What began as a niche movement is now a crowded, fast- evolving market where certifications, sustainability metrics, and brand-led standards are shaping how trust is built
For years, beauty and personal care products labeled “organic” and “natural” have carried a kind of built-in promise; cleaner, safer, better. But as the category has exploded, that promise has become murkier and harder to define and verify in any uniform way. “Organic and natural beauty have gone mainstream, but regulation of these products hasn’t kept up, as there’s still no standardized federal definition for cosmetics
in the U.S. and so many claims remain marketing- driven,” says Kseniya Kobets, MD, director of cosmetic dermatology at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care in New York City. “There’s still no unified certification we can look to,” says Tara Grodjesk, cofounder of the Green Spa Network and founder of Tara Spa Therapy, which only adds to the ambiguity.
As the clean beauty movement has evolved, so has the role of the certifications. “Internal expertise has grown and the cosmetic regulatory framework has become more structured,” explains Eve Mérinville, head of R&D and director of skincare innovation at Comfort Zone, a longevity-focused regenerative skincare company based in Italy. “For some brands the certifications are no longer an absolute priority. Today, reliability increasingly passes through internal policies and standards, guided by its sustainability strategy and the brand itself, its communication and the formulation rigor it can convey,” Mérinville says. “In other words, credibility no longer derives solely from a certification seal, but from the overall coherence and integrity of the brand in all its operations.”
This shift has been building for years, driven by overall consumer awareness around ingredients used in beauty and self-care products and how they’re sourced. “The landscape of organic certification has definitely evolved a lot in the last 10 to 15 years,” says Lisa Starr, a spa business consultant, educator, and host of The StarrCast podcast. “Early entrants like The Body Shop made consumers realize that they didn’t know much about the products they were putting on their bodies and how they were made.” And the industry evolved quickly as people had more access to information online and there became a demand for companies to be transparent about what’s in their products and how they formulate them. Advances in formulation, sustainability, and ingredient sourcing have raised the bar across the board. What was once niche is now the new normal, but with that growth, credibility has moved beyond just labels to a more nuanced standard rooted in science, transparency, and consistency.
More Labels, More Questions
While consumers are certainly more aware and educated when it comes to clean beauty, thanks in part to the evolution of easily accessible information, there’s also a layer of confusion. “People are more informed about ingredients and what they do but are also more confused as terms like clean and natural are not scientifically standardized and don’t guarantee safety or efficacy,” says Dr. Kobets. “Studies show that natural ingredients themselves can be irritating or allergenic, so formulation and quality and actual ingredients matter more than labeling.” And the expansion of the category may have made things more complicated. “There are more choices for clean beauty today, but they are still at varying degrees and it’s hard for the consumer to distinguish what is clean,” says Grodjesk. You might see products that are marketed as natural but contain synthetic fragrance, for example. “I think the clean beauty boom has made it more, not less, confusing for consumers partly because there are multiple issues to consider,” says Starr. “There are organic ingredients, yes, but also ethical business practices, Fair Trade manufacturing methods, recyclable packaging.”
But the positive outcome is that there is a wide choice of beauty products today that are more thoughtfully formulated than they were 15 years ago. “Once some companies started making changes and marketing clean and/or organic products, others felt pressured to follow suit,” says Starr.
What’s Changing in Certification Standards
As the language around organic and clean beauty has become more ambiguous, the standards and specifics of what makes a truly organic or clean beauty product are expanding. “We’re seeing mention of certification shifting from simple ingredient percentages to traceability, sourcing, and processing standards, although USDA ingredient thresholds (100%, 95%, 75%) remain the clearest framework in the U.S.,” explains Dr. Kobets. “Newer standards increasingly evaluate the entire supply chain and batches, not just what’s in the formula.”
Packaging and ingredient sourcing are two areas where there’s been a significant evolution. “Packing is now being evaluated alongside ingredients, with standards emphasizing reduced waste (like refillable bottles), recyclability, and material safety, since we’re exposed to so many chemicals as is,” says Dr. Kobets. “The focus has expanded from formulation to full product lifecycle impact on the consumer and the world.”
The sustainability conversation doesn’t stop at packaging. Increasingly, the focus is going more upstream toward how the ingredients themselves are grown and sourced. “Alongside traditional organic certifications, new criteria linked to ingredient sustainability and, more importantly, soil regeneration, are emerging,” says Mérinville. “A major driver is the growing interest in regenerative agriculture, a model that goes beyond sustainability to actively restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and improve crop resilience.”
