The Organic Way
Agricosmetics® means growing zero-mile plants, owers and medicinal and aromatic shrubs on our ORTOFFICINA estate, on the hills of Bologna. It means choosing the biodynamic method - the healthiest and cleanest, which does not require the use of chemicals - to obtain pure, ultra-effective essential oils, hydrolates and extracts that become active ingredients in OWAY treatments.
Agricosmetics® is packaging OWAY formulas, rich in natural ingredients, only in glass and aluminum, precious, protective and completely recyclable materials. It means eliminating plastic, which is highly polluting, and unnecessary and superfluous packaging and making the necessary tools exclusively in eco-sustainable paper, wood, metal, cotton: natural materials that convey authentic sensations. It means using renewable energy for business processes to reduce the environmental footprint.
agricosmetics® is creating concentrated products, rich in active ingredients so that, in the beauty salon and at home, they are used in the right quantities, thus avoiding waste.
agricosmetics® is a way of thinking, a way of life, a conscious choice. It is putting care, conscience and attention in every choice and action, and creating quality products that respect environment and people.
IN THE COMPANY, IN THE SALON AND IN EVERYDAY LIFE
The Organic way of life begins in the company and passes through the salons where Oway products are used, which are increasingly choosing to differentiate themselves through the use of natural and exclusive products and treatments, in plastic free environments.
Oway is not a simple brand, but a set of values, a healthy and ecological lifestyle that pervades every daily action we take: because the values that the company proposes are a true reflection of its actual life. Sustainability is embraced not only in their production processes and packaging choices, but actively involves the company’s entire routine, manifesting itself in everyday life, through small but important green habits.
RECYCLE, REUSE, RESTART
If the cosmetic product leaves the stage once you have finished using it, the same is not true for its glass and aluminium packaging, eco-designed to be recycled and to restart the circle of agricosmetics from the very beginning, with a new form of use.
From an opportunely differentiated glass container, a new container with the same characteristics is obtained, without any need for integration with new raw materials, without treatments or additives. But there is more: the recycling of glass makes it possible to reduce the consumption of natural resources, the harmful effects of the extraction activity and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production process. Demonstrating that the real revolution lies in not asking for anything more and in relying on what we have already obtained from nature. 100% recyclable and for an infinite number of times.
ORTOFFICINA AND “0 KM” BIODYNAMICS
Agricosmetics start right here – and not only because everything comes to life from the earth.
It originates in their Ortofficina farm, because the concrete translation of rural language finds meaning precisely in biodynamic cultivation. Its rows of medicinal plants conceal the reason that drives them to be agricultural producers. Along its slopes, they work to preserved the value of biodiversity, well aware of the importance of giving back to the earth that which it generously offers us, in order to obtain purer, richer and more concentrated cosmetic ingredients.
Aware that they can only cultivate plants rich in antioxidants and active ingredients from healthy and vital soils, on their farm immersed in Bologna’s hills they rely exclusively on the biodynamic method to grow plants, shrubs and aromatic herbs, which are transformed into the “0 km” ultraperforming complexes of essential oils, extracts and hydrolates used in their formulations.
Biodynamic agriculture
The biodynamic method is the purest and most effective type of cultivation, free of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilisers used in traditional agriculture. The deep bond with nature and their full respect for its rhythms allow them to obtain the most concentrated and effective active ingredients.
The 3 key principles of biodynamics are:
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maintaining the fertility of the earth by respecting man, plants, the soil and the planet;
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nourishing the soil by using biodynamic preparations and heap
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taking advantage of the moon’s influence to respect the sowing and harvesting cycles.
THE OWAY AGRICOSMETIC LABORATORIES
Harvested during their balsamic period, their medicinal herbs are distilled at “0 km” in a stream of vapor and transformed into essential oils, hydrolates and extracts without the use of synthetic solvents.
The biological and biodynamic raw materials are combined with natural and carefully selected ingredients such as pure oils, waxes, butters and plant-based emollients and with the most effective and sustainable active and functional ingredients. Aggressive and potentially harmful synthetic substances are replaced with natural, more delicate and more ecological alternatives.
Biodynamic, organic, but also fair-trade: to enrich their products with ingredients not found within Italy’s biodiversity, they rely on partnerships with international fair trade purchasing networks, contributing to improving the living conditions of developing populations (in Central/South America, South East Asia, Africa and Aboriginal Australia). Respect for the farmers and for the local communities is guaranteed at all stages of production of these raw materials, which with their workforce contribute to the protection of the environment and of local crops.
Each product is formulated based on the most advanced green and clean chemistry principles, starting from the careful selection of each individual ingredient, evaluating its natural qualities, together with its environmental impact and its effectiveness.
100% GLASS AND ALUMINIUM, 0% SUPERFLUOUS PACKAGING
Peering through the looking glass – and thinking about the reflection of our choices on the planet – in 2013, Oway was the first professional cosmetic brand to replace the use of all plastic containers. They chose glass and aluminium, materials that are 100% recyclable and for an infinite number of times, together with mines capable of protecting their resources and preserving the environment.
Resistant, inert, pure and natural, pharmaceutical and food grade glass is able to protect the conservation and integrity of the botanical extracts used by their formulas, screening them against harmful UV rays and external chemical agents. It is synonymous with safety, transparency, hygiene and reuse. A natural barrier against bacteria, liable to infinite changes in form but never in substance.
Next to glass they have aluminium: another friend of the environment as it is 100% recyclable, extremely protective, light and known for its ability to be malleable while at the same time remaining intact.
PRODUCTION LABORATORIES WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE AND CERTIFIED PROCESSES
Ortofficina is the engine of a short and highly integrated supply chain: the first phase of a set of “0 km” processes. Processes which can count on internal and circular production management: from cultivation to transformation of the extracts, from eco-design and formulation in our agricosmetic laboratories to the creation of cosmetics and lifestyle products in our production facilities, all the way to the furnishings handcrafted in their Artigiano woodworking workshop. All Made in Bologna.
All Oway agricosmetics are produced with 100% green energy. Oway has in fact chosen to use renewable energy in its facilities, relying on the cleanest, most natural and inexhaustible source available to our planet: the sun.