Choosing the right products and approach to care for our skin with confidence, becomes much less confusing when we know what our skin needs to be healthy. It is with passion and purpose I strive to create unique soaps and skincare blending the power of fresh, medicinal plants, seed butters, and oil, nourishing traditions and modern science, and helping you understand these topics.
This page is an introduction to these topics and a portal to more information with links to further reading. I hope that by following along here you’ll gain valuable insights which will help you navigate on this journey -
READY … SET … GO …
I’ll jump right in! A strong, intact, fully functioning Acid Mantle (aka Moisture Barrier) is the foundation of healthy skin.
This microscopic biofilm, when intact, covers the entire surface of our skin. It’s where our beneficial skin microbiome resides and which in turn helps inform our immune system. GE. It’s surprisingly easy to damage! The first sign? The feeling of your skin being parched and dehydrated at the surface. In time, you’ll experience redness, itch, and irritation. When the acid mantle is damaged or impaired, it is unable to hold in dermal moisture well. Over time the “dry skin” conditions often become chronic and difficult to find the root of and resolve.
How do we ensure our skin stays resilient and strong, able to heal from injury and protect itself from damage caused by the sun, the impacts of toxins and pollutants, and internal, emotional stress?
This is no easy task, but it IS possible …
The first step is gaining some knowledge of what our skin needs to perform all these feats. For instance, our skin must be slightly acidic to perform optimally. Just knowing this one fact can help us make informed decisions when choosing products and routines.
Reach out to me anytime for clarification or recommendations.
It can be daunting when making the switch to natural skincare and incorporating nourishing skin care traditions into your routine.
Let me help … I can help simplify things for you and help get you started on this journey. I’ll work with you one on one to personalize your routine and check in with you to see how you’re doing. Scroll down to find a contact form.
Nourishing Skin Care Traditions + modern science
Nourishing skin care traditions from all over the globe can be adopted, customized, and integrated into our routines to support happy, resilient skin, better able to withstand the ravages of time and environmental impacts.
Discovering these traditions and beauty secrets, and how to incorporate them into your day-to-day life is a true journey of discovery which I hope will inspire and delight you.
They offer effective solutions based on natural ingredients which can create space for skin to heal from injury, allowing the opportunity to return to optimal functioning.
Of course, there are plenty of practices from the past that were extremely dangerous and plenty of DIY suggestions today that are potentially damaging and dangerous. Myth busting is vital in our world today where information is distorted and misinterpreted, and people are not taught in schools about human skin functions, let alone physiology and nutrition. We have to sort it all out ourselves. Confused yet?
Today we live in an age of scientific discovery and innovations that continue to improve the human condition.
Take affordable, synthetic detergents, what we call “soap” today, as the perfect example. In the US, when these became widely available after WW1 infectious disease rates began to plummet. Ask just about anyone, and they’ll attribute the decline in death rates, and the perceived increase in lifespans, to the newly invented antibiotics. However, some researchers question this. Regardless of which came first, soap or antibiotics, the lives of millions of people were improved with things created in a lab.
Synthetic, chemical preservatives are another example - we need them to ensure food and cosmetics are fresh. But until recently only harsh options were available. With pressure from consumers, safe, skin-nourishing, plant-based, biodegradable mild preservatives are now available. Learning what requires a preservative and what doesn’t is pretty easy.
The History of Soap and Bathing: In our quest to reconcile our modern lifestyles and the needs of our skin this knowledge is invaluable when making informed choices; today our habits and routines are so out of sync with the functioning of our skin that it is no wonder we are having issues! I can not stress enough why this information is so important.
Skin Function and Skin Health: Optimal Skin Function in the Modern Era. Can you get your head around the fact that the thing that protects us from the big, wide world is about 1/3 the thickness of one thin dime? That's it! That's all that stands between you and the vast reaches of space. This tiny barrier is a miracle of nature which can be easily damaged. Our bathing habits and choice of cleaning products in the modern 1st world are totally out of sync with the homeostasis of our skin, and our evolutionary biology.
Preserving the Skin’s microbiome: Our skin is teeming with a vast universe of microbial life that scientists are just beginning to understand! The benefits of a healthy skin biome include preventing pathogenic organisms from colonizing the skin surface, either by competing for nutrients, secreting chemicals against them, or stimulating the skin's immune system. Finding ways to nourish, maintain, and replenish a healthy biome by supporting the host of microbes that abound on our skin will not only revolutionize the way we live, it may positively impact our overall health.
