Weleda Natural and Organic Skincare Baby and Medicinal Products

Weleda is not a modern clean-beauty brand trying to rediscover herbalism. It has been working with medicinal plants, natural skincare and holistic medicine since 1921, which puts more than a century of practice behind the familiar green bottles.

Its origins are unusual. Physician Dr Ita Wegman, philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner and chemist Oskar Schmiedel were involved in its foundation, emerging from the development of anthroposophic medicine in Switzerland and Germany. The first products weren’t conceived simply as cosmetics. Weleda developed medicines, dietary supplements and body-care preparations from a philosophy that viewed the human being and nature as interconnected.

That history still shapes the company. Weleda continues to produce both natural cosmetics and medicinal products and describes its approach to health in terms of body, mind and spirit rather than separating skincare, medicine and wellbeing into entirely unrelated subjects.

Anthroposophic medicine is particularly interesting to me for that reason. It developed from the work of Steiner and Wegman as an integrative approach that combines conventional medical knowledge with a broader understanding of the individual, natural substances, lifestyle and therapeutic practices. Whether someone embraces the entire philosophy or only parts of it, Weleda’s roots clearly belong to a much older European tradition of using plants medicinally rather than to today’s beauty industry’s interpretation of “botanicals”.

The plants aren’t merely a historical story either. Weleda operates six medicinal-plant gardens around the world, and its original garden in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany dates from 1922. Plants are cultivated according to biodynamic principles, while the company also works with more than 50 cultivation projects internationally.

Today Weleda operates in more than 50 countries and has subsidiaries in 20. It is a sizeable international business, but it remains independent of the multinational beauty conglomerates. Its ownership structure is unusual: the majority of voting rights are held by two organisations associated with its anthroposophic purpose, the General Anthroposophical Society and Klinik Arlesheim.

That’s not insignificant because after more than 100 years, the philosophy that created Weleda hasn’t simply become the backstory of a conventional cosmetics corporation.

There is substantive history to report about Weleda. Recent historical work has examined Weleda’s connections with Dachau. The established facts include that Weleda ordered medicinal plants from the herb plantation at Dachau concentration camp. Weleda also supplied frost-protection cream to SS doctor Sigmund Rascher, who conducted lethal hypothermia experiments on Dachau prisoners. The evidence currently available does not establish that Weleda knew the cream would be used in those experiments, or conclusively establish how Rascher used that particular shipment. Weleda’s former head gardener Franz Lippert also went on to work at the Dachau plantation after leaving Weleda. Weleda itself now acknowledges these historical connections and has commissioned further independent research into its history. The 2024 historical investigation found no evidence that Weleda used forced labour itself or benefited from the businesses, and its management didn’t join the Nazi Party or affiliated organisations. a more comprehensive historical investigation commissioned in 2025.

Weleda’s range is enormous once I look beyond the handful of products normally displayed in British pharmacies.

Skincare covers facial moisturisers, cleansers, oils, serums, eye care, body lotions, body oils, hand creams, deodorants, shower products and lip care. Different botanical ranges are built around plants including wild rose, pomegranate, sea buckthorn, calendula and arnica.

Then there is Skin Food, probably the product most people now associate with Weleda. The original Skin Food dates back to 1926, making it a century old in 2026. Its rich formulation contains sunflower seed oil, lanolin, beeswax and extracts of pansy, rosemary, chamomile and calendula. What has become a fashionable beauty product began as an intensive plant-based cream for dry and rough skin.

The baby range deserves more than a passing mention because Weleda has been making baby care for decades. Calendula Baby includes nappy creams, baby oils, washes, shampoos and moisturising products built around calendula. There is also a White Mallow range developed for particularly sensitive skin, using white mallow and pansy rather than relying on the aromatic essential oils found in many botanical cosmetics.

Pregnancy and motherhood are covered through products including stretch-mark massage oil, perineum massage oil and nursing products.

Weleda’s body oils are another important part of its identity. Arnica Massage Oil, Calendula Massage Oil, Sea Buckthorn Body Oil, Lavender Relaxing Body Oil and other preparations draw heavily on the European tradition of therapeutic plant oils and massage.

There are natural deodorants, oral-care products and haircare too.

