Can I Develop a Skincare Product Using Only Natural Ingredients?

Short answer: Yes, and there are two distinct routes to a genuinely natural formulation: sourcing plant-derived actives directly, or using ingredients that are natural-identical but produced through engineered biology rather than extraction — which can be a more sustainable option than harvesting the same molecule from a plant or other natural source at scale.

Two ways to go natural

Plant-derived extracts. Hexis Lab’s discovery work includes identifying and characterising natural, plant-based active ingredients, and assessing their safety and biological activity before use.

Naturally-identical, sustainably produced actives. Some high-value natural compounds are difficult to source sustainably at scale because the plant or organism that naturally produces them is rare, slow-growing or endangered. Hexis Lab’s synthetic biology work has demonstrated that specific naturally occurring compounds can instead be produced biologically, using engineered microorganisms, avoiding unsustainable extraction while keeping the resulting molecule natural-identical.

Preservation is often the hardest part of a natural formulation to get right — our published research on natural preservative systems addresses exactly this.

How Hexis Lab approaches this

Whichever route fits your product, natural-ingredient formulations go through the same compatibility, stability and efficacy testing as any other formulation before a claim is attached to them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a lab-produced natural-identical ingredient still “natural”?

This depends on the certification standard you are targeting; we can advise on which route is compatible with specific natural or clean-beauty certifications.

Are natural preservatives as effective as synthetic ones?

Some natural preservative systems can be effective, but typically need to be combined carefully and tested for antimicrobial performance – this is covered in our published research on the topic.