Cosmas HOME

All Customers HOME

Shop Information

  Packaging
  How to Order & Pay
  Payment Methods
  Delivery Information
  Security

Information

  Safety Points
  Disclaimer
  Terms & Conditions

  Links 

Customer Service

  Contact Us
  Data Protection

Our involvement with natural products all started a long time ago in sunny South Africa. It was a hot summer's evening and I saddled up my mare to go for a ride. Within minutes of walking out of the yard it became clear that something was severely amiss with my horse as she staggered and became weaker by the second. Minutes before we had waved cheerfully to one of our local equine vets who had driven past. My friend rode back to the yard as fast as she could to put in a call to see if he could get to us as an emergency straight away. I dismounted, unsaddled my horse and led her back to the yard with her leaning drunkenly on me every step of the way. The vet arrived as we did. He carefully checked her over, but could find no obvious cause of her condition. He took some blood samples and suggested that without a positive diagnosis we would have to wait for the results. My mare’s condition was deteriorating before my eyes. I asked him to please go over her one more time before leaving in case something had become more noticeable. As he started to examine her again, one of her hind legs began to swell. As a vet being experienced in the area and the likely risks, he immediately identified it as a poisonous snake bite. He treated her with the necessary drugs to help her cope with a bite that would kill a human in a very short space of time. Unfortunately, before we found the snake responsible, a very large Cape Cobra, which had taken up residence in the yard, another horse was bitten, also on the hind leg. The same treatment was given to the other horse.
 

I was keen to alleviate any suffering and help my horse in any way I could, so I tapped my friends and our vet for any ideas on support that I could give that would help my horse. I tried various things, but tubbing my horses leg with Epsom Salts dissolved with hot water to draw out the inflammation and poison, followed by tubbing with ice water to reduce the local swelling produced good results. It also eased the discomfort. Determined to make a difference to her discomfort over the next week I tubbed as much as she would tolerate. While this was happening the other horse that had received a similar bite was only given the veterinary treatment. A week later my mare won her breed in-hand class at one of our shows. Sadly the other horse was put down a few weeks later as the swelling had subsided very slowly and between the swelling and the poison too much damage had been done to the soft tissue in the leg. Its so seldom that a lay person gets the opportunity to see different treatments happening in parallel on the same problem. While there could be many factors that resulted in this stark contrast in recovery this incident made a lasting impression on me. I came away with the belief that good veterinary treatment can be so much more successful if supported by a dedicated owner and good support of the animal through use of natural products. I have found the same to be true for people.

Over the years I had many similar experiences. When I arrived here with my mare’s son some eight years ago I found that many of the natural products I had used were not easily found or available. Since then awareness seems to have been growing in England with the growth of the complementary health industry. Our interest in both the environment and natural products has grown as we have gone through life's ups and downs.  With long and distinguished careers in IT, we developed other skills too, my husband is talented with Kinesiology and I have studied for my own interest and qualified as an Herbalist and an Animal Aromatics practitioner.   With this company we have set out to use our skills to make quality natural products available for general and specific use with as little compromise to the environment as is currently possible.

Back to Top

Quality…

Great care is taken in the sourcing of the products available on our site. The are laboratory tested as appropriate to the product.  We check all stocks on arrival for the condition of the product and that it matches the quality we want and the samples we were given. We keep detailed records and follow the processes as recommended for Organic status.  On a personal level these products are used by us and our animals and we have complete faith in their quality.

We also concern ourselves with the sustainability of the supply. We want a continued supply from people receiving fair reward for a quality product. That way we build a future based on excellent quality for everyone.

The majority of our supplier's products carry certification from the leading associations and boards in the industry, e.g. Soil Association, EcoCert etc.

With some of our branded products considered to be food, e.g. thyme, we are currently not licensed to use the word 'organic'.  This is the case even though the majority of products we source are organic. Licensing these products is not currently cost effective to implement due to the fees and the small number of products it affects. In the meantime we have designed our processes and systems according to the recommendations and requirements for Organic licensing.

