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Last week when I hung out in the biodynamic demonstration garden in Ryton, I caught up with Sebastian Parsons, CEO of Dr. Hauschka UK, and Dr. Hauschka head trainer, Elaine Robinson. We had a chat about the relationship between cosmetics and biodynamics and why it's important to use body care stuffed with natural ingredients.
Rikke Bruntse-Dahl: How does the spiritual, holistic idea of biodynamics fit in with something as down-to-earth as make-up?
Sebastian Parsons: It was a huge struggle for Dr. Haushcka to release cosmetics because everybody thought that if you didn't have the courage to be yourself, you need to sort yourself out -- not cover yourself up with make-up. This is a very hard-line approach and it's not realistic for the modern world. And anyway, we realised for women it's an exciting opportunity of being creative to wear make-up and express yourself -- as is clothing. So our aim when we created the make-up was to create make-up that was powerful at helping you reveal who you really are and the beauty within.
Elaine Robinson: Nature can be ugly and harsh, but it can be beautiful as well. And I feel -- being part of nature -- I'm quite entitled, like a butterfly or a bird, to fluff my wings and make myself look beautiful. It's about being part of the bigger picture.
RBD: Why is it important to use cosmetics and body care products with natural, organic and biodynamic ingredients?
ER: The skin is a universal organ -- it reflects the health of internal activities and responds to external activities. When using beauty preparations with organic and biodynamic ingredients the skin will re-awaken and regenerate. When working with natural ingredients our aim is not to overtake the skin's functions but to work with the skin, guiding it back to optimum health and balance. Chemical ingredients manipulate the skin, working on it to ensure it behaves in a certain way -- the result, although powerful, inevitably leads to more confusion in the long term and a need for stronger and more powerful creams thereafter. What has been created is dependency rather than health. A dependant skin is an ageing skin -- one that has forgotten how to work for itself.
RBD: The ingredients in Dr. Hauschka's products are not exclusively biodynamic, are they?
SP: No, but the active ingredients in all the products are biodynamic and organic. And the oils are normally biodynamic as well.
RBD: Don't the biodynamic ingredients get ruined when mixed with other processed natural ingredients?
ER: Not at all. The make-up, for example, sits very closely alongside with the face care products so they're actually treatment products in their own right as well as enhancing your looks. They're not designed to just give you this coverage -- this mask -- you can use any of the make-up products anywhere on your skin as treatment as well.
SP: What matters are the formulations. You can have a product with natural ingredients, but if the formulation is not effective, there's no point in using it. The great thing about Dr. Hauschka is that the formulations really work. It's hugely scientific, it really is. But it's a science of the whole. We're used to a reductionist science -- a science that takes apart plants with healing properties to find the active ingredients and then they reproduce them artificially. The science behind Dr. Hauschka is a holistic science. It looks at the 'whole' and says: "How does this 'whole' work and how can we bring the quality of this 'whole' to the customer still 'whole'?" So, when we work with the plants and we process them into the products, the plant and its life-forces are preserved in the product.
RBD: Can you over-process natural ingredients so they're not good for you?
SP: Yes, of course. There's a consensus that sodium laureth sulphate is not good for you and that's natural -- it's derived from coconuts.
RBD: As consumers, how do we know what products have good formulations and what products have bad formulations?
SP: At some point you have to take personal accountability for your life, so you have to try the products (smiles). You have to test them with your own experience and be open and sensitive. With Dr. Hauschka's rose cream, say, you try it for a little while and then just can't go back to using rubbish.
RBD: What's the most important reason for choosing natural body care products and cosmetics -- looking after the environment or looking after our health?
SP: Well, it's a personal choice, but we always say: "Use it because you love it and by the way you're helping save the world, too." My choice of career as a businessman is influenced by my desire to support the world. I've realised if I sell products that are supportive of the world and I make them really attractive, I'm having a positive impact on the world and I love that. But I don't expect my customers to have the same view -- I just want them to love the products because if they do that I know they're doing a world of good. So, I would say: "Look after yourself, do what you want to do, do what you feel is best for you and by the way, it's really helping a lot of people and the environment, too."
RBD: Am I right that Dr. Hauschka ingredients are fair trade?
SP: All of our supply chains are fairly traded. We don't have the Fairtrade Mark, but we support all the communities that provide us with raw ingredients.
RBD: What do you think is most important -- the fair trade aspect or the environmental aspect?
SP: Put the human being at the centre and what happens? You've got to heal the human being, but if it doesn't have a supportive environment, you're not putting the human being at the centre. You can't separate it. We and the environment are one. If you really want to support the human being, which is our mission, it doesn't matter whether it's the customer or the supplier. And anyway, if we have an environment that's strong and healthy we're being supportive. Biodynamics is about meeting the needs of the human beings and the nature. Our needs are the same. It's artificial to believe we're separate.
RBD: Do you think we'll be able to get a 100 per cent biodynamic Dr. Hauschka product at some point in the future?
SP: Yes of course. We're working on it.
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