Gorgeously Green Gathering: Meet The Brands - Weleda

Welcome back for the final of our Meet The Brand posts; a series which helps you learn more about the brands speaking at the Gorgeously Green Gathering.

So far we have spoken to our two sponsors - Rachel has introduced us to Kim from Botanical Brands and Sarah presented Olga from The Rose Tree. We've also spoken to Bodhi & Birch, and Myroo as part of the run up to ticket sales.

For the last in the series, I'm so happy to share with you an interview with the Titans of natural health, Weleda! Speaking on the day is Weleda Advisor Caroline Flakelar so we have a mix of answers from Caroline herself and Weleda.

What does 'naturally beautiful' mean to you? 

To me “naturally beautiful” means enabling your inner beauty to shine through.  It means not trying desperately to be visually perfect, covering up imperfections and changing yourself for someone else or to fit a “type” or a “look”.  It comes down to health (physical, emotional and spiritual) and a love for the unique person that you are, just as you are. 

I love Roald Dahl’s take on beauty in The Twits: ““If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”  

I love that Weleda’s product range helps people create harmony, within and without. If you are healthy, happy and take care of your whole self, you cannot be anything other than “naturally beautiful”. 

What has been the biggest challenge for Weleda? 

One of the biggest challenges for Weleda is the 90+ year unwavering commitment to all things green – sustainability, environmental responsibility, recyclable packaging, protecting the human side too in our partnership with nature, so that pickers and farmers and employees are also protected as much as the environment is protected. The challenge is to maintain a healthy growing business, formulating and manufacturing new products in a highly competitive market, without compromising our company ethos. The original Weleda mission statement, working ‘In harmony with nature and the human being’ still appears on marketing materials today. On top of this, Weleda is constantly trying to tighten its green belt, improving and monitoring all the time, to reduce carbon footprint and become even greener.

What product(s) are Weleda's best sellers?

Interestingly the best selling product is actually a baby product: Calendula Shampoo & Body Wash. But we know we sell a lot of it to grown-ups and families, it’s not just for babies. This is a great value multi-tasking product: a creamy body wash free from harsh detergents. We sell lots to people with dry, sensitive skin prone to eczema and irritation who can’t use shower gels made with synthetic ingredients. Our second best seller is Weleda Skin Food, which was first introduced in 1926 and is still going strong today – it has such as massive celebrity following and enjoys the limelight in the press, so it’s no surprise it’s a top seller. It is another multi-tasker – you can use it anywhere on the body or face, it’s a wonderful intensive hand cream, night cream, balm to soothe sore patches, great for heels for summer sandals, you can use it as a face pack, lip balm, an anywhere problem solver!

What does the future hold for Weleda?

Next year we’ll be celebrating a big birthday for Weleda Skin Food which turns 90. So we are really looking forward to that. As well as looking back, we’ll be looking ahead and launching some great new products and developing our range in some new markets (such as the sports sector) which is always exciting. We’ll also be expanding some of our ranges with new body care additions. I can’t tell you any more than that, but keep an eye out for some exciting new launches this autumn! 

What are you most excited about when it comes to attending the Gorgeously Green Gathering? 

I am looking forward to meeting lots of like-minded, discerning people who appreciate genuine, authentically natural and organic products.  People who aren't taken in by greenwashing and are interested more in wellbeing than beauty. I can’t wait to tell you about my Weleda favourites and let you all try a dab of this and squirt of that.  I want to help you understand more about Weleda’s products, what will suit you best, what smells you respond to and the great philosophy of everything Weleda.

Thank you again to Caroline, Weleda and special thanks to Susie Fairgrieves for the interview. If you would like to join our mailing list for this event, click here.

Gorgeously Green Gathering is sponsored by Botanical Brands (distributors of Living Nature & Lippy Girl) and The Rose Tree and organised by Sarah (Sugarpuffish) Jen (Jen's Green Skincare) and Rachel (All Natural Aspirations)

Images all courtesy of Weleda.