Skin Care
Harnessing Nature: Botanicals in Modern Skin Care
With the rise in clean beauty and wellness trends, skin care manufacturing is following and creating more and more botanical-based beauty, cosmetics and skincare products. It’s estimated that the wellness industry will grow by 10% and the clean beauty market will double in size over the next few years.
November 29, 2023
As consumers become more conscious about what they put on their skin, and how their body, skin and emotions are connected, they’re demanding clean, effective and nature-inspired beauty products.
Here’s everything you need to know about botanical skin care, and how to use them in your skin care and cosmetics formulation.
What are botanicals?
Let’s start at the beginning. Botanicals are ingredients that come from plants, herbs, flowers and fruits - they’ve been used by skin care manufacturers, health practitioners and therapeutic products for centuries. They’re becoming even more popular again as people look for more natural and holistic skincare and beauty products. Understanding this demand and the benefits of using botanicals is essential as a skincare or beauty brand owner who works with contract cosmetic manufacturers or skin care manufacturers.
Benefits of botanical ingredients
When it comes to using botanical skincare ingredients in beauty and cosmetic products, there are definitely some benefits and advantages. Here’s why your cosmetics customers are looking for botanicals in their beauty products:
- Natural ingredients that work - there’s a reason that botanicals have been used for such a long time. Many of them are proven to be good for your skin or health, thanks to soothing and anti-inflammatory properties or the ability to moisturise and hydrate your skin.
- Sustainability - as consumers start to be more aware of using eco-conscious products and packaging, they’re looking for products that are sourced naturally and ethically. This can help your brand to resonate with environmentally and socially conscious customers.
- Holistic wellness - botanicals not only deliver benefits, they also provide a sensory experience by adding aromatherapy benefits, textures and colour which can create products that look, smell and feel amazing.
Are botanical ingredients safe to use?
Lots of botanical skincare ingredients are safe to use.. However, like any other ingredient, it's important to work with experts and do proper research when it comes to creating your formulations.
You need to be mindful of allergies and sensitivities - your testing, research and labelling should help you to get your head around this. The same goes for quality and sourcing your ingredients from reputable suppliers who can show where their ingredients came from.
Making sure that your botanical ingredients are compatible with the formulation is important too. Think about temperature changes, pH levels and how they work with other ingredients. Experienced formulators and skin care manufacturers will help you be clear on this, along with awareness of regulations, guidelines and testing.
How to add botanicals into your skincare formulations
If you’re looking to create a brand new skincare product with botanical ingredients or to tweak an existing formula to add in more botanicals, then the first step is to speak to your skin care manufacturing team. They can give you expert advice and guidance on the best ingredients to use, and how to use them in your products.
You should also do your own research to identify the ingredients that align with your brand, and have the benefits that you’re looking for while they’re compatible with the rest of your formulation. But again, working with formulation experts will help you with this.
Testing and validation are an important part of the process too, so you can make sure your products are effective and based on evidence. This will also help you to be transparent when it comes to products, packaging and marketing.
If you’re looking to embrace the power of botanicals in your skin care manufacturing, contact our team of experts, who can work with you to get the right botanical blend.
