Jayn Sterland talks about moving mainstream with naturals

Having established a long standing reputation in the industry for creating fuss-free natural skin care products (its bestselling Skin Food moisturiser works on the face, body, hands and feet), Weleda has also bridged the divide with mainstream beauty by recently stepping into London’s Liberty department store. Jayn Sterland, the brand’s UK Commercial Director talks about closing the gap.

That natural brands aren’t as effective as ‘scientific’ ones. They are generally regarded as being less effective on the skin as the ingredients are seen as being ineffective and the methods of manufacturing unscientific. The same misconception holds true for natural medicines too. The reality is that many natural products are more efficacious than conventional because they activate the body’s natural processes. The results can be dramatic and more powerful than brands using synthetic ingredients.

It’s happening already but not in a positive way. A utopian view would hope that mainstream brands will become more natural and sustainable, reducing the petrochemical content of products and being more honest in their marketing. But sadly, we see too much green washing where mainstream brands heavily promote products containing only tiny percentages of natural ingredients many of which still contain skin irritants and harmful chemicals.

It’s our unique philosophy that sets us apart from the other natural beauty brands. Weleda was founded by an Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner back in 1921. Our products were designed to support the human body, working holistically, balancing and harmonising our natural processes. Put simply, sustainability at Weleda is part of our DNA and not part of the marketing mix. We farm biodynamically, which is super organic in method and something we invented.