The extreme purity required by "Clean Beauty," with products that are skin- and environmentally friendly and based on healthy ingredients, presents certain challenges. Therefore, formulating in small batches elevates it to a higher level. It reduces the need to include large quantities of preservatives in the formula, making it the safest option for intolerant, sensitive, and delicate skin. In addition to ensuring the maximum integrity and potency of each formula.
Fresh recipes that capture the essence of the wild, that trendy 'raw' in its purest conception, almost like applying living elements that the skin accepts as if they were part of its own structure. Twelve Beauty combines the ancient wisdom of plants with modern cosmetic science. Each product is handmade in small batches in a meticulously maintained small laboratory.
The chosen ingredients: vegetable oils and butters, rich in antioxidants, and carefully selected botanical extracts, that help the skin function better. In some, water is replaced by organic Damask rose and oat extracts, as in Dara’s Water, distilled exclusively for Twelve Beauty in Italy by order. Organic botanical waters that are then mixed in small, made-to-order batches in the brand's studio in Spain.
The London Mask, a tribute to London with a waiting list
The London Mask, is one of Twelve Beauty's emblematic products because it represents, like no other, the essence of the work of the ancient apothecary, who prepared his elixirs "with a mortar and pestle." A tribute to London, for being a fascinating product to eliminate excess urban pollution that remains hidden in the pores. And, for this, nothing better than clays, those healing earths that skillfully absorb every toxin they encounter along the way.
"I have always been a fan of the benefits of clays, but I wanted to avoid at all costs that feeling of tightness and dryness they leave after application," clarifies Pedro Catalá, the mastermind behind Twelve Beauty. "To do this, I studied their absorption mechanism and designed a manual method to create an emulsion with a clay core, but with other calming and emollient ingredients on the surface layers that would come into direct contact with the skin."
"In this way, with The London Mask, we take advantage of the benefits of clay, but without its 'side effects.' It is a manual method, as they were prepared in ancient pharmacies, because if it were made mechanically, the clays would end up absorbing the rest of the oils in the formula and would leave the skin not soft and even slightly irritated in some cases," he concludes.
The entire process takes three days and yields approximately 50 units. That is why this coveted product often has a waiting list.
Hyaluroil Lip Treatment, the most awarded unpretentious lip balm
It could be said that Hyaluroil Lip Treatment, is one of the flagships of Clean Beauty, and not only for the numerous awards it boasts, but because it embodies everything a clean cosmetic could aspire to be. Its challenge: to mix immiscible ingredients without the aid of any emulsifier, a formulation feat that ended up being a success.
A combination of conditioning and regenerating oils, with cupuaçu butter, the jewel of the Amazon rainforest, rich in polyphenols, which provides immediate comfort. And on the other hand, hyaluronic acid and konjac root, which are water-soluble. "To achieve this, I encapsulated hyaluronic acid and konjac powder in handmade liposomes.
A slow process that takes about 24 hours. Subsequently, they are mixed very slowly with the oils, so that they do not precipitate over time. This mixture is important to do slowly throughout the process. This is the advantage of micro-batches, as with fewer units it is easier to control production and ensure that it is a stable product over time," comments Pedro Catalá.