A personal journey of disillusionment in the 'Wild West' of cosmetics led to a commitment to transparency and truly natural, ethical skincare at AYA Natural Skin
The Unregulated "Wild West" of Beauty
My disillusionment with the beauty industry began in the early days when I was still creating AYA Balm. I was at a Durban traffic light, and I remember the exact moment: a flash of clarity. You could literally bottle any concoction, label it 'skincare,' then patent it or shroud it as an 'industry secret,' and nobody would stop you. The sector felt so utterly unregulated, a true free-for-all. The stalwarts of the industry will deny this emphatically, and I would love for them to prove me wrong, but I am quite sure they would have a very hard time, as a plethora of skin care lines are launched literally every minute in South Africa to substantiate my statement. I was living in Durban, waiting at a traffic light, wondering what it would be like to stand on the corner in front of me with a sign stating: “The beauty industry is an elaborate con, and we are all up the creek with no paddle”. This led me on a journey in search of clean beauty ingredients only derived from botanical extracts, and to formulate with them in AYA Natural Skin at all times.
When a product just isnt"Natural": A Boogieboarding Anecdote
And here is another story that absolutely proves my point. If you know me, then you know, as a quintessential Pisces, I am a water baby, and boogie boarding, or known today under the professional categorisation as bodyboarding, is my sport of choice. For the second time, I entered a local competition in my age group, 45 and over, and I came third in every heat; there were only three contestants. My children love telling anyone who will listen this very pertinent fact. This year, however, I won an award for the most style on the waves, pretty fab. I received a lovely prize, but one thing freaked me out: the 100% all-natural cream contained sodium laureate sulphate, a huge no-no in the reputable certified natural world, which took me back to a bridge in Durban wondering about a sign……
The Regulatory Gap: Why Cosmetics Differ from Pharmaceuticals
In reality, despite appearances, the beauty industry—especially regarding 'natural' claims—operates with a concerning lack of enforceable certification and regulation. Manufacturers and producers are largely free to choose which, if any, certification bodies they adhere to. While regulations vary globally, with some countries being stricter, in South Africa, the landscape can only be described as the Wild West..
When you look at the cosmetic industry as a whole, the first thing to note is how it is managed differently from the medical or pharmaceutical industry. Unlike pharmaceuticals, many cosmetics don't require rigorous testing or approval before being launched and hitting the shelves. The main reason for this falls under the intended uses and perceived risk profiles of cosmetics versus pharmaceutical drugs. Pharmaceuticals are created in the hope of improving bodily function and or treating diseases. They generally are required to undergo rigorous pre-market approval processes. In contrast, cosmetics are considered to be only for surface-level cleansing, beautifying, or altering appearance and thus typically do not require such extensive pre-market testing or approval. However, the notion that skincare only affects the surface level is something that can be easily challenged in modern skincare with the rise of active ingredients, advanced delivery systems, cosmeceuticals and microbiome science. Therefore, the idea that skincare only "sits on top" is becoming outdated in many contexts, and we delved deeper into this on our blog post, Skin Deep, or Deeper? . For the sake of clarity, we, at AYA Natural Skin, believe in natural cosmeceuticals – harnessing the power of potent botanical extracts and naturally derived actives to deliver visible, transformative results for your skin, without compromising on our commitment to clean, ethical formulations.
The Onus on Manufacturers: Gaps in Compliance
So what you have instead is regulatory bodies like SAHPRA in South Africa, the FDA (now with MoCRA) in the US, and the EU's stricter framework, where they place the onus on manufacturers to ensure safety and compliance, because quite simply, they dont need pre-market approval for every product. So there is a significant responsibility on manufacturers to ensure compliance and substantiate their claims, and this is where the gaps can arise, despite the existing regulatory framework. Consequently, manufacturers rely more on post-market surveillance and stringent labelling requirements, placing the responsibility on the actual ethics of the producers, manufacturers, and sellers, which is a tricky choice on a good day in a capitalist society, or any society for that matter.
