Organic vs. Clean vs. Naturally-Derived
What It All Actually Means — GB Style
The beauty industry loves to blur lines. Brands toss around words like organic, clean, non-GMO, vegan, and naturally-derived as if they’re all the same thing.
They’re not.
Why does it matter?
When you know what these labels mean, you shop more strategically.
You see past marketing ploys.
You choose formulas that match your values, your skin, and your standards.
At Gladiateur Beauty™, we use these definitions intentionally — not as decoration.
Because an educated customer isn’t just loyal… they’re unstoppable.
Here’s a simple breakdown of what it all actually means.
Organic | Clean | Naturally-Derived | Non-GMO | Vegan
“Organic” — the strictest of the strict.
Organic skincare ingredients are the overachievers of the industry.
They’re grown without:
synthetic pesticides
synthetic fertilizers
genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
They follow certified organic farming standards that have actual rulebooks — not vibes. When an ingredient is truly organic, a certifying body (like USDA or COSMOS Organic) has receipts to prove it.
NOTE: Watch out for sellers that slap “Organic” on everything without backing up the claims. (Indie formulators often run into this while shopping for suppliers, and the best ones can spot a fake claim very quickly.)
In short: organic = grown cleanly, handled carefully, and verified.
“Clean” — ingredient integrity without the farm rules.
Clean skincare isn’t about farming practices.
It’s about avoiding known or suspected harmful ingredients, like:
parabens
sulfates
phthalates
formaldehyde releasers
Clean formulas prioritize safety and transparency, but they don’t have to be organic, natural, or naturally-derived. Synthetic ingredients are allowed — as long as they’re proven safe.
NOTE: “Synthetic” sounds like a dirty word, but sometimes the cleanest form of an ingredient is synthesized. There could be an organic ingredient that your skin reacts to, whereas the synthetic version may be less irritating for your skin.
Clean = transparency and safety, not certification.
“Naturally-Derived” — nature with a little science (and one of our favorites)!
Naturally-derived ingredients start as plants, minerals, or other natural sources…
but they don’t stay in their wild form.
They undergo safe chemical processing to:
increase stability
improve texture
boost performance
make them usable on real skin
Think of it as nature refined — not raw, not artificial, but somewhere in the sweet spot where effectiveness and elegance meet.
Naturally-derived = nature upgraded.
“Non-GMO” — no genetic modification, no surprises.
Non-GMO simply means the ingredient was not created or altered using genetic engineering. That’s it.
It doesn’t automatically mean:
organic
pesticide-free
natural
cleaner
safer
It just means the plant wasn't genetically modified at the DNA level.
Non-GMO = untouched genetics, not automatically “better.”
“Vegan” — no animal ingredients, period.
A vegan skincare product contains zero animal-derived ingredients, including:
beeswax
lanolin
collagen
carmine
honey (sometimes debated, but typically excluded in strict vegan labeling)
It does not automatically mean:
natural
organic
clean
gentle
Vegan simply = plant-based and animal-free.
