Beauty News, MÁDARA
MÁDARA – About the Brand
IS GOOD SKINARE ONLY ABOUT SKIN?
We believe that the best skincare is the kind of care that goes deeper than skin. Not just to make us look better, but make us feel and act better. It is care for our well being and self-esteem, care about the choices we make, the values we respect, and care for the environmental footprint we leave.
For the Nordic people, often introverted and solitary beings, what is on the inside has always been more important than how we look. That’s why we insist on truly effective ingredients, honest claims, environmentally friendly packaging, care, passion and respect. Because a radiant heart leads to radiant skin.
IT’S IN OUR BLOOD
Over thousands of years, our harsh and cold Northern climate has nurtured plants with extraordinary properties. Those deep roots, bitter leaves and gnarled barks have healed wounds and saved lives. And the hard-won knowledge and wisdom of survival, passed from mother to daughter, from father to son, is still in our blood. Now in the 21st century we aim to prove that nature gives us all we need. We scrutinise legends about Northern healing herbs under the penetrating gaze of doctors in the fierce light of scientific labs. In our unending quest to discover more of what nature still hides, scientific validation is a must for every of our ingredients and final creations. Strangely enough, it s a scarcity of resources and sunlight that has turned us into sharp-eyed perfectionists, focused on detail, design and, above all, quality.
SHALL WE CALL IT LUXURY?
What does luxury mean to you? Is it wearing an expensive dress? Or diving naked in a lonely forest lake at dawn? It could be both. For us, luxury means our wild Northern forests and fertile soil. Our cool seas and vast sandy coasts, where we sit alone gazing at the wonder of Northern lights. Our old wooden country cottages, miles apart from one another. The luxury of seasons with our golden autumns, crystal winters, longed-for springs and painfully short Northern summers. The luxury of raw, pure and precious natural ingredients refined to their highest potential.
That’s what’s under our skin.
I N G R E D I E N T S
INGREDIENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT
– BIRCH WATER –
With the outbreak of spring, birch trees across the northern hemisphere prepare themselves for blossoming by running an energising liquid – known as birch water, sap or juice. This traditional detox drink of northern cultures was recently discovered to have powerful anti-age effects on the skin.
WHY DOES BIRCH WATER FLOW AT ALL?
To know more whats behind of the birch water drinking hype we are meeting up with Uldis Kondratovics, associate professor of Biology and Plant Physiology at the University of Latvia, to learn more about this unique process of natural vegetation.
Birch water is a nutritious liquid that birch roots vigorously push into the trunk, moving it upwards to the branches where it finally reaches its destination – the buds. The juicing process is necessary for the tree to ensure intensive growth and regeneration after the freezing winter standstill. It rapidly spreads nutrients across the body of the tree, boosting cell division, leaf unfurling, blossoming, and most of all – growth.
WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
Birch water flows in regions where temperature fall far below 0 degrees Celsius in winter, like Latvia, Finland, northern regions of Russia. Birch sap is generated by the roots. Roots take water and minerals from the soil, while carbohydrates (sugars) formed in the previous summer by photosynthesis are accumulated and stored in the roots. Besides minerals like potassium, magnesium and calcium, the sap contains a unique blend of amino acids (citrulline, glutamine, glutamic acid, asparagine, isoleucine, phenylalanine), enzymes and natural organic acids (malic acid, succinic acid, citric acid and fumaric acid).
WHEN DOES IT FLOW?
The flow of sap is triggered by rapid temperature changes. Night temperatures should fall below zero but the day should be warm and sunny. The birch tree senses the freezing and thawing of the soil and launches a cascade of natural processes that result in the flowing of sap.
The flow continues for just one to two weeks and the fresh green hue of unfurling buds marks the end of birch water harvest and the onset of spring. The time of the year when birch trees generously share their nutritional sap with us humans is different across the Northern hemisphere. It might be the beginning of April in Latvia or Southern Finland and it can be as late as May in territories closer to the Arctic Circle.
HARVESTING OF BIRCH WATER IS A TRADITION OF NATIONS LIVING IN THE NORDIC REGION. IT IS USED PRIMARILY AS A HEALTH DRINK TO DETOXIFY THE BODY, IMPROVE HEALTH, CLARIFY SKIN AND STRENGTHEN HAIR.
A B O U T T H E F O U N D E R S
LOTTE TISENKOPFA-ILTNERE
PRODUCT CREATOR
How would you describe your beauty style?
Skincare should be good enough to eat. And I don’t mean fast food.