Where our research began

Our research tradition starts with Dr. Rudolf Hauschka, and a problem he didn't like the standard answer to. Plant extracts of his era typically relied on alcohol as a preservative — he wanted something different, so he built a process around nature's own rhythms instead: the interplay of light and dark, warmth and cold, movement and rest. Today, that same rhythmic, alcohol-free extraction process still underpins how Dr. Hauschka formulations begin.

Why We Keep Researching

Research isn't a box to tick for us - every project teaches us something that shapes what comes next. Our in-house science team uses modern analytical methods and laboratory technology to explore what medicinal plants can offer, from both a skincare and a broader wellbeing perspective, much of which is still genuinely underexplored.

We develop effective formulations

As a company with a background in both pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturing, we know that every plant and every natural ingredient, together with its specific properties, plays a part in making the overall composition harmonious and well-balanced. Every product is based on its own concept - we don't work from standardised base formulations. When developing new cosmetics, we take our time and work in large teams. We draw from an extensive library of raw materials for every formulation, aligning all the components to create a harmonious, well-balanced whole.
Of course, we don't only analyse the ingredients - we also assess the tolerability and overall performance of the finished composition.

Where technology meets manual processes

Plenty of what we do is proudly low-tech. We grow many of our own plants from seed in our medicinal herb garden and harvest them by hand - around seven tonnes of calendula flowers alone, picked one at a time, every year.
Manual care carries through into production too. Our Facial Toner, for example, matures in large vats for 21 days, stirred by hand each morning. That slow, hands-on process gives the ingredients time to properly come together.

No animal testing, full stop

Dr. Hauschka Skincare has never carried out or commissioned animal testing on its products, going all the way back to the company's founding in 1967. We've always found dermatological testing with human volunteers to be the more genuinely informative approach and every Dr. Hauschka Skincare product appears on PETA's list of cruelty-free cosmetics as a result.