By harvesting ingredients grown with biodynamic principles on their own farms – or working with carefully selected, certified farms that produce the crops they need – brands like AEOS are asserting control over the quality and efficacy of their products, creating the next revolution in skincare.
WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC FARMING?
Biodynamic farming is an alternative agricultural practice in which farmers try to develop a symbiotic relationship with their land, taking natural elements into account to create a sustainable farming style that produces better ingredients and heals the land. The practice takes an environmentally friendly, ethical approach to agriculture which helps retain soil quality and ecological balance.
The principles of biodynamic farming include preserving soil fertility by using natural fertilizers instead of chemical, frequent crop rotation, and consideration for the biological ecosystem around the farm. There is also a spiritual element to the practice, emphasizing the connection between humans and the land. Unlike traditional agricultural methods, biodynamic farming uses a planting and harvesting calendar that’s dictated by the lunar cycles, and the alignment of the earth and stars. Farmers believe that ascending moons are the best time to harvest because of the increase in plant sap at the time, while descending moons create a gravitational pull that helps plants pull water from the soil and grow effectively, meaning it’s the best time to plant and sow.
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AEOS, a pioneer of biodynamic skincare, has a vibrant, 500-acre farm in the English countryside that meticulously applies the principles of biodynamic farming to create the raw ingredients for its products. Shire Farm also supplies the crops for sister brand Aura-Soma, which produces concoctions that enhance the aura with a system of color, plant, and crystal energies.
“A farm, from a biodynamic point of view, is a whole organism,” says Mike Booth, chairman of AEOS and Aura-Soma, “so the plants, the soil, the animals…every part of it is part of the organism. But the most important thing about biodynamics is the micro-organisms in the soil. Conventional farming puts in chemicals that attempt to balance, yet de-nature the soil of micro-nutrients and also micro-organisms. What we do is the opposite, we spread 5,000 tons of compost on our fields prior to spring sewing. That gives you an idea of the scale that we have to work with the micro-organisms to keep the fields healthy and to keep them rich in micro-nutrients.”
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BIODYNAMIC FARMING AND SKINCARE
The next frontier in skincare, biodynamic products are even cleaner and greener than organic and all-natural items. That’s because biodynamic farming methods boost the vitamins, nutrients, and active compounds in crops. By extension, this allows brands to access premium-quality natural ingredients to create skincare products – all without the massive environmental impact of creating regular products.
Best of all, customers can be assured that these products live up to what it says on the tin. All skincare products created with ingredients grown with biodynamic farming methods undergo stringent testing and certification by Demeter, an independent, non-profit organization. To receive a biodynamic certification from Demeter, brands must comply with strict guidelines for growing ingredients and over 200 standards for processing and producing products. The certification is reviewed and recertified every couple of years.
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At Shire Farm, the brand carefully cultivates the purest herbs and plants with biodynamic practices. To ensure high-performance ingredients and effective products, Shire Farm guarantees that the soil is always nourished, wildlife and natural elements are respected, and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are excluded.
“What we want to do is to really support nature in what it would already do to bring a balance about,” adds Booth, “and to be in attunement with that whole process, both in relation to the cosmos, the planets, the moon and so on, and also with the micro-organisms that are part of the way in which the soil functions and needs our support after the generic degenerate agriculture that has been on the land since the 17th century.”
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ARE BIODYNAMIC PRODUCTS ACTUALLY BETTER FOR YOUR SKIN?
Because of its sustainable, spiritual practices, biodynamic farming produces incredibly pure, powerful natural ingredients for potent skincare products that deliver unprecedented benefits to the skin. Studies have shown that biodynamic crops contain more potassium, sodium, iron, and Vitamin C than those grown with traditional agricultural practices, which in turn boosts the efficacy of skincare products.
Add in the fact that these products are also hypoallergenic, paraben and chemical-free – and don’t leave a massive environmental footprint – and you’ll soon be wondering why biodynamic skincare is only now catching on. The best part? Because of the natural ingredients and high quality of biodynamic skincare, these products are suitable for the most sensitive skin types and can help alleviate skin concerns such as hyperpigmentation, acne, and rosacea.
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By nurturing the soil and its environs with biodynamic farming techniques, skincare companies can maximize each ingredient’s potential. They can harvest the ingredients when their mineral, vitamin, and nutrient content are at their peak. Among these ingredients is biodynamic spelt, which is packed with Vitamin E, proteins, and essential fatty acids. The spelt crop at Shire Farm is painstakingly harvested using supercritical CO2 extraction to preserve its properties, and its oil is infused into all AEOS’s products to moisturize and regenerate skin with its potent antioxidant powers. To enhance the efficacy of its biodynamic ingredients, AEOS blends them with water that is drawn from a natural artesian ground source and purified with the brand’s pioneering three-stage process to maximize the skin-hydrating powers of AEOS’s formulas.
Aura-Soma, sister brand to AEOS, also uses the biodynamic crops grown at Shire Farm to produce its energy-balancing products, such as its colorful Equilibrium Bottles, and pomanders, etc. To enhance the power of its formulas, Aura-Soma extracts its floral waters and herbal tinctures as soon as the plants are picked, ensuring the purity of its ingredients.
Using biodynamic farming, a sustainable agricultural practice that respects the soil and draws on spiritual elements, brands like AEOS and Aura-Soma are creating the purest, most powerful plant extracts. In turn, these make highly effective products that generate visible results in the skin. With the incredible results – and practices that appeal to environmentally-minded consumers – biodynamic skincare just may be the next big thing in skincare.
