Dr. Hauschka: A journey to the origins of natural cosmetics

It is still dark in the Wala garden, there is dew on the plants and the first birds are starting to chirp. It is the perfect time for the gardeners to harvest the still closed buds of the roses. This is exactly when the plants have the most vigour. Like us, they are rested from the night. So that the plants' energy can be fully utilised, they are harvested as early as possible. Often before sunrise to make Dr Hauschka's natural cosmetics as effective as possible. We were allowed to visit the Dr. Hauschka company and take a look behind the scenes - and we gained many exciting insights. 

Dr. Hauschka Skin Care was founded by the Wala company in 1967 and works with the rhythm of nature. The development of the first skin care products can be traced back to the commitment of the Austrian Elisabeth Sigmund, who was convinced that people need inner as well as outer beauty. She was interested in theatre and aesthetics, studied medicine for several semesters and set the ball rolling for the founding of Dr. Hauschka. Today, over 90% of the plant-based raw materials come from organic farming - much of it even comes directly from the company's own garden and the surrounding fields in the tranquil Swabian countryside. Around 500 natural raw materials - for example medicinal plants, vegetable oils and waxes as well as natural essential oils - are available for product development. Unchanged to this day: the face wash cream, which I will tell you more about later. 

The basic idea behind Dr. Hauschka Skin Care is to activate the skin's self-healing powers. For this reason, Dr Hauschka does not offer a night cream. There are serums and a night treatment, but no rich cream to activate the skin's own powers of resistance during sleep. After cleansing, you can clarify the skin with the facial toner to prepare it for the night. 

Over 150 medicinal plants grow in the Wala garden. Some are used in cosmetics in the form of tinctures and essences, while others are used for medicinal purposes, such as the most poisonous plant in Europe. Together with the very friendly head of the WALA medicinal plant garden, Bernhard Ehrmann, I had the honour of planting seedlings of aconite. Just three grams of the plant are lethal. As a potency in Aconite oil, however, it has a pain-relieving and healing effect.

Bernhard, who you can see here in the video, told me in passing that you can already see the healing powers of many plants. For example, the tall bamboo, whose individual sections together resemble the spine, helps with back problems. Exciting, isn't it? In addition to the variety of exciting plants, the garden also has a natural pond and 500,000 pets that are busy helping out in the garden. There are 20 bee colonies that keep the garden alive in many ways. 

The raw materials used are grown fairly and biodynamically. The company is constantly finding new ways to grow and utilise them as efficiently as possible. For example, it was able to obtain the first organic shea butter 20 years ago and has found partners in India for the production of castor oil, which was previously not available in organic quality. The roses, which stand for Dr Hauschka's natural cosmetics like no other plant, come from Turkey, Bulgaria, Ethiopia and India, whereby the cultivation partners in the various countries have already given each other valuable tips on the cultivation and extraction of the precious rose oil. 

In the company's own state-of-the-art laboratory, researchers such as laboratory technician Monika Ganter are constantly developing new products. For example, decorative cosmetics, which were only launched by Dr Hauschka in the 1990s. The Lip to Cheek balms are brand new in the range. Have you discovered them yet? Another very special feature of Dr Hauschka is that it employs two full-time perfumers. While almost all cosmetics companies buy in ready-made fragrances, these two develop their very own fragrance composition from essential oils for each new product. However, the typical Dr. Hauschka fragrance is always retained. 

Dr Hauschka attaches great importance to thorough cleansing. There are different products with different functions for this purpose. Double Cleansing is recommended for most people and skin types.

The very first thing you should do is remove your eye make-up with the eye make-up remover. This is followed by cleansing the skin. As already mentioned, the face wash cream has been around since the brand was founded. However, many people don't know how to use it properly. The application was also new to me. This is how you proceed:

Cleansing with Dr. Hauschka Cleansing Cream

• Pour the wash cream into your hand and add a little water
• The almond flour absorbs the water, creating a fluffy paste 
• Now apply the paste to your face
• Now comes the most important part. Press the wax cream firmly onto the face and pull your hands away from the face again. These suction and pressure movements (as the beautician calls them) remove make-up residues, dirt and sebum from the skin and absorb them into the cream. 
• Use the cleansing sponge and clean water to remove the face wash cream

The moisturising composition with marigold, camomile, St. John's wort, kidney vetch and almond clarifies the skin, refines the pores and revitalises. The cleansing cream is particularly suitable for blemished, normal and combination skin, as well as for skin with acne. 

The cleansing balm is the gentle alternative to cleansing cream and contains a high proportion of white chalk from the island of Rügen.

• Apply the balm to dry skin and massage it in
• Now add water and the paste will turn into a milky, light-coloured substance
• Remove with a sponge and water
• After cleansing, the facial toner is ideal as preparation for serum or night treatment

I hope you enjoyed our little excursion into the world of Dr Hauschka. Personally, I am impressed by how respectfully the company treats the environment and plants on the one hand, and partners who supply raw materials from distant countries on the other. I also find the philosophy, which is based on self-healing with the help of the power of plants, very exciting. My final tip: Follow Wala Switzerland for tips and tricks from charismatic gardener Sven and even more information on medicinal plants. We will keep you up to date with news and new products from Dr. Hauschka. Promised.

💋, Susanna