural Skin, we will delve into the actual meaning of natural skincare and how we have defined it. To outline the values and principles of our natural skincare range was formulated on. Ultimately, it all ends up with our very valued customer base, as the benefits of natural skincare bring them to choose AYA Natural Skin. We will also explain natural beauty products and how we create our formulation philosophy at AYA Natural Skin.
Where did AYA Natural Skincare come from, and why did we formulate our range as Natural Skincare?
What do you think when you hear the word Natural Skincare? How much do you really know and understand about the term and the background workings of this sector within the beauty industry? Are the benefits of natural skincare clear, and why should you choose this route and embrace holistic skincare? Like every industry, it is multilayered with different elements at play. For consumers, choosing a skin cream can be as simple (or complex) as just choosing. Yet behind our, being the customers choosing, it is a much more layered discussion, mainly because the word or label Natural is one of the most unregulated in the personal skincare industry.
Here is a little background on myself, Keren, as the founder of AYA Natural Skin. I just skidded into Gen X (I am immensely grateful for this, as Baby Boomers always appeared too romantic for me), and what this means to me is that I identify with the belief that less is always more; however, in my younger years that was not always the case. For me, embracing a holistic beauty approach using a range of natural beauty products, while on the cards for me, was still far ahead in my future.
I experienced acne in my teens, and it was a relentless battle for years. I tried countless products and treatments, from over-the-counter solutions to salon visits, and I went the medical route; nothing ever worked. During my teens, my lovely mother firmly threw out any mention of the benefits of natural skincare. Firstly, natural beauty products were not at the forefront of any marketing campaigns, and the benefits of natural skincare were not on offer. My problematic skin challenges continued throughout my twenties and thirties while I was in the corporate world. To add to this, I had episodes of eczema that literally “drove me out of my skin.” My skin felt like a constant warzone, and we were never at peace; the concept of nurturing natural skincare was just an enigma.
When I became aware of natural skincare, I was still working in the corporate world of the Shipping Industry; I started to explore the limited natural beauty products. They were few and far between, and mindful skincare practice was separate from my world. I used to dream, with much envy, of nature-loving hippies embracing their freedom and holistic skincare while living in tune with nature and nurturing natural skincare. The idea of radiant skin naturally was so far removed from where I was and what I was doing, and the concept of practising nurturing natural skincare was just a myth as far as I was concerned. Being able to embrace balancing skincare with nature verged on mythical.
My time in the shipping industry put a different spin on it all, as I saw and learned the absolute back end of the skin-care industry, far removed from the principles of Holistic Skincare. When I finally decided to change my direction entirely and find a new space for myself to explore, I came away with an obvious principle: I would not put another skin-care product on my face that contained or had come close to petroleum or fossil fuels and so my journey into the world of Nurturing Natural Skincare began. I chose to steer clear of extreme measures and move towards natural beauty products, focusing on mindful skincare practice and ensuring that I strived only to use revitalising natural ingredients. Everything shifted and changed with my skincare focus on nature's skin nourishers.
Understanding Natural Skincare
To understand the complexities and limitations for you as a consumer, you only need to look at the many, many, many terms used to describe natural skincare. The most significant reality with all these terms is that most have no standardised definition. Standardisation comes through certification bodies, from which my experience in the shipping industry and background knowledge resulted in a subsequent wariness regarding externally regulated organisations.
Just to give you an idea of the number of standard terms used to depict natural Skin care, starting with the most obvious being natural, organic, botanical, herbal, plant-based, pure, holistic, green, sustainable, clean, vegan, cruelty-free, biodynamic and the list goes on. But it begs the question, just because products have these labels, does it mean a product is “Natural”? What does natural skincare mean, what does it encompass, and how do you know that what you put on your skin is, in fact, actually natural?
History of natural skincare :
Consumers' conscious questioning of the direction of natural skincare started in the 1980s. Essentially, not all synthetic skincare ingredients are good for us; some are more harmful than most and shouldn’t be in skincare.
The term "natural skincare" is often used loosely and extensively, making it difficult for consumers to discern what it truly encompasses. "Natural is not a regulated term, leading to many different and conflicting interpretations. Some products labelled as natural may still contain synthetic additives or preservatives. Ultimately, because the term is so clearly unregulated, many baseless claims are made about a product being natural, clean, or green.
The early pioneers of the natural skincare movement were clear in their intent. It was a grassroots movement, with small businesses and individuals driving awareness and contributing to its growth, where the exploration of natural beauty enhancers was their priority, as was minimising their carbon footprint. Exploring revitalising natural ingredients was a pillar of this community, only creating and formulating natural beauty products and focusing on the benefits of natural skincare. While many of these same smaller entities and individuals don't stand out, their contribution and ethos set a high standard that companies like AYA Natural Skin aspire to today.
What this ultimately means for the consumer is that we need to research and question to define what we expect the term “Natural” to encompass and decide what we are prepared to put on our skin. It is up to consumers to define natural for themselves and then choose a brand that meets their needs and values.
AYA NATURAL SKIN definition:
For us at AYA Natural Skin, there are three elements to our definition of natural: natural origin, naturally derived, and naturally identical. When formulating our natural beauty products range, we focus on ‘nature's skin nourishers’. Natural Origin means that the ingredient selected was created and grown in nature and has undergone prerequisite processing to be functional and stable. An olive in its natural form, while delicious to eat, is not a functional skincare ingredient. It needs to undergo a process of cold pressing to transform into olive oil, which we can eat and use as a natural skincare ingredient. To retain its essence as a natural ingredient, the degree of physical processing must be such that the actual chemical structure of the original plant remains intact. By defining this, we can select ingredients from nature's skin nourishers, facilitating mindful skincare practice in our skincare regime. One of the most important aspects of sourcing natural is sourcing local ingredients when balancing skincare with nature.
Dismissing outright the idea that all chemicals of chemical processes are harmful is simply not correct. Chemical processing covers many methods, from smelting iron and making glass to fermenting and brewing beer. To be clear, the term “chemical-free” when used in natural skin care is a misnomer; air (O2)is a chemical, as is water (H2O). Where would we or our skincare be without these two essential chemicals in our lives?
Naturally Derived ingredients are harvested from nature and transformed into stable, usable skincare ingredients through chemical processing. For example, emulsifiers in creams: To mix oil and water, you need an emulsifier to create this magical combination; without an emulsifier, this is impossible. There are emulsifiers created from naturally derived ingredients that are tried and tested and don’t destabilise the formulation—allowing us to select revitalising natural ingredients in our skincare products.
Nature identical is a more complex term for us, but we are very clear about its meaning in our formulations. Nature identical means the ingredient was formulated in a lab and is chemically identical to its natural counterpart. It is essential to our holistic skincare approach, where balancing Skincare with nature is necessary. A beautiful example is citric acid, used as an acidity regulator. When derived from citrus fruit, citric acid has a significant environmental footprint, and the cost is prohibitive. Choosing a lab-synthesized one allows for ease of use and is cost-effective while being a more sustainable choice. A mindful skincare practice has different elements to consider when creating a holistic beauty approach to our skincare range.
Combination of purely natural and naturally derived to ensure that our products contain the purest ingredients with the most functional aspects for our skin needs
To simplify and be more transparent for everyone, we at AYA Natural Skin have defined and outlined what natural means to us. We ensure we choose natural beauty enhancers in harmony with our ultimate goal of having radiant skin naturally. We consistently show up and tell our consumers what we say, do, and formulate our range.