The Meaningless "Natural" and the Rise of Greenwashing
The concept of ‘natural’ itself presents another layer of complexity, often leading us into muddy water. The term “Natural”, which is wholly abused and generally completely disconnected from any actual truth, is so more often than not rendered virtually meaningless. There is a distinct and worrying lack of universal, legally binding definitions for terms like “natural”, "organic," "clean," or "eco-friendly" in cosmetic labelling, mainly due to the lack of governmental regulation and subsequent control of said regulations, as explained. It is this ambiguity that allows and enables brands to make vague and/or misleading claims without sufficient proof, creating what can only be referred to as greenwashing. While there are independent certification bodies, like Cosmos, Ecocert, NATRUE or Soil, that provide a verifiable standard, they are all ascribed to voluntarily by the beauty industry, and that means that their standards are not legally mandated for all products making "natural" claimsUltimately, what happens is that we, as consumers, are susceptible to the misleading claims that clean skin care beauty ingredients are, in fact, natural. When products are marketed as "natural" but contain complex or difficult-to-trace ingredients, it raises questions about their authenticity and transparency. There is a great example of this, by a big south african brand, who shall remain nameless, where they have created a trademark ingredient which is not a single, plant derived oil like olive oil or jojoba oil, but rather a blend of synthetic emollients that have been specifically chosen and processed to achieve a very light, non-greasy feel and to enhance the absorption of other ingredients in the formula. When you read the label, it just says the name of the oil. Still, this oil is made up of synthetic esters typically synthesised from petrochemical (petroleum-derived) components and fatty alcohols/acids. Many oils used in the clean beauty industry are plant-based oils, such as olive or jojoba oil, which are chemically classified as esters (specifically triglycerides). However, a synthetic combination of esters, while potentially exhibiting oily characteristics, is not what consumers typically understand as a 'natural oil' from a plant or animal source. Given the privilege of freedom of choice that we have in South Africa, using petroleum-derived products should be a straightforward choice for consumers, not a nuanced interpretation hidden behind clever branding. And while this brand makes clear this ingredient isnt used in their “Natural” range, it only makes me wonder.
The Unseen Costs: Health Risks and Economic Disadvantages
The biggest challenge that the worldwide regulatory void poses is the unseen cost, similar to unclear source or breakdown of the actual ingredients, and what potential health risks exist for these products. Least of all, the actual economic disadvantages for ethical brands that are genuinely committed to rigorous testing and responsible sourcing. In essence, what happens in reality is that the proliferation of vague and unclear marketing, aka greenwashing, on top of the circulation of unclear and potentially unsafe products, builds a lack of consumer trust and harms the credibility of the beauty industry as a whole.
A Shifting Tide: Consumer-Driven Change and Transparency
But it's not all doom and gloom, as I wrote previously, 2023 emerged as a pivotal year, marking the early stages of a consumer-driven shift that has begun to force change, even in the absence of robust regulation implementation. The beauty hero we never knew we needed, Pamela Anderson, and we are so grateful for her makeup-free appearance at Paris Fashion Week, a beautiful and powerful embrace of raw, real beauty that resonated deeply with a growing public yearning for honesty in influencer marketing and personal expression. This stance eloquently rejected the "perfect" and often misleading imagery that an unregulated industry has found it so easy to promote.
This consumer-driven demand for genuine transparency has propelled several key trends to the forefront, most notably the push for clear, safe, and easily digestible ingredients that empower consumers to make informed choices. There has also been a great push for eco-conscious packaging, ethical sourcing of ingredients and supply chain transparency of ingredient origins and fair trade. All of the above are favourite topics of ours at AYA Natural Skin, and of course, we wrote a blog about it. Consumers are starting to demand simpler, more effective, and environmentally conscious routines that prioritise skin health over cosmetic camouflage, and we are so here for it.
Empowering the Consumer: Our Only Choice
This is the world we live in, and this is how the beauty industry works. It is within this complex landscape that our only choice is to empower ourselves as consumers. We need to look beyond the tantalising images and golden promises to actually see and read the labels carefully and look up the INCI Names , and then take it a step further to understand if this is an ingredient you want on your face. While seeking out reputable third-party certifications like Ecocert, COSMOS, or USDA Organic can offer a verifiable standard, it's crucial to remember their voluntary nature and varying criteria. So, it's up to you, the consumer, to determine what's important to you and create your consumer guide to natural beauty, helping you navigate your clean beauty choices and bearing in mind that choosing ethical skincare is always good. And finally, know this: if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is too good to be true! Cynical, possibly, but with the murky waters of the beauty industry and the term natural, it's the only option.
AYA Natural Skin: Our Commitment to Transparency
At AYA Natural Skin, we are deeply dedicated to transparency, ethical practices, and product integrity, precisely because of the broader industry's regulatory shortcomings. Our products are meticulously formulated with transparency, efficacy and safety as priorities. And of course, feeling so strongly about this led us to write about “Natural” Skincare: Is your product truly Natural? But more importantly, as consumers, we need to ask ourselves whether the brand names we choose to purchase have spent the time and energy to define and explain what natural means to them and how it reflects in their product range. Becoming more conscious and selective consumers will create a more accountable future that demands transparency, is committed to ethical sourcing, and creates brands that proudly stand behind their verifiable claims of being authentic and fitting with the true ethos of plant-based skincare.