Estonia’s nature is rich with powerful botanical ingredients used in natural skincare. At HOIA homespa, we combine locally sourced ingredients – such as peat, honey, seaweed and medicinal herbs – with innovative actives to create effective natural cosmetics.
Our priority has always been clean, high-quality ingredients that are as minimally processed as possible and either organically grown or wild-harvested. Over time, we have come to value locally sourced natural ingredients more and more, for several reasons:
- We want to support the hardworking people in our own country who grow, gather, or otherwise supply these natural resources. In doing so, we contribute to the development of local entrepreneurship.
- Local ingredients are especially valuable, because they are actually quite limited — Estonia’s climate offers only a short growing season for plants to grow and thrive.
- As a company that values environmental responsibility and sustainability, we also consider it important that using local ingredients helps reduce the resources needed for transportation.
- You have probably heard that it is best to eat food that is grown as close to you as possible, ideally even within a 50-kilometre radius. Nature is intelligent and provides us with foods that contain exactly the vitamins and minerals our bodies need in the environment where we live. We believe the universe is a magical place and that nothing happens by chance.
🌿 And of course — local ingredients are much fresher!
We produce all our products in our small Saaremaa facility.
Today, our range includes over 100 different natural cosmetic products for both adults and children. We never compromise on the quality or quantity of ingredients in our products — 99% of our raw materials are natural and 90% are of organic origin.
We use innovative and effective active ingredients, combine them with skin-nourishing cold-pressed oils and butters from around the world, and enrich them with the following powerful natural ingredients from Estonia. 🌿
Honey – Natural Antioxidant for Skin
Honey has remarkable properties and is just as beneficial for the skin as it is when eaten. It helps fight acne, soothe irritated skin, and support the skin barrier thanks to its natural antibacterial and antioxidant properties.
Honey is rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, which makes this ancient nectar a true skincare superstar with powerful anti-aging properties.
At the moment, our product range includes two products that contain honey:
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Revitalizing Face Mask HONEY & MATCHA, which contains generous amounts of wild raspberry honey from Saaremaa. It leaves the skin wonderfully soft and, thanks to matcha, is packed with antioxidants.
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Organic Face Scrub Supersmooth, one of our customers’ favorite products, loved for making the skin incredibly radiant and silky smooth.
Seaweed Extract in Skincare – Benefits for Hydration
The seaweed we use is harvested and processed right here in Saaremaa. In our products, we use EstGel1000™, a natural furcellaran made from red algae (Furcellaria lumbricalis).
In addition to improving the texture and stability of cosmetic products, furcellaran is also a highly beneficial ingredient for the skin. It helps maintain the skin’s elasticity, moisture, and softness, which makes it particularly suitable for use in creams and serums.
We use seaweed in many of our products, including:
Peat – Natural Detox for Skin
Peat is a truly magical natural resource that has matured deep within the earth over centuries, developing exceptional skincare properties. Bog peat is rich in powerful bioactive compounds with anti-aging effects, including humic and fulvic acids, which help smooth wrinkles, stimulate skin metabolism, and restore the skin’s natural pH balance. These natural compounds support the skin’s elasticity, health, and youthful glow.
We use local bog peat in one of our best-selling products, the Bioactive Sacred Forest Peat Mask. It is made from pure and ancient Estonian bog peat, preserving its natural power in its most authentic form.
The peat mask has deep-cleansing properties and is suitable for all skin types. It helps relieve various skin concerns such as dermatitis, acne, and psoriasis. Thanks to its gentle yet effective action, our Peat Mask is also suitable for sensitive and allergy-prone skin, providing deep cleansing and care without causing irritation.
Even the President of Estonia has expressed admiration that such a unique product, originating from the country’s pure natural environment, has made its way to the market.
Camelina Oil – Omega-3 Rich Oil for Skin Health
The camelina oil used in our products is cold-pressed, unrefined oil made from camelina grown in Saaremaa. It contains a high amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which the body cannot produce on its own.
A deficiency of this important fatty acid can lead to dry skin, inflammation, brittle hair, and most importantly, it can reduce the skin’s natural resistance and worsen other skin problems.
Omega-3 fatty acids are relatively rare in nature. For example, olive oil contains almost none, salmon contains around 2%, while camelina oil contains as much as 40% omega-3 fatty acids, making it one of the richest natural sources of omega-3. Quite impressive, isn’t it?
We use camelina oil in several of our products, including:
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Three Body Foams: Bali Love, Coconut, and Lavender, Rosemary & Grapefruit
Nettle
Nettle is a particularly powerful plant that grows abundantly in Estonia without the use of pesticides. We source dried nettle collected from both Saaremaa and Southern Estonia. Some of it is added directly to our products in crushed form, but most of it is used to produce nettle extract, which is included in many of our hair care products.
Nettle is extremely beneficial for hair. It is rich in vitamins A and C as well as iron, which help strengthen the hair and nourish the scalp, improving overall hair health and helping to reduce hair loss.
