The clean beauty movement is built on an appealing but incomplete premise: that ingredients derived from nature are inherently better — for skin and for the planet. The reality is more complicated, and the parts it ignores cause real harm.
Industrial-scale botanical sourcing depends on monoculture agriculture: vast single-crop farming systems that deplete soil, collapse biodiversity, require heavy pesticide use, and generate high transport emissions. The ingredient on the label sounds virtuous. The supply chain behind it often isn't.
Meanwhile, biotech and green-chemistry alternatives— routinely dismissed as "synthetic" — can deliver superior stability, higher efficacy at lower concentrations, and a fraction of the ecological footprint. Our Beyond Natural lens is how we navigate this honestly.
"Free from synthetics" is not a sustainability claim. It's a marketing position — one that leaves feedstock sourcing, big agriculture, and biodiversity impact entirely off the table. - Daniella Inbar, Founder
The following is not an argument against nature. It's an argument for honesty about what "natural" sourcing actually costs— and for a more rigorous way of choosing ingredients based on total impact, not label appeal.
The Beyond Natural Argument
What "natural" sourcing can hide |
What the Beyond Natural lens delivers |
| Monoculture feedstock farming - soil depletion, heavy pesticide dependency, biodiversity collapse at industrial scale | Green-chemistry synthesis - ingredients produced without extracting from vulnerable ecosystems or industrial agriculture supply chains |
| "Natural" actives at low, inefficacious concentrations the label reads well, the clinical result doesn't follow | Biotech and nature-identical ingredients at efficacious concentrations — more stable, more predictable, and more effective for skin |
| High-volume botanical extraction — significant water use, seasonal inconsistency affecting formula stability batch to batch | Responsibly engineered materials where they outperform the natural alternative on both skin outcome and environmental impact |
| "Free from synthetics" as the entire sustainability claim — feedstock origin, big ag footprint, supply chain emissions left unexamined | Full supply chain scrutiny — no petrochemical derivatives, no microplastics, and a clear policy on when biotech is the more responsible choice |
"Natural" isn't always sustainable. Science isn't always harmful. The industry conflates both — and the planet pays for it. Our Beyond Natural lens is the practical answer: choose ingredients based on total impact, not label appeal.
Our Beyond Natural Commitments
| Green chemistry principles throughout | Confirmed |
| No petrochemical derivatives | Confirmed |
| No microplastics | Confirmed |
| Non-stripping cleansers — acid mantle preserved | Confirmed |
| Beyond-natural lens — nature-identical where better for skin and planet | Active |
| Full supply chain scrutiny on every formula: | Policy |