Martina Gebhardt Naturkosmetik

NATURAL COSMETICS FROM THE MONASTERY

MARTINA GEBHARDT NATURAL COSMETICS

The oldest surviving recipes come from ancient Egypt and prove to us that it is possible to make the most wonderful creams and ointments from purely natural products. Synthetic preservatives, emulsifiers, stabilizers and perfumes were not known at that time and were also not necessary. Beeswax and wool wax are excellent nourishing ointment bases that have a natural emulsifier and make the skin nice and soft.

Genuine essential oils, propolis and various plant extracts inhibit bacterial growth and are therefore mild preservatives. In ancient Egypt, but also among the Indians, people still knew a lot about the quality of the right time at which products, especially medicines and cosmetics, were manufactured. At that time, the preparation of body care products still belonged in the hands of medicine men and healers. They also observed the course of the stars and the moon and observed that plant extracts produced at a certain point in time had higher healing effects.

Even today, primitive peoples produce herbal extracts according to the laws of the cosmos. Much of this ancient knowledge comes into play again in biodynamic plant cultivation and in spagyrics. But also in our centuries-old monasteries, especially by Benedictine monks and nuns, valuable knowledge about the healing effects of herbs in monastic medicine was kept and passed on in old Latin scripts.

WESSOBRUNN MONASTERY

The in-house monastery garden - unsurpassed in terms of freshness! The company's headquarters have been in the cultural and historical monastery of Wessobrunn in Upper Bavaria since 2014. The biodynamic monastery garden supplies medicinal plants for our natural cosmetics.

MARTINA GEBHARDT

As a pioneer in the organic sector, Martina Gebhardt has been producing high-quality natural cosmetics for almost 40 years. She has always lived the principle "Better to be beautiful than to be beautiful".
HOW IT ALL BEGAN 


It was a dog bite that started it all, a pretty traumatizing experience for me when I was almost three. I was on my way to a bank with my mother, she gave in to my begging to wait outside - a dog that was on a leash magically attracted me. My mother warned me not to get too close to the dog, but as soon as she had turned my back I hugged him around the neck. The animal bit powerfully – in my left cheek. Half of my cheek was hanging down, I was screaming at the top of my lungs when my mother came running, a few bank employees in tow. I don't remember exactly what happened after that. Just that I was taken to the hospital and the wound was stitched up.

Whenever I was later asked about my scar, I would insist that I had been bitten by a doctor. Pretty crazy, I know! My father saw my chances of getting married diminishing and probably considered increasing my dowry. That didn't happen, but the pet owner had to deposit a tidy sum into a savings account - for a possible cosmetic surgery.

When I was 16, with the scar still prominent on my cheek, my parents took this step into consideration. That was out of the question for me, but I let myself be persuaded to do one thing: my pediatrician at the time should examine my scar thoroughly. He prescribed me an ointment with a high proportion of natural wool wax, which I should have mixed at the pharmacy. I used it to massage my left cheek twice a day, and the scar took its time to heal.

Like many pubescent teenagers I had acne, surprisingly the pustules on the left side bloomed significantly less than on the right. That motivated me to follow the recipe and put together my own ointment with the help of the pharmacist. This was my first cream - it soon sold like hot cakes among my friends. That was around 1977/1978. At that time it was called thyme skin cream (which is now the SALVIA cream in an almost uniform form). So this terrible childhood experience finally turned into a very fulfilling job for me.

And the scar? Yes, it actually went away with time (quickly, when I laugh you can see I have two dimples on the left side and only one on the right). Wool wax became the most valuable ingredient in the classic creams of my natural cosmetics and is still an important component in the treatment of scars, also known as lanolin.

 

FAQ

I. SUSTAINABILITY

Ingredients - Our products / ingredients from Martina Gebhardt Naturkosmetik are Demeter certified. We do not offer any health and ecologically problematic substances such as microplastics, parabens or PEGs. In addition, 100% of our products are free of animal testing and were awarded with the IHTN seal. Further information: http://www.ihtn.de/_start.html

And: https://www.demeter.de/lebensmittel-produkte/naturkosmetik 

 

Packaging - 

In general, we try to avoid packaging in the first place. If it is necessary, then you often ask yourself, how do I deal with it appropriately? We have listed a few examples to make the sustainability topic more transparent:

  • Containers: Most of our containers consist of opaque glass and can be disposed of sustainably in the stained glass container.
  • Packaging: The packaging mostly consists of cardboard, i.e. paper and, depending on the region, is to be disposed of in the paper bin and is thus sent to the recycling process; we use only package paper tapes.
  • We offer bulk goods and self-filling techniques in for SPAs and Beauty Salons. More coming soon.

