There is no shortage of products claiming to be natural. Walk into any pharmacy or scroll through any beauty platform and you will find the word everywhere — on serums, cleansers, body balms, lip care. But spend any time formulating natural skincare and you quickly realise that the word itself means very little without a clear definition behind it.
This is something I examined carefully when building Peruda. Not as a marketing exercise, but as a formulation question: what does natural actually mean, and why do some believe that it's better for skin health?
Natural is not automatically better - but for Peruda, it's deliberately chosen
Not all natural ingredients are created equal. The Amazonian botanicals at the heart of Peruda formulations are pure and potent — cold pressed and minimally processed, which preserves the full biological integrity of each ingredient. It is precisely this minimal processing that keeps all the natural properties intact — the properties that work in natural symbiosis with the skin's own biology. For people with sensitive skin conditions or blemish-prone skin, that level of compatibility makes an enormous difference.
Skin is a complex, living organ. It has its own microbiome, its own barrier function, its own immune system, and its own biochemical processes that keep it healthy and resilient. It is also the body's first line of defence — signalling, protecting, and triggering chain reactions within our hormone, immune, and brain function, while those same systems signal back to the skin in return.
For people with sensitive skin or blemish-prone skin, that ecosystem is often already under pressure — from environmental stressors, from hormonal changes, from products that disrupt rather than support the skin barrier. What skin needs in these cases is not more intervention, but better compatibility.
This is the lens through which I define natural skincare at Peruda.
Green-trusting: natural skincare evidenced by science
Natural, for Peruda, means ingredients whose biological properties align with the skin's own biology — not because they come from a plant, but because of what they naturally do. The Amazonian botanicals at the heart of Peruda — Copaiba, Andiroba, Pracaxi, Murumuru, Cupuaçu, Tucumã — were chosen because their properties work with skin's own biochemistry. Their efficacy is evidenced by scientific studies, all of which are available to read in our science & knowledge journal.
I call this green-trusting. It is the opposite of green-washing — claims that are not just made, but proven.
Peruda is NATRUE certified natural cosmetic, and all formulations are waterless — a formulation choice that is both beneficial for skin and better for the environment.
Ethical sourcing: taking from nature regeneratively
Natural skincare also means something beyond the formula. The plants we use are part of living ecosystems with their own biodiversity, their own communities, their own long history of naturopathic use. How you source them matters as much as why you chose them.
There is a way of working with nature that is regenerative — that protects, sustains, and gives back. And there is a way that is purely extractive. For natural skincare to be genuinely sustainable, the sourcing has to be as honest as the formulation.
Peruda is a UEBT member — the Union for Ethical BioTrade — because that standard reflects how we actually source our Amazonian ingredients, not because we needed a badge.
Ethical business: being part of nature
The third dimension of natural, and perhaps the most overlooked in the natural skincare conversation, is our relationship with nature itself. We are not separate from the ecosystems we depend on. Our bodies, our skin biology, the plants we use — all are part of the same natural system. If that is your starting point, then protecting nature is not a separate sustainability commitment. It is the same instinct expressed outward.
At Peruda, natural skincare is Swiss-made, NATRUE certified, ethically sourced, and formulated for sensitive skin and skin recovery. But more than that, it is built on a definition of natural that holds up to scrutiny — scientifically, ethically, and environmentally.
That is what natural skincare means at Peruda.
Read the scientific references behind Peruda's Amazonian botanicals.
Explore our clinical FAQ.