An Insider's Look Into Leading Natural Beauty Brand Origins

Beauty tips from the world’s most innovative natural beauty brand. Origins is world-renowned for leading the way in natural beauty essentials. Their minimal, natural-based approach sets them apart from other beauty companies out there, and by returning to nature to extract robust and miraculous ingredients, they have revolutionized the beauty industry. We interviewed Lizz Star, the Executive Director of Global Product Development, and got the inside scoop on how the company creates their all-star products and the latest trends in natural beauty. From mushrooms to bamboo charcoal, we find out how going back to nature can help create the the future of skin care.

Tell us about Origins mission to use natural and plant-based products. Why is this so important for the brand?

At Origins, we’re constantly inspired by the powerful beauty benefits found in nature. We’ve scoured the globe to source the most impactful natural ingredients and paired them with advanced scientific technology to lead the way as one of the world’s first prestige, high-performance skincare formulas made with ingredients from nature. The importance of wellness, ingredients and our planet is even more relevant today than when it was when we launched more than 25 years ago. Origins continues to be a skincare innovator and constantly evolves to meet the needs of our modern consumer.

Can you tell us more about how plants can benefit our skin?

The amazing powers of nature are at the heart of everything we do at Origins. After all, it’s the primary source of our signature ingredients. They have numerous benefits for the skin and beyond. In fact, did you know that about 80% of the world’s medicine is derived from plants? From hydration to anti-aging, plants provide a range of potent skin benefits that allow us to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary. We love to look for parallels in nature as a source of inspiration. Nature is a better chemist than man. For example Rose of Jericho (the signature element in Make A Difference) is a dry, tumble weed-like plant that springs back to life with just a sprinkle of water. We transpose that same adaptive strategy to skin where it functions as a “moisture holder” to restore hydration to dry, dehydrated skin. We want to bring a sense of wonder, wisdom, and well-being to the way beauty is experienced. All our products are made with the good stuff. We use plants from land and the sea, as well as natural minerals. Our beautiful scents come from pure essential oils.

What natural ingredients are used in Origins products? What are some of the latest trends in natural beauty ingredients?

Origins is on the cutting edge of product and ingredient innovation that target our consumers’ most prevalent skin care concerns. For instance, we developed the Original Skin™ collection as the first millennial targeted high-performance product created for “quarter-life skin” concerns. Building on the success of the initial Original Skin collection launch, we introduced the Original Skin™ Essence Lotion, developed with a powerful Dual-Ferment Complex. The Essence Lotion trend began in Korea where dynamic formulas leveraging the power of ferments were designed to be the first step in your skin care routine. Inspired by this beauty trend, we developed our Original Skin Essence Lotion to keep skin looking vibrant and healthy. Another example of popular trends translated for beauty is our recently launched RitualiTea™ collection, our first-ever tea based collection inspired by the prolific matcha green tea trend taking over everyone’s Instagram feeds. Our Matcha Madness face and body masks feature a revitalizing blend of botanicals to help renew, relax, and restore skin’s texture while soothing and nurturing the senses with an herbaceous green tea scent.

What are some of your all-star ingredients that you use?

There are more than 10 million species of plants on earth and Origins has already discovered hundreds of plants with powerful skin care ingredients. Some of our all-star ingredients include:

• Anogeissus: Anogeissus protects collagen and helps boost skin’s natural production levels of a glycoprotein called fibrillin. This results in a firmer and more resilient, youthful-looking complexion. As a key ingredient within the Plantscription™ anti-aging collection, this ingredient helps us raise the bar for naturally derived, age-correcting skin care.
• Reishi Mushroom: Used in traditional Chinese medicine to improve health and promote longevity, this mushroom is known as the “mushroom of immortality.” It immediately quiets and calms the skin and is a key ingredient in our skin soothing Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins™ Mega-Mushroom collection.
• Coffee Beans: Known to produce an instantaneous euphoric effect, caffeine derived from coffee beans is a natural anti-irritant that helps skin appear refreshed. As a primary ingredient in our GinZing™ collection it helps give dull, tired skin a boost of revitalizing energy.
• Bamboo Charcoal: Known as "The Black Diamond," bamboo charcoal is legendary for its purifying powers. As part of our Clear Improvement™ collection, it acts like a magnet to draw out pore-cloggers to help detoxify skin.

What is the process when it comes to developing a new product? How do beauty and plant scientists work together to create natural, effective products?

Discovery and curiosity are deeply ingrained in the Origins philosophy. We often look to an ingredient’s history, provenance, traditional uses, and skin care benefits to inspire our latest and greatest high-performance products. It is through our continuous scientific research and innovation that we’re able to unleash the power of nature to formulate our skin care products. The active plants, natural essential oils, and certified organic ingredients used in Origins formulas are extensively researched, tested, and clinically proven for purity, efficacy, and safety by an international team of over 100 scientists and botanists. We continually study and run experiments to identify the key beneficial compounds in each ingredient to determine exactly how it will improve skin. We use this plant biology in tandem with today’s highest standards of scientific knowledge, advancements, and testing. And we blend multiple plant actives to achieve our visible results. Finally, we use science to ensure that our products deliver safety and purity. Our products are purified and tested multiple times for safety and performance. This guarantees every Origins product is worthy of your trust. We do all of this so every time you apply one of our clinically proven skin care formulas, you’ll love what you see.

What kinds of challenges can come up when creating natural products?

Nature is the primary source of our ingredients and we select only the highest quality, active, and renewable ingredients to create our problem-solving formulas. As a result, our primary challenge is ensuring that we’re able to harvest these powerful ingredients in a sustainable and renewable manner that ensures our products not only look good, but do good too. Nature is powerful. Just because something is a plant doesn’t always mean it is OK to use in skin care. Our ingredients go through rigorous testing before qualifying to be included in our products. Safety is first. We test and retest each ingredient to ensure every nature-based active is appropriate for use in our products. Then we test for performance. Performance is king. Ingredients are only selected if there is proven efficacy. The good news is nature has given us an abundance of choices and we have only scratched the surface. There is so much more to discover!

How does Origins continue to lead the way in terms of natural beauty, both in skincare and to our environment?

Origins also takes a holistic approach to beauty with its commitment to total well-being: mind, body, and spirit--inside and out. We believe that beauty goes beyond outward appearance and involves seeking a healthy lifestyle and a harmonious relationship with nature. Origins’ commitment to the planet and the people who populate it does not end with our ingredients. Origins believe that reducing pollution means increasing efficiency and wasting fewer resources and giving back to the environment by planting trees in areas of need around the world. To date, we have planted more than 600,000 trees around the world which has aided reforestation and education programs in areas of need.