A lot of natural or organic skincare companies - including Eight Saints - talk about “small batch processing” as a key benefit of their products. But what exactly does that mean, and why does being small-batch matter?

Here’s what you should know.

The Broader Context: Mass-Produced Skincare

Many “traditional” skincare companies mass produce their products in factories. From a business perspective, this makes sense: mass production is cost-effective and it allows a business to scale and diversify much more efficiently.

However, mass-producing skincare products also comes with significant drawbacks. For example:

• Mass-produced cosmetics are much more likely to contain harmful preservatives and toxic ingredients that we'd never touch. 
• Many ingredients are less effective, particularly if the product has been shipped in extreme temperatures or processed using chemicals or high heat.
• Producers are often removed from the final product, meaning they have less insight into its quality and ingredients.

That’s why we use small batch processes.

Understanding Small Batch Processing

As the name suggests, products that are small-batch are made in scaled-down quantities. The purpose here is to be able to create products mindfully and to cater to niche interests. Using small-batch processes, companies can create products that are:

• Unprocessed
• Sustainable
• Vegan
• Cruelty-free
• Free of endocrine disruptors
• Organic
• Gluten-free, etc.

With small-batch skincare, you can also use more organic, unprocessed ingredients. These ingredients have an infamously short shelf life - that's why a lot of products contain harsh, broad-spectrum preservatives like parabens. That said, it’s more feasible to include these unprocessed ingredients if you’re making small, more frequent batches.

And if you do need preservatives to curb things like mold, bacteria, and yeast, you can use more natural, curated preservatives like rosemary oil extract or vitamin E.

Additionally, small-batch skincare often allows for more creativity and flexibility: if you get a new supplier or a fresh shipment of a certain ingredient, you can incorporate it into your next batch fairly seamlessly. You can also spend more time making sure that your ingredients are pure and responsibly sourced.

So why doesn’t everyone do it? For one, it’s labor-intensive. Think of it like buying a pre-packaged salad versus gardening and making everything fresh - the fresh-picked salad will be healthier, to be sure, but it’ll take much more time (and usually money) to make. Additionally, it’s difficult to maintain inventory, and there can be quality control issues.

That said, at Eight Saints we believe that it's worth the effort. 

Learn more about Eight Saints’ mission and processes here.