Organic Professional Skincare: Laws, Labels, And Sourcing Explained
The organic professional skincare market is underserved - and that’s a real opportunity for small beauty brands like yours.
But if you’re new to the business, how do you verify that your products measure up to ‘organic’ standards? Missing the mark won’t just erode consumer trust, it can also land you in legal trouble.
Innacos is here to help!
Our in-depth guide below outlines everything you need to know about building an organic professional skincare line.
We discuss the ‘organic’ requirements in the US, the best alternative to ‘organic’ skincare for brands that value health and the environment, and the three potential manufacturing methods to create your professional skincare line.
Why Create Organic Professional Skincare?
While sourcing truly organic professional skincare can be difficult, there’s no denying the consumer demand.
A new 2025 study by NSF revealed that 74% of consumers consider organic ingredients important in cosmetic formulas.
The respondents associated organic products with better health, fewer ‘chemicals’, and higher product quality. Plus, 45% of the survey takers were happy to pay a premium for certified organic cosmetics made with organic ingredients.
Among the younger demographic (ages 18-29), that figure rose to 62%.
There’s a clear gap in the market here for a small home-to-lab brand like yours.
Not just in the DTC space, but also in the B2B professional skincare market, supplying health-focused retailers, spas, facialists, and clean beauty platforms.
The Difference Between ‘Natural’ and ‘Organic’
‘Natural’ and ‘organic’ skincare are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not the same.
Natural skincare products are those made without synthetic ingredients. In the US, the term is not regulated by the FDA.
However, Cosmetic Business highlights multiple cases of manufacturers in trouble with the FTC for labelling products that contained some synthetic ingredients as ‘natural’.
On the other hand, the term ‘organic’ is regulated under US law by the USDA. According to the USDA, organic skincare products are those that contain (at least) 95% organically produced ingredients (we’ll explore this in more detail later).
The process of sourcing truly organic ingredients - and getting your skincare certified organic - is a lot trickier than many new brand founders expect.
The Difficulty of Sourcing ‘Organic’ Ingredients
Working with ‘organic’ ingredients requires a high level of trust.
The reality is, even if your ingredients arrive labeled ‘organic,’ once they’re removed from the original packaging, there’s no way to verify their organic status.
Certifying documents can help, but you’re always relying on the honesty and integrity of your suppliers.
To complicate matters further, organic standards vary from country to country.
A product that meets US criteria for organic labeling may not qualify under EU regulations, and vice versa. This is important if you plan to ship internationally.
This makes choosing the right manufacturer even more crucial.
If you partner with a supplier abroad, there’s no guarantee that what counts as an ‘organic’ formula in their country will meet the USDA’s standards for ‘organic’ products.
Learn more about the complexities of sourcing ‘organic’ cosmetics in our full blog post here.
Can I Label My Cosmetics ‘Organic’?
You’ve found a manufacturer you trust, and formulated your organic professional skincare line. Can you label your products as ‘organic’?
Not so fast.
You need to be careful about making ‘organic’ claims on your packaging or in your marketing.
While the FDA does not regulate the term ‘organic’ itself, it does oversee cosmetic labeling and advertising to ensure no misleading claims are made.
The actual regulation of the term ‘organic’ for cosmetics comes from the USDA, through its National Organic Program (NOP). If your product contains agricultural ingredients, the USDA provides the standards and certification to use the term legally.
What Counts As Organic?
It depends on the percentage of organic ingredients in your skincare product.
Here’s how it works, as outlined by NSF:
Cosmetics that contain at least 95% organically produced ingredients can be labeled “organic” (excluding water and salt).
Products with at least 70% organic ingredients can be labeled ‘made with organic ingredients’ but cannot use the USDA seal.
Products with less than 70% organic content can only list individual organic ingredients on the ingredient panel - they cannot make an overall ‘organic’ product claim.
‘Organic’ Or ‘Clean Beauty’?
Verifying the organic status of your products and getting USDA certified can be a complex and expensive process.
If you’re in the early phases of building your small professional skincare brand, organic skincare may be out of reach right now.
But that doesn’t mean you need to compromise on your brand’s values.
If your goal is to bring health-conscious, skin-safe products to your consumers without the certification issues, clean beauty may be a better place to start.
It’s generally easier to find manufacturers that specialize in clean beauty. In contrast, not many suppliers are equipped to formulate USDA-certified organic skincare.