Our Solid Shampoo contains both nettle powder and nettle extract. Nettle is also included in our Natural Shampoos, Hydrating Hair Mist, and the Exfoliating Face Mask Cocktail REHAB.
Crushed Medicinal Herbs from Saaremaa – Powerful Botanicals for Skin
In addition to nettle, we use many other medicinal herbs in our products. For example, our Exfoliating Face Mask Cocktails REHAB, REBORN, and RETREAT are rich in herbs grown in Saaremaa, including hyssop, chamomile, calendula, nettle, peppermint, thyme, sage, and many other powerful gifts from nature.
The face mask cocktails reach you in powder form, allowing you to mix them into an exfoliating mask yourself at home. This way, your skin receives the pure and authentic benefits of medicinal herbs.
Because the mask cocktails are water-free powders, they stay fresh for a long time even without preservatives, allowing us to keep the formulas as natural as possible.
Yarrow Essential Oil – Powerful Soothing Ingredient for Skin
One of the most special Estonian ingredients we use in our products is yarrow essential oil. Why is it so special? Did you know that producing 1 kg of yarrow essential oil requires nearly 600 kg of yarrow herb? Because of this, we obtain only about 30 ml of this precious oil each year, which makes it one of the most expensive essential oils we use in our products.
At the moment, this powerful plant oil is included in our Two-Phase Makeup Remover and Blueberry Boost Face Cream, and in upcoming production batches we will also enrich our Harmony Protective Balm with it.
Interestingly, yarrow essential oil is deep blue in color, even though the herb itself is white. How is that possible? Yarrow contains a high amount of chamazulene, a compound that gives the oil its distinctive dark blue tone.
There’s no need to worry about turning blue like a smurf when using products that contain yarrow essential oil — only a few drops are needed in cosmetic formulations to benefit from its powerful properties.
So what are the benefits of yarrow essential oil? It has strong skin-soothing properties, helping to relieve acne, dermatitis, redness, and inflammation, while also helping to balance sebum production.
Calendula Balm and Herbal Balms – Soothing and Skin Repairing
Plants can be used to create many different types of extracts, depending on the solvent used in the extraction process. Some plants release their beneficial phytonutrients best in water, while others contain compounds that dissolve better in fats or oils. There are also plants whose valuable components can only be extracted effectively with alcohol.
Therefore, the method and base used to prepare an extract depend on the unique composition of the plant itself. For example, when making nettle extract we use distilled water and glycerin, while calendula is perfect for creating a wonderfully soothing oil-based balm that helps calm inflammation, soften the skin, and soothe irritation.
Calendula balm is the star ingredient in our Calendula Salve and Restoring Lip Balm.
However, calendula is not the only plant we use to create herbal balms. We also prepare balms from locally grown hyssop and sage. This beautifully aromatic, summery balm is used in our Cream Deodorant with Saaremaa Herbs, and Deep Care Foot Cream BLUE MONDAY. 🌿
Plant Hydrosols
Hydrosols are aromatic plant waters that contain real plant cell fluids and are rich in plant minerals, vitamins, and other phytonutrients. They have toning, softening, moisturizing, and refreshing effects on the skin.
At HOIA, we have a small distiller that allows us to produce small batches of hydrosols from herbs. Distilling hydrosols is a very hands-on process: producing just 5 liters of hydrosol takes about 3–4 hours, and during that time the water and herbs must be carefully replaced while constantly monitoring temperature and other indicators.
We also have a larger distillation device, which we have not yet put into use. That’s because we usually make hydrosols only when there is an abundance of herbs in the garden of HOIA’s founder, Triinu, and mainly for small special batches.
For larger quantities, we order hydrosols from a trusted partner who distills them using spring water and herbs grown in Saaremaa, such as juniper, sage, and sometimes peppermint.
We have captured the power of plant hydrosols in our Balancing Herbal Spray and Deep Cleansing Facial Foam with Juniper and Sage. 🌿
Chamomile
Chamomile is another powerful local medicinal plant that we use in our products. We prepare a glycerite extract from chamomile ourselves, meaning an extract made with glycerin. This extract has soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, making it very beneficial for the skin.
You can find this powerful plant in several of our products, including the Refreshing Facial Cleanser & Shaving Foam, Intimate Wash Gel, and the Exfoliating Face Mask Cocktails REHAB, REBORN, and RETREAT. 🌼
This list does not include all the Estonian natural ingredients we use in our products — there are actually more, such as juniper berries and cornflowers. Here we have highlighted the main ones.
Natural cosmetics are one of the best things we can offer our skin, because our skin is the largest organ of the body and deserves only pure care.
As a small Saaremaa-based company, HOIA homespa is dedicated to bringing you products made with carefully selected local ingredients.
Give your skin the very best — straight from the beautiful and pure nature of Estonia. 💙🖤🤍