Monday 28 January 2013

Dr.Hauschka Rose Day Cream - what provenance!

One of the many reasons that I love Dr.Hauschka skin care is because the ingredients don't change with gimmicky frequency. Remaining true to their initial composition for over forty five years, they stand the test of time is because they work for each and every skin condition.

The whole range is my favourite but each year twelve Dr.Hauschka products are singled out as the most popular, the best selling, award-winning products, lauded by the beauty press and described by customers as must-have‘skin savers'. These are known as the Hero products.

For the second consecutive year, Rose Day Cream has been voted ‘The Peoples' Favourite’. Shortly I will explain why it is so popular. But first of all I want to share my fascination with the provenance of this wonderful cream and demonstrate why I LOVE using Dr.Hauschka products.
It isn't just because it is the best skin care but because the  ingredients have a remarkable provenance too. It matters to me that when we take care of ourselves, care has been taken with others also.

The Art of Combining Harmony and Effect 

(Adapted from product information www.drhauschka.de)

“It is not enough to simply say that the product contains roses,” explained Annette Greco, Head of Development. It is also about how. Sometimes she uses ethereal rose oil, sometimes extracts from the fruits. At other times, she reverts to the use of rose water or even a basic substance from the petals. “In the same way that you can use tomatoes to make a salad, soup or juice, the manner in which a medicinal plant is processed depends on how it is to be used and its desired effect.”
When working on a recipe, Annette Greco and her team keep a constant eye on the materials and the processes, and thus on the basic nature of people and plants. This is the only way to ensure that the finished products have a holistic character with multifaceted consumer appeal.
“WALA is one of the few companies whose products enjoy global popularity. This is because we develop them for people and not markets.”
Annette Greco
In creating the final recipe the developers devise and reject many different approaches. The effectiveness and skin compatibility of any product is then tested by independent institutes without using animal testing. And then we (finally!) present our product to you.

 

Why is Dr.Hauschka Rose Day Cream so popular?

Perfect for weather damaged, red, dry, sensitive skin this rich, beautifully scented cream contains the extract of over 1,075 organic Rose petals in every tube to help maintain the skin's moisture content.
Rose oil and Wild Rose Hip extract envelop the skin, holding moisture in and soothing redness and sensitivity and reducing the appearance of dilated thread veins.


Key ingredients


Marshmallow – stimulates the skin’s moisture processes
Rose Hip – rich in fatty oils and vitamin C
Rosa canina - skin strengthening
St Johns Wort – stimulates skin cell regeneration
Beeswax – soothes, protects and softens
Shea Butter – rich in Vitamin E and helps skin retain moisture
Rose Wax -  protection from drying out

For use in the morning only

After cleansing, spray with Facial Toner and then apply about 1/2cm cream onto the palm of your hand. Gently rub onto the second palm and press onto the skin from the top downwards.
For extra protection from the elements apply Quince Day Cream on top. And for a winter glow mix with a little Dr.Hauschka Translucent Bronze Concentrate.


Social and environmental projects


Some of the roses used in Rose Day Cream are from projects like these in Afghanistan and the Zahra Rosewater Company in Iran. The People’s Hero indeed!


The project in Afghanistan offers an alternative way of making a living in a land where 80% of the world's heroin supply is farmed and produced. Since 2006 the makers of Dr.Hauschka skin care have been supporting a longstanding project which enables 400 farmers to grow Damask roses on 60 hectares of land. The production of rose oil has restored an ancient Afghan tradition and provides a viable option to opium poppy growing.

I was impressed when I first learned about these projects - it demonstrates that Dr.Hauschka skin care products are truly 'holistic'.
But it is this second story that really captured my imagination - who would imagine that our face cream can have such a story linked to it...

'The cooing of the doves fills the inner courtyard of the ochre-coloured brick building constructed by grandfather Sanati in Kerman. Today it houses the headquarters of the Zahra Rosewater Company and is home to Homayoun Sanati. Its walls keep out the hubbub of Kerman, now a city of a million people, and it is a good place to ponder on the origins of Zahra.

After Homayoun Sanati and his wife decided to cultivate roses in Lalehzar they acquired Damask rose cuttings from the traditional Iranian rose-growing region Kashan in the province of Isfahan. The first trials were overwhelming. After just eighteen months the bushy rose trees were yielding blooms with a 50 percent higher oil content than roses from Kashan. This led the Sanatis to plant a 20-hectare rose field, although the farmers of the region were very suspicious of this new cultivation.

Then the Iranian revolution happened. When Khomeini came to power Homayoun Sanati was arrested. He was accused of being a CIA agent because he worked for the American publishing company Franklin. Actually, his only job there was to translate English-language fiction and text books and publish them in the Iranian language Farsi. But the mere fact that he had published 1500 books was regarded as a crime against Islam, because he was said to have subverted the culture of Islam by publicising American ideas.

After eight months in solitary confinement in a damp cell with no light he was forced to spend a further five years in prison. He was released in 1983.

In the meantime his wife was left alone to look after the roses, which were like children to her. So it was even more terrible for her to have to look on as the farmers in Lalehzar stopped watering the young plants every 14 days and watered them just once over the whole summer.

But then a miracle happened. The roses continued to grow, be green and bloom abundantly. The farmers were so impressed that from then on they began to believe in growing roses: they could see that with little work and a minimum of water they produced a far better harvest than wheat or potatoes or even the opium poppies which they had long been growing illegally to stretch their meagre income.

"So my time in prison did have one positive outcome“, grins Homayoun Sanati with boyish charm. Following his grandfather’s advice: "Never be afraid of fear", he was able to survive his time in prison. During his time in solitary confinement he even composed hundreds of verses about the rose, all of which he kept in his head and only wrote down after his liberation. "Our difficulties are our greatest treasures“, he concludes.'

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