Good news for animal lovers! The brand claims to value animal welfare, which is reflected in their certificates. Santaverde products carry the Leaping Bunny label, which means they have not been tested on animals and are 100% vegan certified by the Vegan Society.
When it comes to materials, Santaverde is quite transparent. They provide an explanation for many of the ingredients on their website. For the most common ingredients, they provide more details, particularly where they originate from and the effects of the ingredient on the skin.
Santaverde also communicates quite transparently; where they share information regarding the ingredients that come from and in which countries we know where some of their ingredients come from and also in which countries the production takes place.
Santaverde also communicates quite transparently about the production, we know where some of their ingredients come from and also in which countries the production takes place.
Ethics
Santaverde gives high priority to social responsibility and respect for nature. Sabine Beer explains that, together with other responsible companies, they want to be a role model for a people-oriented economy that links entrepreneurial success with ecological and social success. So, great ideas, but what about the implementation?
When developing new products, Santaverde strives to incorporate as many raw ingredients sourced directly from farmers and owners who provide certified organic cultivation, wild capture, and fair trade as possible. By directly working with farmers and suppliers, the support from Santaverde enables many other projects to prosper. For example, the aloe vera comes from their farm in Andalusia, the cashew from a local family farm that was previously an abandoned plantation in Brazil, and the coconut oil from Sri Lanka, Naturland Fair certified.
Santaverde supports a rescue shelter for street cats and dogs called Adana, located in Spain. In addition, they work with a charity in Brazil that supports the Brazilian rainforest. When you buy something from the care line “Xingu Age Perfect”, 10% of net sales are donated to the non-profit organisation TARGET.
Immediately after harvesting the aloe vera, it’s then transported to the production laboratory located in the middle of the fields. Why? To capture the freshness and properties of the aloe vera so it is retained for final production. The last step in production is in Germany, thus falling under German and European labour regulations, where the general working conditions are okay!
Ingredients
All Santaverde products consist of pure, valuable plant juices and oils, delicate hydrosols and rich plant extracts. Santaverde avoids the use of chemical-synthetic perfumes, colourings, preservatives, mineral oils and parabens.
Santaverde has certified its products with the NATRUE label for natural cosmetics. NATRUE is a certifying body for organic ingredients and productions processes that need to be met by the producers. It includes a ban on the use of harmful substances, certain packaging materials, and genetically modified organisms. The products are also independently checked for compliance processes.
In total, Santaverde uses around 200 different ingredients, and each product has a unique effect. Yet the products all have something in common. Santaverde has developed its own recipes. Instead of the common ingredient of water in most cosmetics, Santaverde uses plant juices. For this, they use the juice of aloe vera due to its restoring, moisturising, binding, soothing, and cooling effects. These properties make it a suitable ingredient for sunburns and skin prone to allergies, insect bites, or pimples.
Each leaf of the organic aloe vera plant is harvested by hand. It is then immediately processed at the on-site production laboratory at the Santaverde Finca (farm). Aloe vera and most of the other raw materials used for cosmetics carry the EU organic label. This label prohibits the use of genetic modification, mineral nitrogen fertilisers, requires good animal welfare, a reduction in energy consumption, and the preservation of raw materials.
Aloe Vera flower nectar and cashew fruit are the base ingredients in the anti-age and Xingu products. The aloe vera nectar is full of antioxidants and the aloe vera juice is sourced directly from Santaverde Finca (the farm).
The cashew fruit is sourced directly from an old (now abandoned) plantation located in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza. It is run by a local family, who handpicks and presses the ripe cashew fruit under certified organic processing rules. Cashew fruit contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
They believe it is important to use organic ingredients because it can offer many positive environmental effects, such as higher soil fertility, more biodiversity, soil and flood protection, species-appropriate farming, freedom from genetic modification, and poverty alleviation by trying to make a living for small farmers. COSH! agrees with this vision.
All other raw materials used by Santaverde are sourced from organic cultivation or wild catch unless a raw material is temporarily unavailable due to weather conditions or a poor harvest.
It is important to use organic ingredients due to the many positive environmental effects. Higher soil fertility, more biodiversity, soil and flood protection, species-appropriate agriculture, freedom from genetic modification, and poverty alleviation by trying to make a living for small farmers. COSH! agrees with this vision.
Please note the following when examining the ingredient list of Santaverde: * from controlled organic farming and ** active ingredient from essential oil.
Circular economy and Packaging
Santaverde uses environmentally friendly advertising material and packaging produced in a climate-neutral environment. Vegetable oil is the base for printing ink. Product packaging is sourced from FSC-certified European forests. The advertising material is printed on 100% recycled paper. Santaverde focuses on creating as little waste as possible whilst not undertaking any greenwashing. That’s what we like at COSH!
Plastic is banned as much as possible during transport, so they also use FSC-certified paper, mono-material, and grass paper.
Cosmetics for your face and body
Having healthy skin is great for everyone, year round. Santaverde can help you find your perfect natural skincare routine. Whether you are looking for a face or body cream or suffer from dry or oily skin, Santaverde has products for all skin types. You can get advice at the COSH shops that sell cosmetics. The shops that sell Santaverde can be seen on the map further on in this article.
If you have been walking around with skin problems for a while, for example dry or oily skin, you might like to try the Santaverde products based on plant juices. You can buy Santaverde at the stores indicated on the map below!