Corporate Social Responsibility - MG Naturkosmetik is committed to the preservation of nature, e.g. through the support of the federal state for bird protection.

Green Electricity - The monastery is supplied with green electricity.

 

WHAT IS SPAGYRICS?
The word spagyric comes from the Greek: spao = to separate and ageiro = to join. A method of producing medicines is described here that has been known for several thousand years and has its roots in the Orient and in the cultures of the Himalayas. This form of extraction is still used in Ayurvedic medicine today. Here, the components of the plant are both distilled and burned to ashes or calcined. The plant's own salts are dissolved and crystallized through an elaborate biodynamic and rhythmic manufacturing process, in which the positions of the sun and moon are also integrated. This happens until the required purity is given. Only then is it combined with the distillate into a spagyric essence.


HOW DO SPAGYRIC ESSENCES WORK IN COSMETICS?
The effect of these essences is based on the cellular-​energetic level. It is said: "Salt is the memory of the earth". There is a lot of truth in that, because it has the ability to awaken the inner order and memory of each cell of the (genetic) blueprint on which it is based. Salt dissolved in water (brine), as it is found in the inner and extracellular space, has an electrical conductivity that conveys energetic impulses to the cells. This stimulates a cleaning process. Because only when the detoxification process has taken place at the cellular level can the cell absorb the substances necessary for its regeneration and thus regain its natural balance.

Creating essentials from traditional knowledge.

CERTIFICATES

100% of our products are Demeter–certified

Valid for Martina Gebhardt Naturkosmetik
The Demeter association focuses on people and their needs while keeping the ecological, economic and social responsibility in mind. At the moment, Demeter International has 18 members and 5 guest members from Europe, Asia, America, Africa and New Zealand. It represents around 5,000 producers and growers with more than 170,000 ha acreage. Fair prices and social commitment are important issues for the Demeter association. 

Demeter is not only about farming in harmony with nature but also with the entire cosmos. The course of the stars, the sun and the moon are taken into account during planting, harvest and production. Paracelsus, Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, as well as Rudolf Steiner researched this in various forms and showed us how we can utilize these energetic phases. The effectiveness of this biodynamic farming approach has been confirmed by long term scientific research work (DOK test).

The Demeter guidelines for organic cosmetics stipulate that at least 66% of the ingredients must be products from certified Demeter farming. The remaining ingredients must be organic. Exceptions: water, minerals, salt and emulsifier. These guidelines are the strictest guidelines for food and cosmetics worldwide. We are the only natural cosmetics manufacturer in the world that offers 100% of Demeter quality products.

COSMETICS WITHOUT ANIMAL TESTING

Bunny with a protective hand – the strictest seal for cosmetics without animal testing

Valid for Martina Gebhardt Naturkosmetik and SENSISANA Naturkosmektik
The "Rabbit with the protective hand" seal, which MG Naturkosmetik also trusts, is awarded by the International Association of Manufacturers Against Animal Testing in Cosmetics (IHTN) and was introduced in 1979 as an internationally registered trademark. This seal was created especially for the cosmetics industry, with a focus on natural cosmetics, but also for decorative cosmetics as well as detergents and cleaning agents.

The basic requirement for this seal is production without animal testing. No product may contain raw materials obtained from animals for which an animal has been killed or tortured. In addition, companies must submit a fully detailed list of raw materials with details of their suppliers and fully state the ingredients of their products on the products themselves or in the catalogs.

Anyone who wants to be on the safe side when it comes to natural cosmetics trusts certified natural cosmetics. The natural cosmetics company Martina Gebhardt Naturkosmetik relies on the high quality Demeter certification as well as the renowned IHTN seal: The "rabbit with a protective hand" guarantees that all products with this seal are 100 percent animal-free. In principle, all natural cosmetics that are certified with a seal must follow the guidelines of this seal. Depending on the seal, the guidelines look different, that is: Permitted ingredients and animal testing are regulated separately by each seal. In general, natural cosmetics can be made from plant-based raw materials and products from living and dead animals and are therefore not automatically vegan and / or cruelty-free.

Even at MG Naturkosmetik, not all products are vegan. Many creams contain animal products such as beeswax, honey or wool fat as a natural emulsifier. So they are natural and vegetarian, but not vegan. However, all tonics, lotions, cleansers, masks, oils and the new dental care series are 100 percent vegan, so they do not contain any ingredients of animal origin. The IHTN seal, however, guarantees a production method for all products, whether vegan or vegetarian, that does not involve any animal testing.

IMPORTANT TO US
Long–term Experiences since 1986

Authenticity

Sowing the Plants Takes Place According the Lunar Calendar

Plant power through Minimalist Recipes

Local and In-House Manufacture

No Animal Testing

Sustainable Production and Packaging

Spagyric Formulations