“Do you make all of this?”   

This is one of the most common questions I get.   And yes, I do make it all. 

What does it look like to hand make our all natural, herbal infused, eco friendly body care?  Wow…where to begin?  

Handmade with Love

Let me demonstrate this with the creation process of one of our most popular products, our Warming Rub.  

The journey of an individual Warming Rub begins in late Winter, early Spring with Cottonwood Bud harvesting.  Cottonwood buds have a sweet, sticky resin that is known to be anti inflammatory.  This resin is richest before the buds begin to open.  In my region this happens in late February to early March.   After harvesting, I dry them for a few days, and then I begin to infuse them in an organic Olive and Sunflower oil blend.

 

 

Next comes wild harvesting Arnica.  I do this in late May to early June.  After drying the flowers, I add the Arnica to the oil infusion along with Cayenne grown in my garden the previous summer.   This is solar infused for a few weeks, before moving it into our dark, cool storage to continue infusing until needed for production.  

Production day begins with lightly warming the oil infusion in order to make straining out the herbs easier.  To maintain the health nourishing benefits of the herbs and oils, I do not heat the infusion above 165 degrees.  

After straining the herbs from the oil,  I add the other ingredients (organic coconut oil and beeswax) to a small warmer to slowly melt and blend.  Again, I must carefully monitor the temperature at this stage for quality assurance.  Once it is all melted, I add vitamin E and our essential oil blend.   I then carefully hand pour each balm, allow it to cool, put lids and labels on, take pictures for social media, and clean up.  

The production day process from beginning to end is approximately 7-8 hours.  The creation of one Warming Rub, wild harvesting herbs to your hands, is approximately 6-7 months.   

 

I thoroughly enjoy the adventure, the wonder and the beauty of the entire process.  

 

I feel fortunate to have work that keeps me in tune with natural rhythms, and requires my patience and attention.  It is my offering to you.  Handmade with LOVE.  

High Quality Ingredients

I spend many hours sourcing ingredients.  I grow and wild harvest all of the herbs I use.  I carefully source all the carrier oils, clays, root powders, and essential oils from verified companies who also care about the planet and people.  

Eco Friendly Packaging

My commitment to environmentally sustainable packaging requires time and devotion.  Plastic is so cheaply, readily available and utilized for cosmetics packaging, that finding and using sustainable options takes researching and recipe refining.  The first packaging aim is compostable, next is reusable, and finally recyclable.  Our packaging line is currently 95% plastic free, with some exciting eco-friendly upgrades in the works.

Small Batch Production

This is where handmade really shines.  Time and attention are some of our most precious commodities.  When creating body care in small batches, time and attention are a critical part of producing a quality product.  It’s the care in growing, harvesting, drying and infusing of our herbs.  It’s maintaining an optimal production and storage environment for the quality of the ingredients and prepared products.  And it’s blending, pouring, cleaning, wrapping, labeling and personally delivering each individual item we make.  My commitment, attention, time and devotion to a quality product for you is how I infuse love into each product I hand make.