Natural, nature-identical or biotech? Here's the difference
Ever spotted "naturally derived" and "nature identical" on one of our product pages and wondered what the difference actually is?
Most of what goes into our skincare comes from nature: plants, oils, extracts and minerals. Alongside that, we use a small, choosy group of nature-identical and biotech ingredients.
So here's what each kind means, with real examples from our own formulas.
Natural (and naturally derived)
Natural ingredients are plants, oils, extracts and minerals, used as close to their natural state as we can. Together with naturally derived ingredients (more on those below), they make up most of each of our skincare formulas.
The biggest one is organic aloe vera juice, which forms the base of most of our leave-on skincare (instead of plain water).
Then there's our colourful cast of Aussie natives, like the Kakadu plum in 'Perfectly Happy' Light Vitamin C Cream and 'Over the Moon' Rich Repair Cream.
Some ingredients start out natural and then get some help to do a job they can't do on their own. These are called "naturally derived". Emulsifiers (ingredients that let oil and water mix) are the classic example. In '3 Cheers' Cleansing Oil, emulsifiers made by joining glycerin with fatty acids, from natural feedstocks and using natural processes, are what turn the oil milky when you add a splash of water.
Soft, smooth skin with antioxidant support
Nature-identical ingredients: the same molecule, made in a lab
Some great ingredients are found in nature, but only in tiny amounts, so getting enough out of plants isn't practical. Instead, they're made in a lab, as an exact copy of the molecule nature makes.
Doing it this way ensures high purity, stability, and a consistent supply. Plus it sometimes lets scientists optimise ingredients for skincare benefits.
You've probably met a nature-identical ingredient already. Most vitamin C tablets contain L-ascorbic acid made this way.
In our skincare, the niacinamide (vitamin B3) in 'Over the Moon' is nature-identical. It's there to help support your skin's natural barrier. The vitamin B3 we use is optimised to have a lower nicotinic acid level, to help make it gentler on skin.
Rich moisture, soft and comfortable skin
Biotech: made by living things
Biotech ingredients are made by living things, usually tiny microbes doing what they do best: fermenting. It's the same idea behind yoghurt and kombucha (we've written about how fermentation works in skincare too).
The Bacillus ferment in 'Sweet Dreams' Night Cream (Ultra Rich) is a great example. It comes from a strain of Bacillus (a type of bacteria) first found in an Italian thermal spring, and it helps calm the look of redness.
Hyaluronic acid is another. Your skin already makes its own, and the hyaluronic acid in 'Make My Day' Bio-Retinol Gel Cream is the very same molecule, made by fermentation. It helps your skin hold on to moisture.
Softer-looking fine lines, calmer-looking skin
Unscented
Why not just use natural for everything?
Because nature doesn't always make enough of a good thing, or make it in a form that works in a cream. When that happens, we reach for a nature-identical or biotech version instead.
It's all about formulating a product that is a balance of effectiveness, safety, affordability, and environmental responsibility (and often it can be tricky to find ingredients that tick all those boxes!).
How to read our product pages
On most of our skincare product pages you'll see a line like "95% naturally derived (+5% nature identical)". The first figure covers our natural and naturally derived ingredients together. The figure in brackets is the nature-identical share.
Biotech ingredients don't have a figure of their own on our product pages. In the industry they're regarded as natural, because they start from natural resources and are made by a process accepted as natural (fermentation, for example). So they're counted in the first figure.
The short version
We use natural where nature does it best, and go for nature-identical or biotech where they make a real difference to the formula.
Spotted an ingredient on one of our labels and wondering which kind it is? Contact Us and we'll happily tell you. 🌱