Clean skincare products are formulated without ingredients known or suspected to cause harm to human health or the environment. Just like organic skincare, there’s a real demand for clean beauty in the market.
A 2023 CleanHub study revealed 63% of consumers claim clean beauty is ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’ when choosing skincare and other cosmetics.
At Innacos, we specialize in clean, vegan, cruelty-free, and sustainable skincare.
Our products are formulated without over 2,000+ ingredients that just don’t belong in beauty products, including drying alcohols, petroleum, any animal products, silicones, mica, or synthetic or natural fragrances. Learn more about clean beauty at Innacos here.
Sourcing Organic Or Clean Professional Skincare
If you decide to specialize in organic or clean professional skincare, finding the right manufacturer becomes even more critical.
You’re holding the manufacturer to a higher standard - your skincare not only needs to deliver visible results, but it also must contain ingredients that meet your health, safety, and environmental values.
That’s why it’s important to hire a manufacturer that specializes in organic or clean skincare, not just one that offers it as an option.
Specialist labs will have the experience, expertise, and ingredient sourcing skills necessary to formulate in such a way that aligns with your brand’s standards.
But don’t just take their word for it. In email exchanges or discovery calls with potential manufacturers, be prepared to ask detailed questions about how they verify the ‘organic’ or ‘clean’ status of their ingredients.
Do they work with certified suppliers? How do they handle transparency and ethics in their supply chain?
Once you've confirmed that a manufacturer can formulate to your chosen standards, it’s time to test samples of their skincare and start thinking about the best manufacturing method for your brand.
Be sure to check whether your shortlisted partners offer both preformulated and custom-formulated skincare.
At Innacos, we believe in providing as much flexibility and choice as possible for our clean beauty skincare partners.
We offer both private label/bulk clean skincare, custom product creation services, and full custom formulating, along with contract manufacturing. Learn more about our manufacturing services on our website here.
Choosing A Production Method For Your Skincare Brand
There are three main production processes to create an organic professional skincare line.
1. Private Label
Private label involves adding your own customized branding to a manufacturer’s pre-formulated organic or clean skincare. It’s a faster, lower-cost way to bring your products to market, but you must be careful in your selection.
If you are looking for clean skincare, take the time to evaluate all of the ingredients for each product.
For preformulated organic skincare, this process requires even more trust. Ask questions about the organic status of each private label product, including:
Organic standards: 100% organic, simply organic, or made with organic ingredients
Ingredient traceability
Do the formulas qualify for the USDA organic seal?
At Innacos, we offer over 60 clean, cruelty-free, vegan, and sustainable skincare products on a private label/bulk basis. Order samples and review the ingredients in each formula here. Learn more in our full catalog here.
2. Custom Product Creation
If you have your heart set on some form of customization, but custom formulating is out of your reach at the early stages of your business, consider custom product creation.
This method involves adding a limited number of ingredients to a manufacturer’s existing clean or organic formula.
Again, in the case of organic formulas, every ingredient (including your added ingredients) must meet USDA standards if you intend to label it as ‘organic’ skincare.
At Innacos, our custom product creation process is hands-on, with a dedicated project manager and Zoom calls/email communication.
Plus, your CPC fees could be refunded in full (up to 150%) in the form of manufacturing credits. Learn more about custom product creation at Innacos here.
3. Custom Formulating
Dreaming of launching a brand new organic or clean professional skincare line, one unlike the market has ever seen before?
Custom formulating is the manufacturing method for you.
This involves working with a team of professional chemists to formulate unique custom organic or clean skincare from scratch.
Although it’s the most expensive and most lengthy option, it offers the highest degree of control, which makes formulating truly organic or clean skincare much easier.
At Innacos, we specialize in novel chemical research, new-to-market concepts and product formats, clean skincare, and hybrid formulas.
Plus, we offer up to 200% of your fees back in manufacturing credits. Learn more about our custom formulating process here.
In sum, the process of creating organic or clean professional skincare involves the following steps:
Understanding the definition of ‘organic’ skincare and what it takes to meet the USDA’s standards
Considering whether targeting the clean beauty market is a better approach for your brand at the early stages of your business
Vetting potential suppliers carefully for the validity of their ‘organic’ or ‘clean claims’
Deciding if private label, custom product creation, or custom formulating is the right manufacturing process for your business
Ready to source organic or clean professional skincare for your small business? Innacos is here to help! Get in touch by calling: (812) 329-1105 or emailing: customerservice@innacos.com to learn more.
