It all goes back to 1921 and something called anthroposophy. This movement, stemming from the teachings of philosopher Dr. Rudolf Steiner, encourages the individual to see his or her body, mind and spirit as intrinsically linked to our world; all part of one holistic system.

And so Steiner, along with Dr. Ita Wegman, got together with a team of dedicated scientists and doctors to determine just how they might use this philosophy to take care of their patients’ needs. They understood that a human body has a remarkable ability to heal itself, but sometimes it needs a little help. So they developed a personal approach to health care using natural ingredients that can holistically work with and support our own body’s healing tendencies.

They started by creating one of the world’s first Biodynamic^® gardens to grow what they needed. Sound new agey? It’s actually old agey—what cultures around the world have done successfully for generations.

It was successful for our founders too.

Patients were healed, wellness and balance were restored to them, and never once was a synthetic chemical or lab-made preservative used in the process.

The company’s new name couldn’t have been more appropriate: Weleda, after the Celtic goddess of wisdom and healing.

Soon, word got around about the innovative, effective work Weleda was doing and the company spread from Switzerland, to Germany and into North America and the world. Today we’re proud to have offices and partnerships in more than 50 countries. 

And yet despite our success, not a whole lot has changed. We still cultivate our own Biodynamic^® gardens. We still believe natural ingredients truly provide what a body needs to be vibrant, beautiful and well. We still put the health and well-being of you above all else.

And we continue to grow, spreading our passion for beauty, wellness and environmental respect around the world.

We see beauty everywhere.

It’s in the soil we till, the flowers we grow, the partnerships we build that honor the human spirit and respect the natural world.

And of course we see it in you.

But our mission isn’t just to recognize beauty. Our mission is to actively cultivate beauty.

We do it with Biodynamic^® farming methods. We do it by developing fair trade partnerships for a more positive impact on the world. We do it by empowering the individual to make positive change in the world.

And of course we do it with meaningful products that work with your body’s own natural vitality and ability to nurture and heal.

We strongly believe in supporting your health and beauty, and that of every individual. By doing so, we hope each of us will be empowered to cultivate beauty in the world. For ourselves, for our children, and for the children of all the generations to come.

Lofty goals?

Absolutely.

Our promise to you

• To delight the senses with products that are gentle and effective
• To create vital relationships among customers, fair trade partners and our own team
• To ensure the quality of our products and programs
• To actively protect ecology and steward conservation
• To continually invest in research and development so we many continue to cultivate beauty around the world

Our Mission

We stimulate and inspire your body, soul and spirit. In doing so, we encourage you to draw from your own vitality and discover inner balance. This enables your individual health and authentic beauty to unfold.

Weleda Worldwide

Since our beginnings in Arlesheim, Switzerland in 1921, our holistic approach to health and beauty have been enthusiastically embraced by customers and Our Fair Trade Partners around the world.

In Germany we grow close to 200 plant species in the largest medicinal plant gardens in all of Europe.

In Moldova we work with partners to cultivate the freshest, most aromatherapeutic lavender close to the source of our essential oil distillery.

In Turkey we employ more than 270 small-scale farmers simply to grow and harvest the choicest organic rose petals.

In New York, we rejuvenate thousands of tired bodies at our flagship Weleda Store and Spa.

In total, we operate on five continents, with 20 direct subsidiaries, partnerships in 53 countries, and close to 2,000 employees worldwide.

Wherever we are, we operate in ways that best support the needs of our local cultures and communities. But we are all united in our passionate commitment to cultivating beauty.

That’s an idea that makes sense in any language.

Our Standards

We have very clear standards for our products:

• No synthetic preservatives
• No synthetic fragrances
• No synthetic chemicals
• No synthetic anything

When we say “all natural,” we mean “all natural.”

We aim to use only the purest wild-crafted, organically and Biodynamically^® cultivated ingredients for our products. Toxins, additives and raw materials from mineral oils simply won’t do.

But natural isn’t enough for us—our ingredients have to be effective too. They have to work with your body’s own ability to heal, restore well-being and impart radiance. So to ensure our ingredients maintain their innate potency, we harvest them quickly, then process them as little as possible, taking excellent care of them along the way.

We feel a certain level of responsibility to our crops the same way we feel a responsibility to you.

And because we believe unwaveringly in cultivating beauty for all creatures, we don’t test our skin care products or their ingredients on animals and neither do our suppliers. Period. No asterisk, no small print.