If you have even a passing interest in your grooming routine, you’ve probably heard of botanical skin care. It’s a term as opaque as it is ubiquitous, with its enticing promise of plant-based formulations and “all-natural” ingredients. But it speaks to a large and growing universe of products that use plant-derived ingredients, often in the form of oils or extracts, to deliver results free of the harmful toxins that supposedly lurk beneath the surface of their synthetic counterparts.
According to True Botanicals founder Hillary Peterson, the hype is real. Peterson launched her brand after finding herself dissatisfied with the efficacy of the clean beauty options on the market. A cancer diagnosis following the birth of twins underscored the importance of the goods in her regimen, and the natural products she came across simply weren’t up to snuff. The experience led to an epiphany. “If I, a young cancer survivor who wants to be pursuing every single possible way to be healthier, don’t want to use clean, natural skin care”, Peterson remembers thinking, “why would anyone else?”
Every True Botanicals product is certified by MADE SAFE, a nonprofit organization that specializes in comprehensive safety standards backed by a mix of scientists, skin care professionals, and heavily-credentialed PhDs. Peterson points to the MADE SAFE seal as a serious differentiator in an increasingly crowded market, one that pushes the brand to innovate and develop ever more effective formulas.
But not all brands are as rigorous in their R&D, even if their marketing proudly touts the same sort of results. That grey area can lead to confusion, and sometimes, intentional obfuscation. There’s a healthy amount of skepticism surrounding botanicals and their ability to work as effectively as their less natural counterparts—and whether they’re entirely natural to begin with. That skepticism is partially rooted in reality, says Michelle Wong, a Sydney-based skin care expert with a PhD in chemistry and a YouTube channel where she deftly explains—and often debunks—common beauty industry myths in a simple, straightforward manner. “Some botanical ingredients can be very effective,” Wong notes, “but you’re limited to what already exists in nature, and plants didn’t evolve just to give us nice skin.”
Peterson attributes botanical skin care’s popularity to a growing appreciation that “nature knows best.” But does it? Over the years, skin care …….
