Frame; A Natural World Without Walls

The Bregenz Forest is a stunning area of natural beauty in the state of Vorarlberg, Austria. What comes to mind is of course the idea of flower-filled meadows, blue lakes and majestic mountains, winding rivers and fresh air something quite ‘Sound of Music’, an idealistic place to grown up no doubt, where clean air mingles with freshly milked cows lying on green grass with blue summer skies, ferns, pines and white pure snow in winter. A place where wild flowers grow free and foraging is not a trendy hipster London craze but a reality and way of life passed down generation to generation . A place where phrases like ‘well being’ don’t exist because people have always lived that way. A healthy glow in the cheeks that says everything about the life style of a natural habitat.

So this is where beauty and health guru Susanne Kaufmann grew up. Having lived in and around the hotel her great great grandparents started in Bregenzer Forest (a valley in the Alps), she ingested the lifestyle of health and rest; so much around her. It ignited in her a real passion for for the healing properties of nature. Once she took over the running of the hotel she had already harnessed natures wisdom, passed down from previous generations, and decided to completely update the spa and then to add in her own healing spa products.

Her range now has over 80 products which are not just results-orientated, but completely natural and scientifically-proven. It includes a line of sun products and a mens range. The collection is made up of a range of natural skin and body care that promotes a sense of wellness. The hotel has its own herbal garden where they cultivate many of the herbs used as ingredients for the products. In the garden there are things like arnica, rosemary, chamomile, lavender and Melissa.

So not only does Susanne run the hotel and her spa at the hotel, she runs a global product business and also consults with other hotels on spa related issues. This year is the brand’s 15th anniversary we needed to get the inside scoop on Susanne’s personal top 15 products:

Alkali salt deacidifying
Anti Ageing body cream
Body Butter
De-stress Oil
Enzyme Peel
Eye Cream, Line A
Hair Elixir
Hand Serum,
Intensive Power Serum Line A
Lifting Masle Line A
Moisturizing Mask
Nutrient Concentrate Skin smoothing
Oil bath for the senses
Pillow spray calming
Skin Lightening and Radiance Complex

The very pillar of the Susanne Kaufmann line is natural, gentle, healing and effervescent products that work holistically to improve not just the performance but the look of the skin. The company makes a variety of products and are vegan friendly. Utilising plant compounds as preserves which helps to eliminate the need for artificial preservatives. Susanne Kaufmann organic beauty and body line is natural health bottled!

New to her range is the wonderful Pollution Skin Defense System:-

Environmental pollution, UV rays, blue light from computers, tablets, phones etc have a negative effect on our skin health. we know this damage leads to the breakage of collagen and elastin molecules and the formation of free radicals, whose aggressive existence is one of the primary causes of skin ageing. So the new Pollution Skin Defence System by Susanne Kaufmann™ is about protecting the skin from this pollution. It renews the skin system by boosting the body’s own repair mechanisms and to help protect the skin from long term damage.

This new system is made up of three ampoules of active ingredient; Vitamin C, Ectoin and Q10, which are used as a regime over 15 days.

The Anti-Pollution Active Ingredient Vitamin C is an effective antioxidant as it protects the skin from free radicals, and stimulates the skin’s own defences and releases the skin’s detoxification pathways.

Ectoin acts as a “molecular companion” preventing premature cell damage. In combination with the active ingredient QT40, the skin is not only protected, but also repaired. The Ectoin ampoule thus increases cell protection, improves the skin density and thus also the capacity of the skin to store moisture.

The enzyme Q10 is irreplaceable for the cellular metabolism, but due to stress and harmful environmental influences, our endogenic Q10 is quickly depleted. The Q10 ampule boosts collagen production and cell metabolism while keeping oxidative stress away from the skin.

This 15-day skin renewal treatment helps the skin cope better with harmful environmental influences. .

And finally should you be able to find the time you could go walking in the Austrian hills and see if you can spot a few of the indigenous plants used in healing, here are a few to get you started:-

Edelweiss, a scarce, short-lived flower found in remote mountain areas, the plant has been used as a symbol of the Alps, and as a national symbol of Austria. Edelweiss is a protected plant in Austria and the flower has been used traditionally in folk medicine as a remedy against abdominal and respiratory diseases.

Mountain Arnica is a flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. Mountain Arnica has been used in herbal medicine for centuries. It is a protected plant in Austria.