Learn how founder Karl Kristian Bergman Jensen’s global experiences ignited his passion for herbal products.
What initially sparked New Nordic’s founder Karl Kristian Bergman Jensen’s interest in natural beauty and developing herbal products?
Karl Kristian Bergman Jensen has worked in the healthcare industry since the mid-1980s. He was an international salesman and product developer. As he travelled around the world selling natural plant products, he was inspired to devote his life to developing herbal medicines and food supplements to increase people’s vitality. “I saw how people of different cultures improved their daily quality of life by adding herbs and fruits to their diet. Their happiness triggered my passion for herbal products. My dream was to establish a company that could develop herbal products adding vitality and years to people’s lives. Products so effective that it would change people’s lives.” At the age of 27 and completely determined to follow his passion, Bergman Jensen established New Nordic in October, 1990.
Where do you source your herbal ingredients?
We source our ingredients from many places in the world. Lately we have had a focus on sourcing as many of our raw materials as possible from nearby European countries to our Scandinavian based manufacturing sites. However, we have a lot of special and exotic herbs that primarily grow outside the EU, and therefore we are sourcing many raw materials from Asia as well.
What sustainable practices do you follow at New Nordic?
At New Nordic, we are constantly driving innovation, collaborating with others, pushing for greater transparency and rewarding sustainable actions. We’re changing the way we do business to become climate-positive and making the most of all resources. We are also implementing principles so typical of the Scandinavian countries, equality and fairness. We want to be part of a health and beauty industry that provides fair jobs and equal treatment for everyone. We respect human rights, promote inclusion and champion diversity throughout our supply chain
— and call on others to do the same.
What are three things we can do to care for our hair?
It’s important to know what your hair type is because it determines the kind of hair products (shampoo, conditioner and mask) your hair will benefit from. For example, curly hair requires extensive moisturising conditioners, while greasy hair benefits from a very light conditioner.
You can help your hair quality and how beautiful your hair looks by eating healthy — veggies, protein, nuts and fish. Helping your hair with extra nutrition in the form of a hair supplement can also be beneficial in times of stress and restrictive diets. If your body doesn’t have enough nutrition for the skin, hair and nails, it will show, because your hair quality is only secondary to your survival. When the hair doesn’t get the nutrients it needs, it’s dull and without bounce, it breaks easy and just doesn’t look that good.
Hair needs protection from the sun as much as the skin does. Too much sun exposure can weaken the hair structure and cause breakage.
What are your top tips for glowing skin this spring?
- Keep yourself and your skin hydrated by drinking a good amount of water daily. Water keeps our bodies hydrated and helps it to flush toxins out, resulting in glowing and healthy-looking skin. Moisturiser with hyaluronic acid also helps to keep the skin well hydrated.
- Use a nourishing moisturiser with lots of antioxidants and a decent sun block. Antioxidants help our skin protect itself from premature ageing. Sunblock helps to reduce the amount of ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays our skin is exposed to. UVA and UVB rays are the biggest culprits for fine lines and wrinkles.
- Exfoliate your skin regularly to get rid of dead skin cells that make your skin look dull. Skin cells have a life of about 35 days, which they start at the bottom in the hypodermis. They move upwards and end up to the top, once all the layers above them have been shed. Exfoliating your skin allows your topical creams and their nourishing ingredients to do their work.
What’s next for New Nordic?
The next step for New Nordic is continued research and innovation using new techniques to increase the efficacy of herbs. Here fermentation with selected microbiotics is an interesting field we are working on. With our new inventions we hope to inspire even more people around the world to stay vital and enjoy life.
For more, visit newnordic.net.au
