Over 4,000 years ago, the Chinese cultivated lemons and other citrus fruits, regarding them as very precious – so much so, in fact, that they were reserved for the Emperor and senior officials. Used for cosmetic purposes, the fragrant lemons – which are rich in Vitamin C – support the firmness and elasticity of your skin.
Caravans from tropical Asia brought lemon grass to Europe in the Middle Ages. It is a tropical sweet grass which is used in Asian cooking as a stimulating spice and from which a toning essential oil is obtained. The lemon grass extracts in Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products are prepared using our own special processes. For this, dried lemon grass from certified organic sources is allowed to fuse for a week with sunflower oil.
The shrub-like quince tree belongs to the Rose family of plants. Because of their protective wax film, its fragrant fruits can be stored for up to ten weeks as long as the skin is undamaged. The woody flesh of the fruit has to be cooked before it is edible. Quince seeds are enclosed in a skin which can take up large amounts of water.
Lavender is synonymous with the blue skies of Provence and pure relaxation, nature’s antidote to the rigours of life. Aromatherapy uses essential Lavender oil to treat burns, to boost the body’s natural defences and to treat cramps and depression. Distillation of fresh lavender flowers creates a fragrant, soothing and calming lavender floral water.
Anyone travelling in Asia will encounter the characteristic, long-lasting scent of sandalwood. It is generated during distillation of the wood. The mighty trees are semi-parasites and require a host plant. The sandalwood for Dr.Hauschka comes from sustainably managed, certified organic forests. Tree nurseries propagate the sandalwoods and their hosts, both of which are cultivated on plantations.
This elegant flower exudes such a heavenly scent that many ancient cultures believed it was a gift from the gods. The essential Rose oil, Rose water and Rose wax used in Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products are extracted from Damask roses grown in certified organic cultivation projects in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Bulgaria, which we support with our expertise and long-term business relationships. The fine, delicate rose essential oil with its flowery fragrance is valued for its harmonising action.
The almond tree came originally from China and Asia Minor and is a member of the rose family. Probably in use since the Bronze Age, it is thought to be the oldest cultivated fruit of the Old World. The almonds used for Dr.Hauschka skin care products are organically grown and are bought by WALA in Spain and Italy. In Germany they are then processed in a traditionally operating oil mill to express the almond oil. The skin readily absorbs this nurturing oil which makes it smooth and soft.
The field horsetail is among the most primeval plants. Around 350 million years ago, in the Carboniferous period, together with ferns and club moss it formed huge forests. It produces green, erect, whorled shoots in summer. These are very rich in minerals. In particular they contain silicic acid, which supports the connective tissue and the scalp.
The valuable macadamia nut comes from Australia and Indonesia, and is also called the “queen of nuts”. The name macadamia was given to it by the Scot John McAdam, a friend of its discoverer. Macadamia nut oil is readily absorbed by the skin, giving it a silky, lustrous appearance and smooth texture. It is rich in palmitoleic acid which acts as an antioxidant in the skin and thus slows down the visible signs of skin aging.
Shea butter is obtained from the nuts of the karite tree, which is a native of Africa. This soft plant fat has many skin-nurturing properties. It helps the skin to preserve moisture and offers some protection against UV radiation. The shea butter used in Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products is obtained from a special cultivation project in Burkina Faso.
Oxalis acetosella is a soft, sour-tasting forest plant with heart-shaped leaves and white flowers. This light-shy inhabitant of the woods is a very mobile plant: on contact, its leaves relax and fold together, the flowers close at night, and its ripe seeds are propelled over a distance of up to two and a half metres. We use wood sorrel in our skin products for the relaxing properties of its leaves.
When they are held against the light it is easy to see the characteristic dots of the oil glands in the leaves of St.John's wort. St. John's wort flowers during the longest days of the year, when it absorbs the sunlight intensively. It produces deep red dyes and essential oil. The red oily extract has a soothing, regenerating and strengthening action on the skin.
Lemon balm, like lavender, belongs to the labiate family. It is a harmonising plant which strengthens the centre. A tea made with lemon balm and taken in the evening will help people suffering from nervous tension who find it difficult to get to sleep. Hildegard of Bingen said: “The remedy makes the heart joyful.” The extracts of lemon balm in Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products are prepared by a special process.
This mallow plant is a perennial which stores sugar in the form of mucilage. Even in antiquity the hairy leaves and the roots of the marsh mallow plant were valued for their high mucilage content. This forms a protective layer on broken or inflamed skin, soothing it, giving it moisture and making it soft and supple. The marsh mallow extracts in Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products are prepared using our own special rhythmic processes.
Blackthorn blossom is the first wild fruit blossom of the year. An oily extract of its dried flowers warms and fortifies. Blackthorn fruits do not ripen until after the first frost. They contain tannins and plant acids, as well as many vitamins and antioxidants which lend the skin a healthy bloom. The blackthorn extract in Dr.Hauschka Skin Care products is prepared using our own special rhythmic process.