our ingredient philosophy

Botanical and mineral skincare, made by hand. Every ingredient in a Likha formula earns its place, evaluated against four pillars before it ever reaches your skin.

four pillars. every formula.

Nature. Botanical, plant-derived, and mineral ingredients lead every formula. Whole botanicals, infused oils, clays, and plant extracts before isolated actives. Likha is not a vegan brand. Beeswax is used deliberately where it performs best.

Chemistry. Functional cosmetic science is not the enemy of botanical skincare. Cold pressing, steam distillation, fermentation, esterification, enzymatic hydrolysis, and saponification transform natural starting materials into ingredients that perform in ways raw botanical matter cannot, and sometimes with a lighter footprint than wild-harvesting or large-scale botanical extraction. The question is always: is the process defensible, and is the ingredient necessary?

Safety. Every formula must be documentably safe. Preservation is not optional in water-containing products. Ingredients with credible toxicological concerns are excluded regardless of how natural they sound or how commonly they appear in clean beauty formulations.

Performance. Texture, stability, and efficacy are non-negotiable. An ingredient that doesn't work stays out. Actives are included only when there is a meaningful, evidence-based performance case, not for marketing copy or ingredient list aesthetics.

what we do use, and why

Likha formulas are nature-led, not nature-only. Where a processed or synthesized ingredient is present, it is because there is no botanical alternative that achieves the same result, the process is more sustainable at scale than botanical extraction, or both, and it has passed all four pillars.

Our preservation approach uses a curated set of COSMOS-approved systems, including Geogard ECT, Dermosoft 1388 ECO, Euxyl K 903, Geogard 221, and Spectrastat G2 Natural. The specific system used in any formula is selected based on pH, format, and water activity. Every water-containing formula is preserved. This is non-negotiable.

Our surfactants are alkyl glucosides, glucose-derived and not ethoxylated. Our scent comes from essential oil blends, never synthetic fragrance. Our actives are chosen for documented efficacy at the usage rate in the formula, not for how they read on a label.

what we never use

Every exclusion on this list has a documented reason behind it.

We exclude petroleum-derived ingredients because they don't nourish skin and carry environmental extraction concerns. We exclude ethoxylated surfactants and PEG compounds categorically, not ingredient by ingredient, because the ethoxylation process introduces 1,4-dioxane as a byproduct regardless of trade name. 1,4-dioxane is a probable human carcinogen. It is not an intentional ingredient but a process contaminant, which means it does not appear on ingredient labels and consumers have no way to identify it without knowing the chemistry behind the trade name. This exclusion is categorical: any ingredient produced via ethoxylation is excluded regardless of trade name, marketing claim, or stated contaminant level. We exclude synthetic fragrance because it is an undisclosed chemical mixture that contradicts ingredient transparency. We exclude preservatives and additives with credible endocrine disruption, carcinogen, or sensitization flagging.

Named exclusions include: petrolatum, mineral oil, paraffin, SLS, SLES, all ethoxylated surfactants and PEG-based emulsifiers, synthetic fragrance and parfum, parabens, phenoxyethanol systems, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, phthalates, hydroquinone, ethanolamines (TEA, DEA, and MEA), and microplastics.

This list names the most common exclusions. Because several of our exclusions are categorical and based on how an ingredient is made rather than its trade name, anything that falls under these categories is excluded whether or not it appears by name here.

three tiers. full transparency.

Tier 1. Whole or minimally processed botanicals and minerals: infused oils, plant powders, essential oils, clays, mineral salts, beeswax, and raw butters. The foundation of every formula.

Tier 2. Naturally-derived, COSMOS/Ecocert-accepted. This tier encompasses any naturally-derived, COSMOS or Ecocert-accepted ingredient. Current examples in the line include SCI, glucosides, fermentation-derived actives, and COSMOS-approved preservative systems (Geogard ECT, Dermosoft 1388 ECO, Euxyl K 903, Geogard 221, and Spectrastat G2 Natural). Permitted across all lines when functionally required.

Tier 3. Nature-identical synthesized, used only when the performance case is strong and the safety record is clean. Current examples in the line include niacinamide and certain allantoin grades.

every skin type belongs here

Likha approaches skin the same way it approaches ingredients, without hierarchy. Every skin type has its own logic and its own needs. We formulate for skin as it is, not as we think it should be.

questions about a specific ingredient? We're happy to walk through the reasoning. support@likharituals.com