But stopping there would give a misleading picture of Weleda because cosmetics are only one side of the company. It also manufactures homeopathic and anthroposophic medicines. Availability differs between countries because medicines operate under different national regulatory systems, but pharmaceutical production has been part of Weleda since its beginning.

That makes Weleda fundamentally different from most brands in this directory. It didn’t start with moisturiser and later expand into wellness. Medicine and the medicinal use of plants came first.

I find Weleda’s agricultural story every bit as interesting as its ingredient lists. The company reports that around 80% of the plant ingredients it uses are certified organic, and it cultivates plants according to organic and biodynamic principles. Biodynamic agriculture treats fertility, soil, plants, animals and the wider farm environment as an interconnected living system rather than approaching agriculture simply as the production of maximum crop yield from a piece of land.

For a company whose products depend so heavily on plants, that relationship with the soil is fundamental. Weleda’s six gardens are also managed as biodiversity habitats rather than simply agricultural production sites. Its sourcing extends beyond its own gardens through long-term cultivation projects around the world, involving plants including calendula, arnica, sesame, rose, lavender and frankincense.

This is one of those occasions where the age of a company genuinely tells me something useful. Weleda wasn’t forced into organic cultivation by 21st century consumer demand. Its medicinal garden was established in 1922. Its cosmetics have also been independently certified rather than being allowed to define “natural” for themselves. Weleda’s natural personal-care range carries NATRUE certification, one of the established international standards for natural and organic cosmetics.

That certification puts actual boundaries around the terminology. Weleda cosmetics are free from mineral oils, silicones, parabens, PEGs, synthetic fragrances, genetically modified ingredients and microplastic ingredients. I also appreciate the company’s willingness to use ingredients that don’t fit neatly into today’s simplistic interpretation of plant-based beauty.

Skin Food contains lanolin and beeswax. Those aren’t vegan ingredients, but that doesn’t make them poor ingredients. Lanolin has a long history in skin preparations because of its emollient and protective qualities. Beeswax performs a different useful function. I would rather see ingredients chosen deliberately for what they contribute than have every traditional formulation altered simply to satisfy whichever label is currently most marketable.

The same principle applies to the medicinal side. Arnica has been used traditionally for bruising, muscular discomfort and injury for generations. Calendula has an extensive history in preparations for the skin. Chamomile, rosemary and numerous other plants appearing throughout Weleda formulations come with bodies of traditional knowledge stretching far beyond the lifespan of the modern cosmetics industry.

I don’t regard that knowledge as an inferior placeholder waiting for modern science to validate it. Traditional medicine represents accumulated observation and practice developed over generations. Contemporary research gives us another way of investigating those plants, their constituents and their biological activity. The two bodies of knowledge can sit alongside one another.

There is also a satisfying continuity to products such as Skin Food. Beauty brands reformulate constantly, following trends from retinol to peptides to microbiome skincare. A plant cream developed in 1926 remaining commercially relevant a century later is quite an achievement.

My biggest problem with Weleda is actually much simpler than anything I found on an ingredient list. I haven’t found the products particularly effective.

I’ve tried Weleda products and, despite liking much of the philosophy behind them, I repeatedly come away underwhelmed by what they actually do. Natural ingredients, biodynamic farming, beautiful medicinal-plant gardens and a century of history make an interesting company, but ultimately I’m buying the product to perform a function. If I spend money on skincare and don’t notice much benefit from using it, all those credentials become rather academic. For me, too many Weleda products fall into that category. They aren’t necessarily unpleasant products. I simply don’t find them effective enough to justify buying them again.

That’s particularly disappointing because on paper I should love this brand. Herbal medicine, biodynamic agriculture, calendula, arnica, plant oils and a holistic view of health are closely aligned with what I look for. But this directory isn’t here to reward brands for agreeing with my philosophy. The product still has to work. Something can have an excellent ingredient philosophy and still be a waste of money if it doesn’t deliver enough benefit when I actually use it.

The history of the company is another matter and it may have significant meaning for particular communities. Nothing here tells me that somebody buying Calendula Nappy Change Cream today is supporting National Socialism, and it would be historically irresponsible to pretend it does. But when I research a company for this directory, I want the uncomfortable parts of its history alongside the beautiful medicinal gardens and organic credentials. A brand with more than 100 years of history inevitably has more history to investigate.

