Get to Know our Ingredients

 

Vedic Botanicals prides itself on the quality of the ingredients we source.  As we say, “From soil to skin, only goodness goes in”- and we mean that with all sincerity.  We are work to source our raw materials and packaging from quality US companies.  Please feel free to take a look at the breakdown below. 

 

Ayurvedic Herbs:

The vast majority of our Ayurvedic herbs, which are used as the basis for our products, are grown using a mix of both modern sustainable farming practices and traditional Ayurvedic farming, harvesting, and preparation methods in New Mexico, California, and Oregon.  Some herbs are grown on USDA certified organic farms in India. The herbs and other compound components are certified organic, in all cases where possible.  There are some items which cannot be certified organic, such as mineral salt. 

(Mineral Salt is found in Recovery Aide)

 

Oils, waxes, and butters:

We only source certified organic oils, waxes, and butters.  Emulsifying agents are all plant based.  We source these items from ethical US companies who offer wide arrays of organic and fair trade raw materials- not as an afterthought.  

 

Hydrosols:

Hydrosols are the natural by-product of essential oils.  Most essential oils are made via steam distillation, and this results in a highly concentrated “floral water” as a "waste" product.  Floral waters are infused waters, and carry the medicinal or beneficial properties of the plant infused in them. The plant material used to make the essential oil is certified organic, and thus so are the hydrosols. Hydrosols carry the medicinal and wellness benefits of the herb they were made from, while providing a water-based delivery method for cosmetics.  Ayurveda traditionally uses oil-based body care products, but adding a bit of hydrosol to the mixture lightens them up and facilitates absorption. Not to mention carry the added benefit of herbal goodness! 

  

Essential oils:

As much as possible, Vedic Botanicals sources essential oils that are certified organic.  However, some essential oils come from tree bark, resins, or wildcrafted sources.  In order for something to certified organic, it needs to be grown in a controlled farm environment.  If something is wildcrafted, that means the plant matter was gathered in the wild- hunter/ gatherer style.  Wildcrafted items cannot be certified organic because the growing process of the plant is unknown or unconfirmed.  Certain rare oils are made from plants (usually flowers) that are not grown en masse on farms, but rather they are gathered in the wild and used to produce essential oils. 

The vast majority of our essential oils are certified organic, so please see the shorter of the two lists below.  These are our essential oils that: A. Cannot be certified organic due to the source material being difficult to control and thus cannot meet “organic” certification standards, or B: Are not farmed and thus only available wildcrafted, or "wild harvested". 

Birch, Elemi, Ho Wood, Hops, Hyssop, Inula, Jasmine, Bue Lotus, White Lotus, Manuka, Peru Balsam, Ravensara, Spikenard (aka Jatamansi), Tagetes

We source all of our essential oils from ethical, environmentally responsible companies with high standards for quality. 

These essential oils can be found in various Vedic Botanicals products such as Radiance Face Cream, Mental Zen, Siddhartha Special, Working Hands, Euphrates Blend Body Mist, and a handful of others. 

 

“Preservatives” & shelf life

You may have noticed that VB products don’t contain typical preservative agents like concentrated forms of Vitamin E or C.  Our products contain herbs and ingredients that are naturally anti-bacterial, and maintain the “goodness” of the product.  The traditional Ayurvedic formulations process yields end results that have longer shelf lives than their Western counterparts.  The overwhelming majority of our products take a few years to “go bad”- and yes, they’ve been lab tested. 

Our products have tested “good” and clean over 2.5 years old, and we guarantee our products for 1 year.  We use a lactobacillus fermentation- a probiotic- rather than an anti-biotic as a “preservative”.  Science is increasingly demonstrating that health is less about removing bad bacteria, and more about making sure the good bacteria exists in large quantities.  Probiotics are time and time again proving to perform better than anti-biotics, minus the side effects. In our lab tests, probiotic preserving agents significantly out-performed anti-biotic preserving agents. 

In the case of our face creams (Radiance & Kirei) the large amounts of aloe vera in the product, and lack of traditional preservative gives it a shorter shelf life, of about 12-15 months.  This is why we make the face creams in super small batches, package it in small amounts, guarantee the product for 6 months, and never sell one that’s older than 3 months.  Part of what makes the creams so good, also makes them perishable, and rather than compromise on quality or efficacy, we adjust our production.  You also won’t find these items sold in stores because of the short shelf life. While not a face cream, Cellu-Aide is also part of this category.

 

Packaging

We source our packaging from US companies in Florida and Illinois. Our jars are glass, easy to re-use or recycle.  We use compostable plastic labels, and any product boxes are made from seed paper.