Another big change in the industry is around the environmental statements beauty brands make. The European Union’s Green Claims Directive, which is a proposed regulation meant to eliminate “greenwashing” by requiring companies to substantiate, verify, and approve voluntary environmental claims and labels before they’re used, has been put on hold, but another initiative, Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT), still tightly regulates what companies can claim. “The ECGT adds another crucial layer by prohibiting unsubstantiated or generic environmental claims and restricts misleading or vague sustainability labels,” explains Mérinville. “Today only claims that are scientifically backed, measurable, and verifiable are going to be considered acceptable,” she says. “This isn’t just a tightening of the rules; it’s a structural change in industry standards, moving the focus from storytelling to proven results and full traceability.”
What Different Certifications Actually Mean
Against this more complex backdrop, certifications still play a big role, and there are a few that carry weight.
In the United States, the USDA Organic seal remains one of the most recognized and carries a lot of weight because it’s federally regulated, says Dr. Kobets. Cosmetic products with organic claims must meet both USDA regulations for the organic claim and FDA regulations for labeling and safety requirements. A little refresher on the USDA categories. There are four:
100% organic, which means the product is made of 100 percent certified organic ingredients. Organic, in which the product and ingredients must be certified organic.
“Made with,” which means at least 70 percent of the product is certified organic ingredients. And Specific Organic Ingredients, which is a category for products containing less than 70 percent organic ingredients.
EcoCert is one of the oldest and most widely recognized European certification bodies. It evaluates the percentage of organic or natural ingredients in a formula and also how those ingredients are sourced, manufactured, and processed. This includes restrictions on certain synthetic ingredients, requirements around biodegradability, and environmental standards for how a product is produced.
The COSMOS (Cosmetic Organic and Natural Standard) is a unified European framework developed by several certification organizations, including EcoCert. COSMOS looks at the full lifecycle of a product from raw material sourcing and processing methods to environmental impact, packaging, and labeling transparency.
Other certifications, such as the Union for Ethical Biotrade’s (UEBT) “sourcing with respect” and Fair Trade, focus on protecting biodiversity, establishing ethical sourcing systems, and ensuring fair livelihoods and prices for farmers, explains Mérinville.
What about products that don’t have any certifications? “Certainly, when a brand chooses not to pursue formal certifications, the first element to evaluate is the credibility it has built over time,” says Mérinville. “Brand coherence, transparency in communication, and the perceived quality of its formulations are often stronger indicators than any label.”
Decoding the Labels
Even for the most well-informed consumer, navigating the shelves of beauty and personal care products can be overwhelming. The most useful tools are often the simplest. “Consumers should focus on ingredients lists, the evidence behind the active ingredients, real reviews, and company name, not just marketing claims,” says Dr. Kobets. “Both natural and synthetic ingredients can be irritating, and proper preservation (preventing the growth of bacteria and yeast) is essential.” Additional practical aspects to consider:
The ingredients list: There’s a standard by which cosmetic products have to adhere to when formulating their ingredients lists, and it’s called the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient (INCI). “The INCI remains a fundamental tool, although it is not always easy to interpret. For this reason, many companies and digital platforms are working to make ingredients lists more accessible through glossaries, QR codes, and educational tools that clarify the function and origin of raw materials,” explains Mérinville. That said, if you’re looking for products with certain active ingredients (retinol, hyaluronic acid, for example), make sure those are at the top of the list, says Dr. Kobets.
Specific details about the product: The information brands choose to put on their packaging can tell you a lot. Details such as the percentage of natural origin ingredients, biodegradability, or the sourcing of raw materials can represent a tangible sign of a brand’s commitment to making responsible choices in its processes. Mentions of sustainable sourcing and manufacturing, or traceable supply chains, are also meaningful indicators of quality, says Mérinville.
Transparency and consistency: At the end of the day, it’s not just what a brand says on the label. “Continuity makes the difference,” says Mérinville. A brand that consistently maintains high standards, improves its formulas over time, and invests in research and stays committed to environmental responsibility builds trust that goes beyond formal certifications.
What’s Next
Even with all the progress, the next phase of organic beauty will be defined by accountability. “The future of beauty is not about sounding clean, it’s about being able to prove it for each new batch that the company makes,” says Dr. Kobets. “We need more organizations standardizing oversight and proof- based claims.” That shift, in part, is being driven by the consumers themselves, who are placing value on companies’ ethics, transparency, and environmental responsibility. “This creates a wonderful opportunity for the new, boutique and smaller manufacturers and creators of beauty brands,” says Starr.
The tools to support that level of scrutiny are evolving quickly to help companies rise to the challenge. “The growing availability of traceable and scientifically analyzable ingredients is making organic and clean beauty increasingly concrete and measurable,” says Mérinville. This enables beauty brands to verify sourcing, environmental impact, and supply chain integrity with greater precision. “The future of clean beauty is not about sacrificing results for sustainability,” says Mérinville. “It’s about integrating both.”