We read it everywhere: on product sheets, in beauty ads, on natural cosmetic packaging. "Natural ingredient," "of natural origin," "plant-derived"... These terms appear again and again, but they do not refer to the same reality. And this confusion perpetuates a false belief: that a natural product would necessarily be minimally processed, and that a processed ingredient would necessarily be less natural.
Understanding this nuance allows you to better choose your natural skincare, decode an ingredient list, and understand why some natural products are much more effective than others.
"Is this product really natural?" The answer is rarely a simple yes or no. In modern natural cosmetics, an ingredient can be entirely natural, or come from a natural raw material that has been processed to improve its stability, tolerance, or effectiveness on the skin.
What is a natural ingredient in cosmetics?
A natural ingredient is obtained directly from a plant, mineral, or marine resource, with little or no processing. It can be cleaned, filtered, or purified to ensure its quality, without its structure being modified.
A few examples of pure natural ingredients: clay, virgin vegetable oil, floral water obtained by distillation, vegetable butter. The material remains essentially the same as that offered by nature.
What is an ingredient of natural origin?
An ingredient of natural origin also comes from a plant, mineral, or marine raw material. It is a central pillar of modern natural cosmetics: the material then undergoes a controlled transformation that improves some of its properties, without denaturing it.
A vegetable oil, for example, naturally contains a multitude of compounds: fatty acids, phytosterols, vitamins, antioxidants, vegetable waxes, unsaponifiable compounds. Modern processes allow certain active molecules to be isolated, the most interesting ones concentrated, or those that are less suitable for use on the skin removed. This results in natural ingredients that are more stable, more effective, and better tolerated.
This approach is found in plant peptides, concentrated botanical extracts, fermentation actives, and extracts obtained by supercritical CO₂, all pillars of new-generation natural cosmetics.
Controlled processing can help to:
- better preserve natural actives sensitive to oxidation
- improve the stability of a natural formula
- increase the bioavailability of certain plant actives
- improve skin tolerance
- offer a more pleasant texture upon application
Natural cosmetics: is a processed ingredient less natural?
This is the most widespread misconception in natural cosmetics: that a processed ingredient would automatically be less natural, and therefore less desirable. In reality, the opposite is often true. Certain transformations are precisely what allow the properties of a plant to be better preserved, its stability improved, or it made more compatible with the physiology of the skin. An ingredient of natural origin is not a compromise on naturalness: it is the result of rigorous work to offer the skin the best that nature has to offer, in a more stable and more effective form.
Examples of ingredients of natural origin at Shakti
At Shakti, a Quebec-based professional natural cosmetics brand, several actives illustrate this approach.
Our carrot extract is obtained by supercritical CO₂ extraction, a technology that isolates the most interesting compounds from the plant without harsh chemical solvents.
Our plant peptides come from pea protein extracts, processed to make their active fractions more absorbable by the skin.
The stabilized vitamin C also illustrates this principle: its structure is adjusted to better resist oxidation and remain active longer.
The Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, derived from coconut oil, illustrates fractionation: by isolating certain lipid fractions, we obtain a light, silky, and pleasant-to-apply emollient of natural origin.
All these ingredients remain of natural origin, with thoughtful processing that improves their performance.
Natural or of natural origin: summary
| Natural ingredient | Ingredient of natural origin |
|---|---|
| Little or no processing | Derived from a natural material processed in a controlled way |
| Raw material used almost as is | Material optimized for stability, tolerance, or effectiveness |
| Examples: clay, virgin oil, floral water | Examples: plant peptides, stabilized vitamin C, CO₂ carrot extract, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate |
Did you know? Not all molecules present in a plant necessarily have a cosmetic benefit. Some provide the desired benefits for the skin, while others mainly influence the texture, color, scent, or stability of the natural raw material.
Natural cosmetics according to Shakti
At Shakti, we believe that nature and science have never been opposed. Nature inspires our natural formulations developed in the laboratory in Quebec; science allows us to optimize them. Our approach consists of respecting the richness of living things while relying on modern and thoughtful processes, to offer natural skincare that is effective, stable, and gentle on the skin.
Naturalness is not in itself a guarantee of effectiveness, just as processing is not synonymous with artificiality. In modern natural cosmetics, it is the balance between the two that allows for truly effective formulations.