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Natural vs Synthetic: What's Practical When Formulating Your Own Products

  • thereformedproduct
  • Jan 29
  • 4 min read

Should we avoid all synthetic ingredients? Should we only ever use natural ingredients? Does natural automatically mean "safe" and does synthetic always mean "harmful"?


Natural ingredients can be quite powerful, but does natural always mean safe?
Natural ingredients can be quite powerful, but does natural always mean safe?

When I first started this journey I thought the answer to this post was yes. Natural is always better. Now...I think it is relative to what you are formulating and what your intended results are. Our skin is our largest organ. It also absorbs some ingredients into our body, blood stream, organs, etc...which is why lots of us are starting to care about what is in our beauty products. And that's a good thing! It is something we should look into. However, just because something is from a natural source (I'm using the word natural to describe an ingredient that comes from nature and is not created by people, even though technically for us to use a natural ingredient there is some sort of human intervention involved) does not mean it does not pose any health risks. One big example of this is essential oils. They can have so many benefits and impart a natural scent and color to products. But there are reasons why they should be formulated at the correct usage rate in products. Most of the reasons relate to sensitivity, allergic reactions, and severe irritation. I highly recommend reading this article from AromaWeb about why it's important to dilute essential oils. I also really like to look up essential oils in their database to learn about their properties.


An essential oil blend I used in a body oil, showing the oils in it and dilution rate.
An essential oil blend I used in a body oil, showing the oils in it and dilution rate.

Anytime you purchase essential oils the manufacturer should provide a usage rate for the product (or really any raw ingredient). Sometimes it is on the product or it may come with a paper that discloses that information. If they don't, I probably wouldn't use it. I recommend sticking to companies or suppliers that you can trust to be transparent. Plus you can't really formulate with ingredients that don't provide usage rates.


One more note on essential oils, there are general guidelines for dilution, depending on the final intended use of the product. I like this website that has a lot of safety guidelines and it provides general usage rates for different topical use cases. Honestly, you can also learn a lot just by Googling different essential oils - just be sure the information is reputable.


Now, let's talk synthetics. The realistic truth is - you can't create TRULY anti-aging serums or creams without some sort of synthetic ingredients. But not all synthetics are equal. A great read that covers some of the more harmful ingredients is the cosmetic ingredients "dirty dozen" by the David Suzuki Foundation. They have reference links on each ingredient so you can see the source of the science. I personally try to stay away from items that contain PEGs (polyethylene glycols), silicones, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, parabens, and parfum (or as you often see on ingredient lists "fragrance"). I have been successful in eliminating 95% of these from going onto my skin. Makeup is the biggest offender right now, but I am exploring cleaner brands.


To make a facial cream you need to have an emulsifier. I like Olivem 1000 - it's technically labelled as "natural" - but I would say it is derived from natural ingredients and it eliminates exposure to other not so great ingredients. Another example is Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (THDA), it is an oil soluble vitamin C. I love this synthetic ingredient because it has helped me with hyperpigmentation and it doesn't irritate my skin like L-Ascorbic Acid (the standard water based vitamin C) does. Plus it's oil soluble so it is SUPER easy to formulate with. But it is not a natural ingredient. When I am formulating products I use the EWG Skin Deep Database to look up ingredients and decide if this is a safe ingredient for me.


Another point to consider is preservatives. If you have a product that contains water, or has ingredients that contain water, you must include a preservative. Are there natural preservatives? Yes, I use one. For some products it is enough. But for others that might contain ingredients that spoil easily, I like to incorporate another, more hefty preservative to ensure longer shelf life. A lot of this is found through trial and error and TONS of research!! But once you learn the foundational principles of formulation it becomes a lot easier.


So the answer to which is better? Neither. It depends. If you have an allergy to lavender or rose - then that is harmful to YOU! Are there nasty synthetic ingredients that are harmful to humans in general? ABSOLUTELY. Are there great synthetic ingredients that don't cause harm? YES! This all makes me think about why I wanted to start this blog: To help others see that creating their own custom beauty products, that target their own personal needs, does not need to contain "the dirty dozen" and they don't have to cost an obscene amount of money.



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