It would seem obvious that products to cleanse or enhance the care of your skin—the body’s largest organ—should be as natural as possible. Yet, according to the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com), there are some products on the market containing moderate to high amounts of hazardous chemical ingredients.
A growing number of companies have seen the light and have evolved lines of natural and healthy skin care products. One company, Weleda, has been doing this for over 75 years.
“Really what we were looking for were ingredients that brought people the ultimate in healthy products,” Jennifer Barckley, Director of Communications for Weleda North America, told Organic Connections. “All of our products are made specifically to work with the human body. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent and are designed to heal themselves. Our products work at a deeply holistic level to support natural human health.”
Weleda’s product ingredients are grown using a farming method known as Biodynamics. Now in use in various areas of the world, Biodynamic farming was actually developed by one of Weleda’s founders, Austrian scientist, philosopher and educator Rudolf Steiner, all the way back in 1924. The very first course in Biodynamic farming was delivered by Steiner in response to a request by farmers who had noticed degraded soil conditions and deterioration in the health and quality of crops from the use of chemical fertilizers.
The methods evolved by Steiner have been in use at Weleda ever since. Soil is balanced with natural nutritional and fertilization methods. Pests are controlled by natural repellents. Planting is performed at optimal phases of the moon and time of the season, and harvesting is done at the precise time of day when crop health is at its very peak. No crop treatments that were not evolved by nature herself are used.
“Biodynamics treats the whole farm as one living ecosystem,” Barckley explained. “Everything is self-sustainable as much as absolutely possible. For example, we’re growing chamomile as an ingredient; chamomile can also be used as a natural fertilizer that can be either sprayed on the crops or planted in the soil.” Yarrow is another example of a crop grown as an ingredient and also used as a natural fertilizer.
In addition to fertilizers added from native plant life, nutrients are also added through other methods. For instance, a cow horn packed with cow manure is buried into the ground in the autumn and retrieved in the spring. Crushed powdered quartz is also stuffed into a cow horn (sometimes mixed with the manure), put into the ground in spring and taken out in autumn. A quartz-water mixture is sprayed over crops during the wet season to prevent fungal diseases.
Insects and weeds are controlled by essential oils and various herbs as well as in other natural ways. Live pests such as mice are deterred rather than killed. Weeds are managed by manual weeding too.
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The Biodynamic philosophy also takes into account the heavens. “If you’re looking at the whole ecosystem, it includes looking at the planets and looking at the rotation of the sun and moon,” said Barckley. “While that may sound a little sci-fi to us today, that’s really how it was done when organized agriculture actually started. It’s a critical component that affects the growth patterns of plants and the natural rhythms on the plot of land where we’re growing these ingredients.”
Just as the entire ecosystem is interconnected, so are the Weleda facilities. The company’s production is vertically integrated, with production facilities right next to the fields. Ingredients are picked at the perfect time for their potency and sent straight to manufacturing, where they are made into products right away. Many crops are ideally picked at sunrise, and within an hour or so are then formulated into ingredients.
The Weleda gardens are located in the picturesque Swabian Alb of southern Germany. It is a beautiful gently rolling landscape dotted with forests, farms and small villages. “From Weleda’s offices in a small town, you walk up a hill and look down into the fields,” said Barckley. “From the top, you are assailed by a plethora of wonderful smells, and the colors of the flowers and the crops are very brilliant, like nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s obvious these plants are extremely healthy.”
Weleda knows that beautiful products start in the soil, and that the quality of the soil will reflect the quality of their products.
Weleda’s comprehensive catalog includes a complete line of skin care products, items for baby and mother care, as well as homeopathic medicinal preparations. They have also just introduced a line of pomegranate regenerating body care products. Find out more about them at usa.weleda.com.
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