Selling natural hair cosmetics under a private label takes a manufacturer that formulates with ingredients of natural origin and, above all, a label that can prove what it promises. In the European Union "natural" has no legal definition, so every percentage and every "free from" you print has to be backed by evidence.
What Does "Natural" Mean in a Shampoo or a Mask?
No law defines it. Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, the rule that governs cosmetics in the EU and that the Spanish agency AEMPS lists on its cosmetics legislation page, sets safety, labelling and permitted substances, but no threshold for naturalness. What "natural" means in your range is decided by your brand, together with its laboratory.
There is a common method for putting a figure on it. The ISO 16128-2 standard describes how to calculate the natural origin index of each ingredient and, from it, the natural origin content of the product. ISO itself points out what it leaves out: the standard does not address product communication, that is, neither claims nor labelling.
Private seals such as COSMOS or NATRUE are another route: they add their own criteria and an external certification, in exchange for narrowing the list of possible ingredients even further. Neither the index nor a seal is mandatory. What is mandatory is that what you say is true and can be proven.
As a reference for how such a figure is expressed, Yanguas states 95 % ingredients of natural origin for its curly range Love Natural Curls, and, in its Green Beauty programme, over 97 % ingredients of natural origin in its formulas.
What the Label of a Natural Brand Can Say
The claims of any cosmetic, natural or not, have to meet the six common criteria of Regulation (EU) 655/2013: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed decision-making. The technical document on cosmetic claims that AEMPS lists next to that regulation turns them into examples, and the most useful ones for a natural line are the "free from" kind:
| Claim | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| Free from an already banned ingredient (corticosteroids) | No, the law already bans it |
| Free from formaldehyde, with a formaldehyde releaser | No, it is not truthful |
| Free from preservatives, with alcohol or another protector | Only if a challenge test backs it |
| Free from allergenic substances | No, that cannot be guaranteed |
| Free from animal-derived ingredients, for vegans | Yes, if it meets the other criteria |
The same document treats as unfair a "free from" that discredits an authorised, safe ingredient or implies that its whole group is dangerous. For a natural brand, the practical consequence is to write the label in positive terms, saying what the product contains and in what proportion, rather than in negative ones.
💡 Technical tip: write the list of statements you want to print before closing the formula and ask the laboratory, for each one, for the evidence behind it: a natural origin calculation, an analysis or a test. A statement with no evidence does not go on the pack.
Does a Natural Formula Keep and Perform as Well?
It can, but it takes more laboratory work. The more ingredients the brief excludes (silicones, certain preservatives, certain surfactants), the fewer tools remain to give the formula stability, a pleasant texture and a reasonable shelf life in a bathroom, which is a warm and humid place.
That is why a natural development goes through samples and adjustments until the formula is validated, and through the control of every batch before it is sold. Yanguas makes 100 % of its products in Tudela (Navarra), every batch goes through physical and microbiological controls before release and production follows the good manufacturing practices of ISO 22716. Its R&D laboratory works with plant-based and vegan actives, and the brand says it is moving progressively towards more natural ingredients.
It pays not to confuse two promises. A vegan product excludes ingredients of animal origin but may contain synthetic ingredients; one with a high natural origin content may include beeswax. Decide which of the two you want to make, or whether you make both, because each is proven with different data.
Which Natural Products to Launch First
The natural line that starts best is the one that answers something your clients already ask for. In hair care these tend to be gentle cleansing shampoos, light conditioners, masks with plant oils and curly hair routines, a category that lives precisely on knowing which ingredients are left out.
Yanguas manufactures hair care for third parties (shampoos, conditioners, masks and serums), curly method products and vegan cosmetics and natural formulas, drawing on a portfolio of more than 700 formulations. Adapting an already validated formula shortens development; creating one from scratch gives more difference from other private labels, at the cost of more time spent on samples and tests.
A short range in which every product meets the same definition of natural, told in the same words, is easier to defend on the label than a long one with a different criterion for each reference. A client who reads two packs from your brand should find the same promise.
What to Bring to the First Meeting with the Manufacturer
The project stages, formula ownership and who is legally responsible for the product are the same as for any own brand. What is specific to a natural line is arriving with your definition of natural in writing: the minimum natural origin percentage you want to declare and how it will be calculated, the list of ingredients you exclude, whether the range will be vegan and the exact statements you would like to see on the pack.
With that sheet, the laboratory can tell you from the start what is feasible, what makes the formula more expensive and which statement will need rewording. Finding that out in the feasibility study costs far less than finding it out with the pack already printed.
Take that sheet to the briefing meeting and ask the laboratory that will make your natural private label line with Yanguas to check, statement by statement, what the formula can back before anyone designs the label.
