Product Research

Accurate, detailed information is the backbone of the work that goes into producing Dr. Hauschka Skin Care. Whether informing the development and optimization of our natural skin care products or the selection, cultivation, storage and processing of our ingredients, reliable information is a necessity. We need to understand what ingredients and base elements exist within a plant, as well as how to best tap into its properties for the benefit of our products and, ultimately, your skin.

Professor Florian Stintzing is Head of Research at WALA. The food technologist works with a team of approximately 50 people that includes pharmacists, biologists, landscape ecologists, chemists and food chemists. Together, they answer questions from the broadest range of WALA departments. Depending on their tasks, these in-house experts collaborate with scientists at universities and research institutions.

“We know what we can do, but are also aware of the areas in which we depend on external expertise. Obtaining different perspectives on a question is an important part of knowledge advancement,”  Stintzing explains. The research team intensively collaborates with their colleagues in Galenic Development, a department with expertise in the various ways of processing botanicals to achieve their desired effect. “When we create a new product, we work extremely closely with our colleagues in Galenic Development. We work hand in hand from the outset – you could say that we pass the ball back and forth across the corridor. This gives rise to the creative vibrancy that is also reflected in the product.”

Phytochemical evidence

An understanding of plants plays a key role in product development. The questions of location, harvest time and processing technique must all be answered. Carefully collated data is extremely helpful in this regard: Thanks to in-house research, for example, our gardeners only harvest our lady’s mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) in August. At this time of year, the plant has formed its maximum content of skin-impacting tannins, which are of great value to products such as our Soothing Mask. 

Different plants, different questions: In the case of echinacea, the matters of interest include the right plant species for the product and the right type of preparation:  essence, aqueous extract or pressed juice? Our research department attests that the pressed juice from the little-known Echinacea pallida is most effective in lip care products. This result has been confirmed by the Institute for Virology at the University of Heidelberg.

“These types of solid findings are not only important for WALA but also for the appreciation and differentiation of natural skin care products.” 

—Prof. Dr. Florian Stintzing

The ideal location for sage cultivation, the stability of essential oils and the quality of quince wax—these are but a few examples of the research topics our research department explores on a daily basis. The data collected through research is directly incorporated into product development, helps resolve formulation optimization and provides information for raw material analysis at an early stage in the process chain. In addition, if research results are of general interest, we publish them in national and international journals, sharing our knowledge and benefitting countless others with the advances made within WALA.