There are more ordinary reservations too. Many Weleda products use essential oils and naturally occurring fragrance allergens, which won’t suit everybody, particularly people with highly reactive skin. Some baby products are fragranced as well. And although Weleda uses a very high proportion of organic botanical ingredients, NATRUE natural certification shouldn’t be mistaken for every finished product being certified organic.

But for me, these aren’t the deciding issue. My biggest present-day reservation remains performance. I’ve used Weleda, I understand why people love the philosophy behind it and I wanted to like it more than I actually do. The products simply haven’t impressed me enough to keep spending money on them.

Weleda’s personal-care products are NATRUE certified natural cosmetics.

NATRUE is an independent international certification system for natural and organic cosmetics rather than a natural standard created by Weleda itself. The standard controls permitted ingredients and processing and excludes categories that don’t meet its natural-cosmetics criteria.

This means Weleda can legitimately describe its certified personal care as natural rather than using “natural” merely as an undefined advertising term.

Organic agriculture runs deeply through the supply chain as well. Weleda states that approximately 80% of the botanicals it uses are certified organic, with biodynamic cultivation forming an important part of its own agricultural practices.

Weleda has also obtained UEBT certification for sourcing with respect. UEBT, the Union for Ethical BioTrade, assesses sourcing practices relating to biodiversity and people across natural ingredient supply chains.

Not every Weleda product is vegan because ingredients including lanolin and beeswax appear in some formulations.

Weleda states that it doesn’t test its cosmetics on animals, and animal testing is prohibited under the NATRUE standard except where overriding law requires it.

Its medicines sit within a different regulatory framework from its cosmetics, so I wouldn’t combine their pharmaceutical registrations with cosmetic certification. They are two different sides of the business governed by different standards.

Formulation is excellent, but the historical disclosure is worth being aware of before choosing this brand. I personally found that their products are not all effective and do what “it says on the tin”. It may be clean and natural, but if it doesn’t do the purpose I purchased it for, then my money is wasted.

There aren’t many brands in this directory where I can pick up a moisturiser and trace its philosophy back through a century of medicinal plant cultivation, anthroposophic medicine, biodynamic agriculture and European herbal traditions. That’s what makes Weleda interesting.

It isn’t perfect, and I wouldn’t want it to become perfect by today’s marketing definition. I don’t need the beeswax removed simply so every bottle can acquire a vegan logo. I don’t need its traditional medicinal plants stripped out because their histories began before randomised clinical trials. And I certainly don’t want a company built around nature to replace everything with fashionable laboratory ingredients simply because that’s the direction the beauty industry happens to be travelling.

What I do want is transparency. If a cream contains essential oils, I want to know. If a baby product contains fragrance constituents, I’ll decide whether that’s appropriate for the particular child. If a formulation changes, I’d like the change to be clear. And if someone’s skin is extremely reactive, I wouldn’t tell them that NATRUE certification guarantees they’ll tolerate a product. Those qualifications don’t undermine Weleda for me. They make it possible to choose intelligently within an enormous range.

The bigger picture is impressive. Founded in 1921. A medicinal garden operating since 1922. Around 80% certified-organic botanicals. Six Weleda gardens. More than 50 international cultivation projects. NATRUE-certified natural cosmetics. UEBT-certified sourcing. More than a century of producing natural skincare alongside medicinal products.

Weleda has managed something that many natural brands haven’t. Scale without disappearing into one of the giant beauty conglomerates. I also have considerable respect for its willingness to retain a worldview that doesn’t divide a human being into convenient commercial departments. Skin isn’t one person, emotional wellbeing another and physical health a third. Weleda’s anthroposophic origins approach the person as a whole and understand our relationship with plants and the natural environment as part of that picture.

I don’t need to subscribe to every element of anthroposophy to find that enormously more interesting than another cosmetics company promising “radiance in seven days”.

For families, the Calendula and White Mallow ranges make Weleda particularly relevant, but baby care is only a small part of the reason it belongs here. The body oils, Skin Food, medicinal plants, facial skincare, massage preparations, oral care and anthroposophic medicines reveal a much broader company.

Weleda is an Approved Brand, and one of the more historically significant ones in this directory. Its greatest strength isn’t that it has recently discovered natural beauty. It’s that after more than 100 years, nature is still where it starts.