High quality at a reasonable price – how is that possible? Firstly, we don't engage in expensive advertising. Secondly, we make use of synergistic effects with our collaboration partners – for example in manufacture and in logistics.

Our answer to this is a definite "No!" – our products are produced without any animal testing.

Unlike conventional products, natural cosmetics do not make use of silicone oils, nanoparticles or other synthetic raw materials which bring about fast absorption. Natural cosmetic emulsions, especially those with a high content of oils and fats made for dry skin, need to be rubbed into the skin for a little longer – with the beneficial side effect of encouraging good circulation in the skin, thus improving the effectiveness of the product.

During the day, your skin encounters heat, cold, dirt and many other challenges. During the night, it regenerates – as do you too. A day cream protects your skin and provides it with moisture throughout the day. A night cream is richer and supports the night-time regeneration process of your skin. We would particularly recommend those with mature or dry skin to use a night cream.

In conventional products, the lather is produced by synthetic surfactants. It is not necessary to create all these bubbles because it does not produce a better result in terms of cleansing. Working along the lines of "less is more", natural cosmetics therefore uses milder surfactants made from plant products which produce less lather.

Surfactants combine fat and water. In alviana products, we use exclusively natural surfactants made from glucose, amino acids and coconut – they are mild for the skin and environmentally friendly too, as the raw materials can be regrown quickly.

In our alviana products we use alcohol which has been manufactured from certified organically grown wheat. It is added in very small quantities to act as a preservative for our products. Alcohol also has a degreasing and cleansing effect. Moisturising and lipid-replenishing ingredients ensure that the skincare remains beautifully gentle.

Most of alviana's products do not contain any animal products as ingredients – they can easily be recognised by the vegan seal. Our non-vegan alviana products contain beeswax (Lip Balm Classic), carmine (Shiny Red Lip Balm), honey or milk.

Because we use natural ingredients, factors such as temperature or variations from harvest to harvest may have an effect on the colour of our products. This, however, has no effect on their quality.

Silicones are manufactured synthetically and are used in conventional shampoos, hair conditioners and hair masks to make your hair soft and smooth. The effect is only short-term and superficial, however. This is because silicones form layers over the hair scales and form a film around the hair, but on the inside, it actually dries out. Silicones are not only deceptive in their effect, they are also damaging to the environment. Through waste water, they end up in the natural environment as sewage sludge and fertiliser, and they do not biodegrade easily. Silicones may not be used in certified natural cosmetics.

Fragrances from naturally-sourced essential oils make alviana's products a real pleasure for the senses. It goes without saying that we do no use synthetic fragrances.

For sensitive skin, we recommend our Sensitive product range – those products do not contain any fragrances and are labelled as "fragrance free".

Palm oil is extremely popular as a raw material of tensides and emulsifying agents. Soaps which are manufactured using palm oil are particularly mild and creamy, and they form a fine and stable lather. The down side to this raw material is the environmental damage and the destruction of tropical rainforests caused by conventional cultivation as well as the associated huge quantities of greenhouse gases which are produced and the threat of extinction of certain animal species. Grown using ecologically and socially responsible methods, palm oil can become a particularly sustainable kind of vegetable oil, as the fruits of the oil palm have one of the highest yields of all oil fruits. To obtain the same quantity of oil from other oil plants, you would need to use up to seven times as much area for cultivation.