Who we are

We would like to introduce our company, our philosophy and our natural skin care products. Natural skin care with a system:

Based on nature
Cruelty free
Skin- compatibility and efficacy dermatologic tested
Herbal extracts from organic cultivation for your face and body.
Take a little time for ARYA LAYA your skin will thank you
2005 was a Jubilee Year for Diaderma, because it's the 100th anniversary of the company. On August, 22nd 1905, a commercial licence was given out to the herbalist and medical therapist M.E.G. Gottlieb that allowed him to distribute his hygienic and dietetic products. For his time Gottlieb was a well a known, visited and pugnacious therapist, who had hard-won courier-freedom in the German Reich for medicalprofession, gathered at his surgery the knowledge, that his patients had an extraordinary bad skin condition.



But nearly after the last turn of the century, there was no fair chance for a comprehensive reformation of clothes or even for taking a light- or airbath. And the life-reformer of the past, which renounced to the corset and the stiff collar and who exposed their bodies in naturism to sun and air, got lenient smiled upon as they were madman or they got even prosecuted for being seen as vagabonds.

M.E.G. Gottlieb was a combative man and he wanted to do something against the nonsense of this extrinsic way of living. Because he was well read, he stroke on the idea, to reinstall unction, based upon the way it was done in the antiquity.

At that time, every bath was rounded off with unction - olive oil with aromatic essences was used. These recipes of the antiquity got expanded by Gottlieb with herbal extracts, which he mixed with the oils. Using this method, he wanted to animate the skin functions and affect the body directly through the skin (derma-oils). Therefore the brand name "Diaderma" (Greek = through the skin) with the antique darter as symbol and the label "skin-tonic oil" for the products.

As the years passed by, Gottlieb developed besides medication, a whole body care program that was based on the early skin-tonic oils. Throughout the two world wars the Production of the company got impeded, because vegetable oils were not available for the usage of body care. After Gottlieb died early in 1923 the tradition was kept still alive over decades, by Ms. Clara Schmalz, a long term employee and co-partner of Gottlieb.

1958 the company was rearranged into a limited partnership, in which Ms. Clara Schmalz affiliated her nephew and her assistants August and Rudi Schmalz plus the authorized representative Albert Hammer as limited partners. She passed away 1960 and the company became a partnership with these three men as equal partners. At the end of the Seventies, Rudi Schmalz and Albert Hammer retired. August Schmalz bought their shares and took his daughter Brigitte Bethke-Jaenicke and his son Dr. Wolf-Dieter Schmalz as limited partners into the company.

Today the company is a private limited company with a limited partnership including August Schmalz, Dr. Wolf-Dieter Schmalz and Ms. Brigitte Bethke-Jaenicke as partners. General Managers are Mr. August Schmalz, Dr. Wolf-Dieter Schmalz (Development and Production) and Klaus Bethke-Jaenicke (Distribution). The company ARYA LA VA, which foundation goes also back to the year 1905 was taken over by Diaderma in 1970, which gave the company the possibility for installing an exclusive brand in health food shops. The Diaderma program got built-in into the ARYA LAYA program.

Diaderma got distributed to pharmacies, drug-stores, hospitals, masseurs, bathhouses, sanatoriums and other speciality stores whereas from now on ARYA LA YA was only available at health food shops with the "neuform" seal.



The "neuform" seal assures the German Customer that its approved products are of the highest quality, contain ingredients "as natural as possible", have no ingredients from dead animals and were manufactured with the highest regard to the ecology and the environment. All products of ARYA LAYA are only clinically tested.

Simultaneously with the overtaking of the company ARYA LA YA, a wide spread cosmetic program - nurturing and even decorative cosmetic - was acquired and is still developed by its own development department and been hold up to date to the newest scientific standards of course following the "neuform" quality guidelines.

In the 70s, 80s and 90s the premise for producing pharmaceutical, health care and cosmetics according to GMP guidelines were made by building extension and alteration, that fit with the current law and to self-imposed claims to our quality standard. These quality standards and reforming ideas were used during the foundation time of Diaderma and they will always be our profound base upcoming times in the future.

The rapid development of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries resulted in an explosion of newly developed crude oil based products. Unfortunately these synthetic oil based products are not compatible with oils found naturally in the skin. Frequently these synthetic cosmetics and heavy perfumes elicit undesirable results. Our philosophy remains a different one. We at M.E.G. Gottlieb formulate our ARYA LAY A Skin and Body Care Cosmetic Products in harmony with nature and the latest scientific research. Our long history of experience over several generations in the art of manufacturing natural cosmetics, combined with modern monitoring methods, provide skill in the meticulous selection of raw materials. We strictly adhere to the "neuform" principle:

"As much nature as possible, as few deviations as necessary".

Our History

It was back in the 1920s that the Reformhaus proprietors established their co-operative in Berlin. Now named the "neuform Vereinigung Deutscher Reformhauser eG" [the neuform Association of German Reform Houses" registered co-operative society], it has its headquarters in Oberursel in Taunus. In 2002, the neuform VDR eG celebrated its 75th anniversary.

neuform offers its members, the Reformhaus proprietors, a comprehensive and customised range of services.

An important business feature at all Reformhaus outlets is the unique and extensive range of health and nutritional foods, homeopathic medicines and body care products and cosmetics with the neuform brand mark. The so-called "neuform contract goods range" is based on decades of know-how and a long cooperative partnership between neuform and selected producers.

Detailed quality guidelines are in place for all product groups in the range, which are constantly being redeveloped, in order to satisfy even the most demanding of high quality standards. All new products are tested before being approved as neuform goods and are subject to a comprehensive quality assurance system, as is the existing range of neuform contract goods. A significant component of the quality assurance system is the in-house neuform laboratory in Oberursel, which performs random tests on all neuform contract goods for content quality.

The neuform head office provides advice and support for the Reformhaus outlets through its central marketing activities. Starting with the corporate image of the blue and green "Reformhaus" logo, there are nationally-placed promotions and press campaigns, as well as a corporate website at www.reformhaus.de. right through to individual support in windowdressing, shop exteriors and interior design, the supply of publicity flyers, press releases, photos, graphics and presentation ideas for local PR work. This is the range of support provided by neuform to its members on a local individual basis as well as at the broad industry level.

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