This month marks 10 years since I launched my first website! When I fell pregnant with my son back in the winter of 2010, I was working at Whole Foods Market in Vancouver. Although I enjoyed my work, I knew I had an opportunity to start something I had been dreaming of doing for as long as I could remember. I started putting my skin care and natural ingredient knowledge and philosophies into a solid form. By the spring I had products that we took to farmers markets in the city. With every sale I asked if I could get in touch a few months later for feedback. My son was born at home in the West End in Vancouver to the fireworks outside our…

Starflower is a common name for borage, a Mediterranean plant that grows happily almost everywhere, including on the coast of British Columbia. Bees and hummingbirds love to visit its blue star-shaped flowers, which are edible and have a delicate honey flavour. Their most unique feature, however, is that the seeds of this pretty plant contain a massive amount of GLA (gamma-linoleic acid). GLA in Borage Oil Borage oil is made by cold-pressing the tiny seeds from the plant, and contains up to 26% GLA – making it the richest known natural source of this non-essential fatty acid. When a fatty-acid is “non-essential”, it means that our bodies make it naturally when conditions are right; on the other hand, essential fatty acids (like Omega 3 and…

It’s a sure sign of spring when you see the first bees buzzing about. I love to watch them work in my garden, their legs heavy with pollen. It is amazing how our species relies so heavily on bees for our survival, and how we’ve found ways to incorporate the fruit of their labour into so many parts of our lives, including skincare. People have been using beeswax to support their health and skin since the times of ancient Egypt and Rome, and in Indian Ayurvedic medicine. In ancient Egypt, they used beeswax in salves to treat burns and wounds, and even to soothe joint pain. There is evidence to show that  in 150 B.C., a Greek physician began creating cosmetic creams using Beeswax.. I…

Clean Makeup Recommendations I get many customer emails asking my opinion on all sorts of matters, and I’m pretty happy to answer them all honestly using my own personal experience and knowledge. However, there is one area I always stumble, as my personal experience is desperately lacking… clean make-up recommendations. Thankfully I know an expert, in fact a Green Beauty Expert! Maria Velve is a certified make-up artist, and clean beauty guru. She is a well-known and respected part of the Toronto (and beyond) clean beauty scene, and always on the judging panel of the Clean Beauty Awards for Cert Clean. She has her own business helping women (and men) switch their skin care and make up to clean products without compromising on results. She…

I remember so clearly the feelings I had when I traveled to Oregon in 2015 to learn how to distill plants to make hydrosols and essential oils. It was the process of collecting the plants in the morning and then having this liquid magic by the afternoon that I loved, I felt really connected to the plants and their wonderful benefits. Although I use hydrosols in my mists and hyaluronic serums, I don’t make them myself. The dream is to be able to in the future but for now I don’t have the capacity or access to the plant material (or land to grow my own). I do, however, have my “hobby” sized 25L copper alembic still that I love and use to experiment and…

In an ideal world everyone would be honest and the world of sales and marketing wouldn’t be allowed to take advantage of slack labelling laws to trick us into thinking cosmetics are “natural” or “organic” when they contain other less favourable ingredients. Well actually, in an ideal world, cosmetics would not be allowed to use potentially harmful ingredients at all. But they are, and it can be very hard to know what’s dangerous and what’s not just reading the confusing ingredients lists. This is why I make my ingredient lists as easy to read and understand as possible.   I always write them in a list form going down the label, making it easier for the eye to read, and I put the common name…

Last month I had the honour of being invited to and attending MNDFL Beauty in Toronto. It was primarily a media event to showcase some of the best natural and organic beauty brands Canada has to offer. I was thrilled to be invited! I went with few expectations. My customer base is very much centered here on the west coast of Canada so I knew I would be one of the lesser known brands. But with a few loyal customers and followers promising to come and meet me and the opportunity to meet some of the founders of the brands that I follow, I was looking forward to the event and confident it would be a valuable experience. The event itself was beautiful, a stunning…

I recently did some work with a wonderful business coach, helping me to get back in tune with the soul purpose of what I am doing. She asked me to identify how I wanted my customers to feel when they used my products. I thought it would be nice to share what I came up with, so here goes: I really hope you feel at least some of these things when using my products, I am excited to be working on some new products and projects coming to you soon.

Mindfulness is all the rage right now, and quite rightly so. In a fast-paced world when nothing seems quite enough, practicing this art may well just be the answer to keeping sane. Mindfulness means something different to everyone. For some it’s about increasing happiness and gratitude, for others slowing down so as not to miss the little things in life. As a busy mum, wife and business owner I find it hard to get the balance right between looking after myself and looking after everything else, and Inevitably it’s me that least amount of “looking after”. Without the luxury of lots of time to take time out, the practice of Mindfulness allows me to stay sane and happy in just a few minutes at a…