Tap Water Today and Skin Health: Awareness of the impacts of tap water is growing. The water in our homes is not what it was 50 years ago. Learn why we need to tune into this modern issue, and how it can be at the root of many skin problems, and/or making them worse (dry skin, acne, rosacea, eczema) I offer some simple solutions and tips on how to counteract impacts of dissolved minerals, alkaline pH and chlorine on skin health.
Wildcrafted + Fresh + Medicinal Plants: One of the foundations of Nourishing Skin Care Traditions is the use of herbs, carefully collected and prepared to help heal and support our skin - there is powerful medicine in the wild world we can employ to help solve acute and chronic skin issues and support healthy aging.
No discussion of skin health is complete without talking about nutrition and diet. This is a very touchy subject that has become increasingly polarized and politicized. As children, we are not taught what our nutritional needs are - and the consequences are as serious as it gets.
Optimal Nutrition: For the skin organ to develop properly as children, to heal from injury quickly, and remain strong and resilient into old age we must understand our incredibly complex, diverse nutritional needs. We are not taught this in schools today - understanding our vast nutritional needs is beyond confusing and the amount of misinformation grows exponentially. Without traditions and taboo foodways to guide us, as our ancestors did, we must discover it for ourselves. If we miss the mark, we suffer in so many ways.
Nourishing Diets: I do not believe for one second that until the modern era life for most people, everywhere, was brutish and short. Does it not stand to reason, that as humans, we would not be here today if at least some populations had not only survived but thrived in often hostile environments? Humans must learn every aspect of survival! We have no instincts to rely on. Adopting the nourishing foodways of thriving populations of people from the past can help us navigate this confusing landscape. Populations all over the world accumulated thousands of generations of encoded knowledge in their native foodways, traditions, and taboos and faithfully handed it down over the ages. This information is desperately needed today! The obscure work of Dr. Weston Price is of particular interest today, detailed in his seminal work “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” written in 1939. His studies of healthy, long-lived, isolated indigenous people and their traditional diets are invaluable and not repeatable; those people no longer exist. His contributions to the nutritional sciences earned him the title of Nutrition Pioneer, but his work is not widely appreciated today.
ROUTINES & HABITS: CLEANSING, EXFOLIATING, CONDITIONING
Many people come to my site seeking advice on how to cleanse with oils or are not happy with the results they are getting. Before getting started with OCM it is important to understand the chemistry of how oils clean the skin, which oils might be a good choice for YOU, which method is best suited to YOUR skin condition, and more.
Who usually gets the best results with OCM and who doesn’t?
How to get started.: choosing oils for your skin type
Tweaking your current routine for better results.
Detailed step-by-step instructions: There is no one right way to cleanse with oils. Here I describe my approach to oil cleansing:
Oil Cleansing for dry or Mature Skin
Oil Cleansing for Oily and Acne Prone Skin
Oil Cleansing for Other Inflammatory Skin Issues and Atopic Dermatitis: rosacea & eczema.
HONEY FOR SKIN CLEANSING: How and why to wash your face with honey - yes, honey!
The long list of its benefits for all skin types is really impressive. Honey is 100% water soluble - dissolving instantly in water - so if you’re expecting a sticky mess, you're in for a real surprise.
Old Fashion Real Soap
Why carefully crafted, “super-fatted” 100% Old Fashion Oil Soaps (made with modern techniques) for bathing a foundation of skin health from cradle to grave? but slightly acidic botanical cleansers are the better choice for our faces.
INGREDIENTS + PROCESS
why, how, and what do I use to create your soap and skincare
Learn all about my ingredients, Why Fresh Ingredients are Superior, What is “Wildcrafting”, My Formulating Process, Preservative Free Skincare, and more LEARN MORE
ROUTINES & HABITS: TONING & CONDITIONING
Facial and Body Oils: Choosing the right seed butters & oils to condition and nourish your skin can help you achieve the results you desire, or cause problems. Determining which oils to use can mean the difference between plump, happy skin, or something else.
