Once upon a time, a drop of sunlight fell to the ground and it turned into a golden leaf.....

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Philosophia Botanica was established in Cape Town by wellness and Chinese medicine practitioner Francesca Canzano-Franklin.

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Inspired by the Cape indigenous flora, the wilderness of the African plants and botanical oils, the magnificent nature surrounding the Atlantic ocean as well as our Founder's passion for eastern therapies, wellness, beauty and therapeutic treatments, she wrote a list of everything she needed to follow such a path and the Philosophia Botanica range was born with products and rituals inspired by a fusion of African botanicals, adaptogenic herbs and eastern traditional techniques. 

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Philosophia Botanica is sourced from a variety of ecological sources around Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean regions. Each source promotes traditional plant-based knowledge, represents an inspiring story of organic agriculture, sustainability, economic up-liftment, and wherever possible the preservation of botanical culture.  We strongly believe in supporting sustainable agriculture; especially within Africa so that we can contribute to local economic development for generations to come. 

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We also believe that adaptogenic herbs, botanical treasures like flower essences, essential oils and tinctures can have a significant positive influence on our mental, physical and soul wellness as well as on the economic health of small communities throughout the world.

 

Our Founder personally sources, researches and tests all our ingredients. Wherever possible, many of our ingredients are sourced from sustainable and fair-trade plantations. we believe in sustainability and in formulating natural products created with ingredients produced from renewable and raw materials that don’t harm the planet or people. 

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We believe that the future is now and that in order to preserve and protect that future, we have to do our best to continue creating and consuming sustainable products. Our aim is to keep plastic, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals out of our waterways, soil, and atmosphere, preserving the well-being of our environment, and this is the reason why all our products are hypoallergenic and vegan-friendly and come packaged in glass to preserve freshness and conserve the original scent, as well as being ready for re-cycling.

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We ditched the term “anti-aging” (and anything that is anti really, except for our antioxidant ingredients!) in 2017. We strongly believe that 

it’s time to get on board with embracing healthy aging  and we actively stand up against the idea that the aging process is the enemy in our pursuit of beauty and wellness. At Philosophia Botanica we celebrate the beauty of aging with a healthy body and hydrated skin.

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Our pledge to you? All our ingredients are 100% natural and none of the products contain parabens, artificial colors, mineral oils, silicone or any animal raw materials. We are so against animal testing! The raw materials are rigorously selected and combined for optimum effectiveness on the skin

and each product contains botanical plant(s) and 100% pure oils formulated by us in either Cape Town or London (and soon in Italy too).

 

I welcome you into a botanical journey with our seed to skin formulas and rituals.

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Francesca Canzano-Franklin