There are many ‘natural’ skincare companies in the world, but surprisingly, there are just a handful that grow their own ingredients, and even fewer, who apply biodiscovery to find new-to-the-world ingredients. One of those is Snowberry, and the ‘Snowberry Gardens’ are located north of Matakana.
Dr Travis Badenhorst, president of the NZ Society of Cosmetic Chemists and scientist at Snowberry skincare says: “One of the most exciting parts of what Snowberry does is biodiscovery. And biodiscovery is much more than simply growing some ingredients. Pretty much anyone can do that – though very few do. Biodiscovery is original skin science based on native plants, as well as the extracts we can obtain from naturals like kanuka honey.”
Snowberry’s biodiscovery plantation, popularly called the ‘Snowberry Gardens’, is idyllically pretty, and that’s reason enough to love it. But, says Dr Badenhorst, “Nearly 11 years ago, we began planting native plants from the New Zealand rainforest. Now, we have over 8,000 plants of selected varieties. It’s gorgeous and a haven for native birds – and people! But most importantly, these plants were selected for very special qualities. We looked at traditional rongoa Maori, or medicine, and then we considered the research done by various scientific institutes in the past 100 years. This enabled us to narrow the number of plants to a manageable few.”
Natural skincare has become one of the go-tos for many women who are seeking safe and authentic skin care. But studies show that most of us also want to know that natural skincare really works. And there are many reasons to be uncertain. Which is why, ‘nature and science’ has become a catch-cry.
“The problem,” says Dr Badenhorst, “is that biodiscovery is such a research-intensive and long-term venture, hardly anyone does it. Snowberry decided 12 years ago that simply natural skin care was not good enough, and that led to the Snowberry Gardens. In addition to the plants, we have some of the most sophisticated equipment for identifying potentially very valuable skin renewal compounds that won’t be found anywhere else. And right now, for example, we produce the most superb harakeke seed oil which is in our day and night creams, and of course the beautiful Renew Body Oil.”
Most recently, and cause for great excitement, is Snowberry’s development of a highly skin-beneficial extract from the kanuka honey produced in the gardens.
Our mission, is to use biodiscovery to create skincare that can be proven to reveal more radiant skin, and to help avoid the premature ageing of skin, at any age.”
Soraya Hendesi
Says Dr Badenhorst: “Kanuka honey is a wonderful anti-ageing ingredient because it contains very special compounds called arabinogalactans (AGPs); and kanuka has the highest AGP content of any New Zealand honey, including manuka honey. AGP is important because it has powerful anti-inflammatory properties, and what we see every day, is that persistent inflammation from conditions such as acne and eczema is exceedingly detrimental to radiant skin. The problem with all honeys, is that they are sticky, and the conventional way of eliminating the stickiness, can alter the active ingredient so that it is rendered largely ineffective. We’ve now solved that problem.”
Snowberry’s New Radiance Face Serum with CuPEP™ is treasured by many New Zealand women. Now though, the serum’s gold-standard proven formulation, has been enhanced with high-performance AGP from the kanuka honey harvested in the Snowberry Gardens. And for more radiant skin, that’s a breakthrough! It is why, says Snowberry Founder Soraya Hendesi, Snowberry’s mantra is ‘made by nature, boosted by science’.
For more information snowberry.co.nz