Back to Top

About the essential oils…

There are a number of uses for essential oils.

- Food flavouring

- Perfumery and fragrances

- Pharmaceutical preparations

- Chemical manufacturing

- Aromatherapy and clinical aromatherapy

For the first five industries there is generally a different priority and interest in the oils. Often its only one constituent, or else consistency that is required. For some applications nature identical essential oils are all that are asked for. For those who are pioneering natural and organic products in these arenas Florial oils provide an organic and quality option.

For aromatherapy there is usually a different interest in the oils. We are interested in the unique therapeutic qualities of the plant oils. It is this market that Florial’s oils are well suited to. Many oils in the industry are labeled pure and natural, which can be to indicate that no synthetic materials are added. This does not mean that they are authentic and unaltered.

We provide the information necessary to uniquely identify each oil. As the oils are unaltered, there are variances between batches due to differences in harvests. This is due to climatic and local conditions. It is also the diversity of nature that provides the unique complexity of the oils, which can be so therapeutic. We will provide gas chromatograph profiles of an oil on request. These are related to each batch for each oil. Organically produced oils are proving to provide oils of exceptional quality.  By using organic oils you are also supporting the future of our planet.

Back to Top

What makes these oils so special?

- Newly designed and innovative technology has been used to produce Florial oils at a lower temperature and lower pressure, than is traditionally used in steam distillation. 

- No excessive heat has been applied to the plant matter, and as a result there is little or no change to the aromatic molecules. This works exceptionally well providing a very good yield and superior end product. 

- The water source used for distillation is from an artesian basin high in the mountains where the distillery is based on an organic farm.

- The water is heated indirectly so it does not come into contact with the metal of the boiler and remains pure and contaminant free. 

- No chemicals or detergents are used to clean the stills. All cleaning is done using steam. 

You are left with the overall impression that the distillery has been designed to work with nature, rather than to industrialise production.

In Europe Florial has to maintain the highest standards for their oils as they are used for phyto-aromatherapy by doctors, pharmacists, nurses, massage therapists and also in cosmetic products.

Florial products are validated by ECOCERT FRANCE, an independent inspection body for organic agriculture. ECOCERT carries out random GLC testing in order to detect traces of agrochemicals and signs of adulteration. Because of the clinical use of essential oils in Europe the controls are stringent.

Note that Florial’s oils are sold in grams. There is on average 20% more in a gram than a millilitre, depending on the density of the oil.

Back to Top

About the Dried Herbs

Our dried herbs are sourced from organic licensed suppliers.  Any that do not meet these criteria are labeled as non-organic.  When the herbs arrive from the harvest they are screened by metal detectors and are carefully checked and tested for quality.  If they do not meet the requirements they are not accepted into stock.  We choose suppliers who have the same attitude to quality as we do.  The herbs may vary in appearance from harvest to harvest depending on the climatic conditions and local conditions in the particular region they come from.  We apologise in advance if we do not have sufficient stock of a particular item, but the very nature of the product that we supply means that harvests may fail, vary in their timing or be of limited quantity.

About the Carrier Oils

Our carrier oils are natural and mostly organically source.  Our website notes where it is not organic.  Some are wild harvested making the most of nature.  They are pressed and filtered, but receive no further processing.  This means our oils may be be cloudy with even some sediment.  When these oils are kept in cool temperatures may become quite solid and waxy.  These are the oil's natural waxes and butters that have not been removed. 

We do not refine, degum, bleach, add antioxidants and/or defoamers, deoderise or winterise any of our oils.  In our view these manufacturing processes would introduce unwanted chemical changes, expose the oil to excessive heat processing and the product would lose some of its natural characteristics that endow it with health enhancing properties.  Oils manufactured using the various refining processes mentioned above are preferred by commercial producers as they produce a consistent and generally odourless oil.  The oils look impressive on the shop shelf and have a much longer shelf life.  These are the oils that most people are familiar with in today's mass produced world.  We hope you enjoy our closer to nature approach.  Please be aware that this does mean that oils will vary slightly season to season and when harvested in different areas.   