Restorative Mineral Soaks - Why the ancient practice (and doing it correctly!) of regular soaking in mineral-rich waters is so important for skin health. Learn why making bath time a regular habit is a vital step in your routine for people of all ages.
Re-Acidifying Therapeutic Soaks: Anyone with skin issues should learn more about the skin’s Acid Mantle, and how to restore it and minimize damage to it. Our lifestyles are totally out of sync with our skin and all the extra hand washing since the COVID outbreak hit us, is taking a toll! Dry, flaky, itchy, parched, dehydrated skin HURTS - this can help.
Honey & Herb Masks! Discover this almost magical ancient beauty secret once reserved for royalty and the elite. Learn why you probably want to ditch those clay masks.
Don’t skip the toner - but choose yours very, very carefully! Learn why toning your facial skin is a vital step in our routines. Choosing the right one is vital for skin health - most commercial toners are a hidden source of drying alcohols - Learn about the many benefits of pure, steam distilled Hydrosol Waters to condition and nourish all skin types at any age and why they are THE best choice for a toner.
COMMON QUESTIONS & SKIN CARE CHALLENGES - links to articles and blog posts
Are you using Coconut as a Moisturizer? Why is coconut drying out my skin” “Coconut oil and itchy skin”
You might be amazed to learn that the number one reason a visitor finds my website is searching for answers to mystery! Wouldn’t this healthy traditional oil be a good choice for moisturizing? And if not, why is it a problem for so many people? In your quest for a more natural approach to skincare, you might have ditched synthetic chemical-laden lotions and moisturizers for just pure coconut oil alone. If you’re not getting the results you had hoped for, or your skin condition is getting worse - I encourage you to read my most popular blog post. There are thousands of seed oils and butters to choose from; used alone, coconut oil might not be the best choice for you, and in fact, it’s not the best choice for many. I receive more inquiries regarding problems associated with the use of coconut oil as a stand-alone “moisturizer” than you would think.
Skin Issues in the Modern Era: Addressing Acute & Chronic Dry Skin Issues: Dis-Ease of the skin
“Dry skin” is the most commonly identified skincare challenge for women of all ages. But men suffer too, and kids. Learn why “dry skin” is the first sign of stressed skin and an impaired acid mantle. Learn why addressing the underlying cause is so important for kids and adults and how skin in a state of “disease” can not perform optimally, making it vulnerable to long-term damage and premature aging.
Busting common skin care myths: Are Seed Oils and Butters Moisturizing? Oils and butters seal IN dermal moisture, they can not hydrate anything …
Oils and butters condition the skin so it can be healthy and strong, keeping it supple and flexible so it can RETAIN moisture. When we say moisture we are saying “water” - oils contain ZERO moisture. But we can use them to create a light moisturizing effect when we add moisture to the skin first.
Support for Inflammatory Skin Issues and Atopic Dermatitis
Seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis, and Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis) If you suffer from one of these, you probably have a tube of steroid cream. There’s one magic trick up my sleeve you must try. It’s 100% natural, it’s been used to treat, heal, and beautify skin for thousands of years, and you probably have some in the kitchen cupboard.
Factors in Acne: On the rise in both men AND women!
Despite hundreds of years of research and millions of dollars spent on studies and drug trials, treatment options to address acne have remained the same for decades. All of them come with side effects (some more severe than others). In many cases, they don't offer long-term relief, and often they don't work at all. I hope to provide insights into what might be contributing to your acne problems and provide some suggestions for creating a “healing space”, relieving acute symptoms, and supporting the long-term, healthy functioning of your skin, and reducing the chances of complications associated with treatment options. There are some harsh facts about acne. The problem isn’t dirt, dead skin cells, poor hygiene, or even sebum. It’s our modern world.
Dry Skin Problems and Healthy Aging: Supporting the acid mantle (the moisture barrier - my number one skincare goal)
The number one skincare challenge is dry skin (parched, dehydrated) especially as we age. Is this condition chronic or acute - learn how to tell the difference, what might be causing it, and what is best suited to help resolve it. Hint: The first sign of an impaired moisture barrier is that it is not holding in dermal moisture well, moisture is easily evaporating from the surface of the skin, and you feel parched and dehydrated at the surface. Addressing the underlying cause is an important step to maintaining strong resilient skin as we age. Left unchecked, dry skin can lead to more serious conditions and premature aging.