The words 'natural' and 'anti-ageing' seem a contradiction in terms for skin-care products. One holistic skin-care company, Dr Hauschka, works on the philosophy that skin is a powerful organ which doesn't need chemical preparations, only natural therapeutic preparations. Fiona Hedigan visits its monastery-like gardens in Germany
If you open your bathroom cupboard, the chances are that most of the beauty products will claim to be "natural", to contain essential oils and promise to calm, heal and rejuvenate.
Nowadays, the beauty industry seems to have two contrasting cards to play. When it is not bombarding the customer with scientific jargon about anti-ageing it is joining the aromatherapy bandwagon offering to "de-stress" with plant-based products.
One company that could not be accused of this apparent contradiction is Dr Hauschka, a low-profile German skin-care company that has been practising holistic philosophies for more than 35 years. Its range is made from plant extracts harvested from its own organic gardens in Eckwalden, south of Stuttgart, using a processing method which, it claims, captures the life force and medicinal powers of plants.
Dr Rudolf Hauschka was a German chemist in the 1920s who embarked on a search for new ways to manufacture medicines. He was greatly influenced by the Austrian philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner, who believed in creating a balance between the physical and the spiritual work in everyday life. Steiner advised Hauschka to "study rhythms. Rhythm carries life."
In 1929, Hauschka succeeded in preparing the first water-based plant extract that would keep for many years without the use of alcohol or synthetic preservatives. Following this pharmaceutical breakthrough, he set up the WALA laboratories which still produce more than 1,200 homeopathic remedies.
In 1967, he set up a separate division to develop and market his own skin-care range. What was different about this skin-care range was the application of the same underlying principle of no preservatives. (This is a rare occurrence in an industry that often justifies its use of preservatives by using those found in food products, examples being methylparaben and propylparaben.)
The holistic principles begin with the gardens at WALA, which have the atmosphere of a monastery. Run for 20 years by ex-banker Rolf Bucher, all the 170 medicinal plants are painstakingly grown using biodynamic methods on the roots, barks, fruits, leaves and flowers used to produce the 100 skin-care products.
The morning I visit, he and his team of five gardeners have harvested witchhazel at dawn. It took an hour to hand pick 1 kg.
The plants are harvested by hand at sunrise when the plants' healing energy is at its peak; it is ground with a pestle and mortar, covered in water and placed in clay pots at room temperature. Over seven days, at sunrise and sunset, it is exposed to light and stirred for one hour. The pulp is then dried, burnt and some of the resulting ash added back to the liquid extract which becomes the "mother substance". Spoken of in hushed tones, this essence is used to make the products.
If one plant symbolises Dr Hauschka skin care it is the rose. Rose oil is the most precious essential oil and is used in 56 of its products. It takes 4,000 kg of rose petals to make 1 kg of pure rose oil and, at a cost of $3,800 per kg, it is not surprising that most companies use the synthetic alternative at $80 per kg.
Insisting on pure rose oil has a high price tag and over the last 20 years the company has developed joint-venture co-operative projects, growing the highly fragrant damascena rose in Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria and Iran.
But what about the products? Vincent Letertre, head of development, listed the ingredients in a conventional moisturiser and a Dr Hauschka Day Cream. The conventional cream contained more than 50 per cent synthetic ingredients while the Dr Hauschka read like a floral dictionary - 100 per cent natural. According to Letertre, the company policy is to steer clear of any anti-ageing products because of the need to use chemicals.
So if it doesn't knock 10 years off your skin, what does it do for you? The theory is that the skin is a powerful organ that doesn't need chemical enhancers to solve its problems, only natural therapeutic preparations which "provide the skin with the information to regenerate and heal itself".
The best-selling product is the Rose Day Cream, which has achieved cult status internationally (fans reputedly include Madonna, Sharon Stone and Jack Nicholson).
Until recently, the company made virtually no marketing effort. Its policy is to keep prices at a moderate level. It sells through pharmacies and health stores, spreading the word through holistic treatments in salons.
So much manual ritual and loving care goes into making the products, that even a cynic would be impressed. But with the increasing demand for youthful skin at any cost and Botox injections almost commonplace, can Dr Hauschka prosper and remain true to its philosophy?
For information on stockists and treatment outlets, tel: (01) 284 3333. www.drhauschka.de.