About the Macerated Oils

These are made by macerating the plant material in a carrier or base oil such as sunflower oil and exposing it to the sun.  This is done slowly the traditional way with no extra processing to speed up nature.  The maceration process is carried out for a full lunar cycle.  This process gives very good results.

About the Tinctures

The are made by  macerating the plant material in alcohol for a full lunar cycle.  No short cuts or other processes are used.  The results speak for themselves.

About our Herbal Products in General

Back to Top

Ethical and Environmental Policies…

We are very concerned with the quality of the products that we provide. It is also important to us to understand our supplier’s standards and any restrictions they may be working within. We try to select sources for our products that apply ethical and self-sustaining policies. We will not knowingly buy plant species that are endangered, under threat or appear on the Cites list. We will not consider sourcing any genetically modified material.

We look for high quality products sourced locally where availability and where quality allows in order to support U.K. growers and reduce pollution from unnecessary transport. 

Alongside all the lofty goals we have set ourselves in sourcing the products we also aim for continuous improvement in our range of products and running of our company.

We believe that every small action taken to ease the strain on the environment and to live and do business sustainably will make a difference.  With a bit of initial effort it is surprising what changes we can make in how we run a company to improve this.  To this end we carry out the following actions:

- Wherever possible our packaging is recycled, recyclable and re-useable. 

- Our stationery is 100% recycled local London waste.

- We recycle everything that we have local facilities for, we were having trouble with plastics, but have recently found out about a local company that is prepared to take it for recycling.  We should now be very close to zero waste.

- We compost organic waste, which we use on the grounds.

- Products that are too old to sell, but are still usable and within their best before date are donated to EMW Sanctuaries, www.equinemarketwatch.org.uk,  where animals are rescued and rehabilitated using the very best care. 

- We have an energy saving policy and are always looking at ways to improve our energy efficiency through good insulation and modern products geared to more effective use of energy.  With our move to our new premises we hope to go further and introduce a sustainable source of energy for our needs. 

- We use eco-friendly cleaning products, where possible organically sourced.

- We do not buy or use chemicals.  The grounds are maintained with the same policy in mind. 

- We will not knowingly buy products that have been tested on animals or buy products from suppliers that have used animal testing.  We make the effort to question the origins of everything we use.  This takes a bit of up front effort, but only needs to be done once for each product.

- Wherever feasible we use paperless billing and communication.

- Our air travel where necessary is done with British Airways who have an environmental policy.  Their approach is to reduce emissions and to offer customers the option of offsetting emissions.  The money raised is used to fund sustainable energy projects that tackle global warming by reducing carbon dioxide levels.  Its not enough, but we will support any moves in a positive direction.

- Where international transport is required we choose shipping not air freight.

- We support the planting, protection and care of our forests to counteract CO2 emissions caused by our business. We estimate our CO2 emissions yearly and ensure we have sufficient trees on our premises to compensate. In the event we don’t we also contribute to organisations engaged in protection, management and planting of new forests.

- We look outwards and keep an eye out for changes in technology or practices that will bring these improvements.  We look inwards through internal processes of regular review of how we use our resources we aim to keep improving.

If you have an energy or resource saving suggestion or tip from your own good experience please pass it on and let us know at email address enquiries@cosmasorganics.co.uk

Back to Top

Disabled Access…

COSMAS Organics has tried to design and build its website to be accessible to those with disability. We have given careful consideration to readability and ease of use. Design has been kept simple for future use by ‘speech reader’ products. If you are experiencing difficulty with any part of the site and require assistance or have suggestions for improvements please email customer service: enquiries@cosmasorganics.co.uk or phone: 01600 891108.

Back to Top