It is possible to divide natural ingredients into several layers of expectations to better see the gaps in definition of this term.

Labeling any product as having only "natural ingredients" gives it tremendous marketing appeal. Despite many contradictory examples, people sense that natural is “harmonious”, “good”, “healthy”, and “non-contaminating”. Of course death, disease, allergy, and many other unpleasant and undesirable characteristics are also natural, but some people tend to see those bad things as part of nature’s harmony and therefore not necessarily bad. Other people who do believe that “natural” can also be harmful but are still seeking natural ingredients, do also believe that, if indeed disease is generated or perpetuated by nature, then nature must also have the cure! This belief is not totally un-substantiated. There is no way to scientifically validate the belief that every bad has a matching good, but most medicines on the market are derived from or inspired by natural substances.

What is a natural ingredient?

1. Is it an ingredient which exists in nature and is used exactly in the form in which it is found, combined with all the other ingredients found in its natural origin? This is the most strict interpretation of the term. It means that olive oil is not natural and only the entire olive is natural.
2. Is it an ingredient existing in nature and obtained from nature? There are of course arguments as to what method of obtaining it from nature (extraction) is appropriate (cold press, solvent, etc.).
3. Is it an ingredient existing in nature but made, in some cases, in the laboratory?
4. Is it ingredients existing in nature which may be made in the laboratory or derived from natural sources, but when combined provide a new molecule? For example, palmitic acid and retinol are both naturally-existing molecules, but together they create retinyl palmitate, which may not exist in nature.
5. Is it "organic"? Water and inorganic materials are also natural, but many people mean “organic” when they say “natural”.
6. Is it "botanical"? Natural ingredients can be plant-derived or animal-derived or mineral-derived, but many people mean "botanical" when they say "natural". Animal-derived ingredients are subdivided into materials which can be obtained without killing the animal (eggs, milk) and materials derived from animals by killing them (meat, leather). Some people will reject all animal-derived ingredients, some will accept ingredients obtained without harming animals, and some people will accept all animal-derived ingredients. Mineral oils are also natural, though most are not well-suited for topical use; for many seekers of natural ingredients, mineral-derived material such as petroleum distillates is quite unacceptable.

Answering questions such as the above may help in better understanding product labels, and getting closer to obtaining products one feels comfortable with.

Distillation Moves Material from the Plant to the Formula

Distillation is one of the oldest technologies known to humanity; for more on ancient and traditional formulation technologies, see "From Ancient Potions to Modern Lotions", online now and in print Spring 2005. New methods of distillation have developed as advances in the understanding of heat related fractionization helped design equipment for in-line, continuous-flow distillation rather than single batch distillation, which was less suitable for commercial use. Basic distillation is limited to several conditions:

1. The desired material must be soluble in the carrier solvent.
2. The desired material must have a different (preferebly lower) boiling point than the carrier solvent.
3. The desired material should be stable at distillation temperature and not react with the carrier solvent or be changed by it.

There are more complex distillation processes which include fractionation of several soluble fractions from the bulk material and from each other.

Distillation is limited to a relatively low range of temperatures. Soluble ingredients with a very high boiling point may not be suitable for distillation and have to be isolated by other methods.

Some distillation processes may include extraction and distillation in one pass, but extraction and distillation are different technologies.

Distillation is a process to obtain one or a few desirable fractions from a crude starting material.

Solution containing crude materials for distillation must be clear (no sediments). Though extraction of starting solid materials by reflux may appear to be similar to distillation, it is not the same process.

Solvent containing crude materials may change as some of its fractions evaporate. The distillation process requires that solvent shall not separate into two phases or become cloudy; a cloudy appearance may indicate phase separation or evaporation of a certain component which affects solubility of some of the crude materials, indicating that they may start precipitating.

Distillation is most suitable for volatile ingredients. In the perfume industry, the fraction obtainable by distillation is a good match for the desired fraction; in medicinal formulations, distillation may not be the main method of choice for obtaining desirable molecules.

Processing Changes the Nature of Natural Material

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a traditional medicinal plant; parts of the plant can be extracted/distilled in several ways to create various topical applications. Witch hazel liniment is used for pain relief and recovery from bruising; the plant material has the interestingly-combined properties of controlling excess bleeding by encouraging blood to clot while also improving circulation by encouraging veins to relax. Witch hazel has also long been used as a home remedy for burns and itching, especially of mosquito bites.

When shredded twigs are steam extracted/distilled, with 14% alcohol added as a preservative, the liquid produced has a long history of use as an astringent; this is the “witch hazel water” product often found on drug store shelves, next to the rubbing alcohol. With alcohol as a major ingredient, witch hazel water also has a strong alcoholic smell of its own. Alcohol has an effect of extreme drying when applied to skin, and for that reason is usually not advisable (though it remains heavily used by mass manufacturers, as an inexpensive solvent and preservative) as an ingredient in topical applications; because of its long association with alcohol, witch hazel itself has acquired some of the same reputation of causing excessive drying, but that reputation is undeserved.

When extracted/distilled in alcohol, witch hazel bark yields a liquid high in tannins; evaporating away the alcohol makes the tannins, thought to contribute to skin healing, available without the drying effects of alcohol. The leaves contain 31 times less tannins than the bark does; applying the same process to the leaves does not yield nearly such a useful result. When its volatile oils are extracted without alcohol, perhaps by decoction or steam extraction/distillation, witch hazel bark does not provide the tannins but does provide antioxidants, thought to prevent skin damage. Clearly, simply listing “witch hazel” or “witch hazel bark” or even “witch hazel bark extract” as an ingredient is not adequate information; the portion of the plant used and the method by which the plant material was processed greatly affects the nature of the product.

New Techniques Give New Access to Natural Material

At Elsom Research, we developed a proprietary "whole extraction" process capable of removing both oil and water soluble components from botanicals directly into the formulation process. Our extraction process does not involve alcohol or other solvents, and materials involved in the extraction process are readily suitable to be applied to skin as part of the final topical formulation. By definition, our extraction process meets the more rigorous definitions of the term “natural” and at the same time presents state-of-the-art nano-technology.