Natural, organic, & co. The ultimate terminology guide
Walk into any skincare aisle today, and you’re faced with a swirl of terms like naturale, biologico, naturally derived. However, few brands actually explain what those words legally mean. The result is a haze of green marketing that makes it hard to tell which claims are backed by regulation and which are purely there for marketing. In this article, we cut through the confusion by defining each term precisely and breaking down what the EU’s laws actually require (and don’t require) from the products you buy.
Natural vs. organic
A natural ingredient is an ingredient of botanical, mineral, animal, or microbiological origin that has been obtained with minimal processing (e.g., physical processes like pressing, distillation, filtration). There is Non esiste una definizione legale for the term “natural” in cosmetic regulations in the EU. Its use on packaging is largely unregulated under the main EU Cosmetics Regulation EC 1223/2009.
This gap is filled by private standards (COSMOS, Natrue) and the technical guidelines of ISO 16128.
・ ISO 16128: Provides technical definitions and guidelines for calculating a “Natural Origin Index”, but it is a voluntary standard for industry, not a consumer label.
・ Standard privati (COSMOS, Natrue): questi forniscono le definizioni operative più rigorose per ciò che può essere definito naturale nei prodotti certificati. naturale in certified products.
There is no official regulation on the definitions of “organic” for cosmetics in the EU either. The term “organic” is protected for food (EC 834/2007) in the EU, however, it has no legal definition under the Regulation EC 1223/2009 for cosmetics. This gap is filled by private cosmetic standards.
The term “organic” refers primarily to the agricultural origin and cultivation process of an ingredient. It means the plants were grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, GMOs, and according to specific soil management practices.
Definition recap
| Termine | Definition |
| Ingrediente naturale | Derivato direttamente da piante, minerali o animali (e talvolta da fonti microbiologiche) con una lavorazione minima. Il processo è solitamente di tipo fisico (ad esempio spremitura, distillazione, essiccazione) piuttosto che una trasformazione chimica. Esempi: Olio di jojoba (spremuto a freddo dai semi), burro di karité (estratto dalle noci), ossido di zinco (minerale), acqua di rose (distillazione a vapore). |
| Ingrediente sintetico | Creati da persone tramite sintesi chimica in laboratorio. Gli ingredienti sintetici possono essere molecole originali o copie di quelle presenti in natura. Esempi: Parabeni (conservanti), siliconi (come il dimeticone per la consistenza), fragranze sintetiche, oli derivati dal petrolio. |
| Ingrediente di origine naturale | This is a crucial middle category. They start with a natural raw material (e.g., coconut oil) and are chemically modified through hydrogenation, esterification to enhance functionality. Such ingredients are permitted and labeled as “Derived from Natural Origin” under COSMOS certificate. Examples include Squalane (hydrogenated), Cetearyl Olivate, Ethyl Olivate, hydrogenated castor oil. |
| Naturally identical ingredients | Si tratta di sostanze chimicamente identiche a quelle presenti in natura, ma prodotte sinteticamente per ragioni di purezza, sostenibilità o etica (ad esempio, per evitare l'impiego di fonti animali). In many EU standards, they are treated as “natural” for calculation purposes under ISO 16128. ISO 16128 standard provides the calculation basis for the “Natural Origin Index”. Under its guidelines, ingredients produced by fermentation (Hyaluronic Acid, Propanediol) or derived from plant biomass via defined chemical steps (Sorbitol, Betaine) are assigned a high percentage of natural origin. |
| Organic ingredients | Ingredients grown or produced without synthetic pesticides, GMOs, or artificial fertilizers, following strict ecological farming methods. By definition, organic production is based on natural substances and processes. You cannot have an “organic synthetic ingredient” — organic automatically implies agricultural or natural origin. All organic ingredients are natural, but not all natural ingredients are organic (i.e. they could be natural but grown with conventional farming that uses synthetic pesticides). |
⚠️ A major misconception is that a “natural ingredient equals safe ingredient”. Questo non è affatto vero. Many plant extracts are natural but poisonous, hence harmful. Many natural ingredients are common allergens (for example, essential oils or botanical extracts). Natural doesn’t equal better, so don’t let dishonest marketing trick you into believeing so.