forestetiquette

Tomorrow, on National Truth and Reconciliation Day, take a moment to reflect.

Maybe to reflect on the mistakes made in the past, and those that continue to be made in the present.

Maybe to reflect on the opportunity we all have to show up differently. To be kinder, more compassionate, more curious, and less critical.

Maybe to reflect on all the ways we can teach our children about all of this, so that they can move forward in their own lives to build the world previous generations weren’t able to.

But mostly, maybe to reflect on the power and potential that love, acceptance, and inclusivity have to dramatically shift the long ingrained paradigms of our world.

We are stronger together, not in shame, but in acknowledgment. Not in blame, but in responsibility. And not in separation, but in deep rooted communal embrace.

F L O R A + F U N G I
// revamped.

One of the very first offerings I released over two years ago was a powdered clay mask made from a blend of powdered herbs, sea vegetables, and hand harvested glacial marine clay from Comox, called FLORA + FUNGI. This mask encompassed all the things Forest Etiquette has been built on and become known for, but because it was a powdered mask it required some additional mixing, and because it was such a concentrated amount of glacial marine clay, it tended to be quite intense for some skin types. Eventually, I made the decision to remove it from the permanent line until I could create an alternative that was easier to use and gentler on the skin.

After a year of creating, adjusting, and testing a new formula, I am happy to announce the revamped, ready to use version of FLORA + FUNGI will be available next week!

This mask offers the same potent, impurity removing benefits of the original powdered mask, but in a soothing cream base enriched with wild yarrow hydrosol, sea vegetables, and wild mushrooms.

The glacial marine clay, sustainably hand harvested from the base of the Comox glacier, is a powerful, negatively charged sea clay that draws excess dirt, oil, and bacteria to it in order to rid the skin of toxins, clear the pores, exfoliate, and encourage collagen production. Blended with white kaolin clay, which can help to balance sebum production and reduce dryness, and zinc oxide, which is wonderful for treating acne and supporting skin health and healing, this new FLORA + FUNGI is a softer, smoother, gentler version of the original.

Finally, the new version also boasts some pretty amazing antioxidant and skin tone evening potential from the addition of bakuchiol, fullerene, and Bakuchi fruit and sea kelp extracts. In my humble opinion, this mask pairs beautifully with MERMAID used as a rich hydrating facial serum and CLOUD DANCE as a moisturizing final step after masking.

FLORA + FUNGI will be available online next week, but if you are eager to try it out sooner you can find it now on the shelves of the beautiful .clothing in Brentwood Bay, along with CLOUD DANCE and SUNSHINE CREAM.

The end of this summer brought, for me, what I can only now describe as a massive initiation. All of my core wounds came bubbling up to the surface and I was forced to face both things I’ve been side stepping and those I thought I had already dealt with head on.

Lots of introspection, and tackling the challenges of running an artistically inspired for profit business paired with the kind of imposter syndrome that comes from years of perfectionism and self criticism, and of course tears, and I now find myself with a new kind of foundation that can only come when we truly allow our old foundations to crumble.

Fall is a time for all of this - for relinquishing the control we think we have in order to allow what must go to leave, and for whatever comes next to move in. Fall is a time for cultivating the energy and vitality necessary to successfully navigate the cold, dark, quiet months of winter in order to come out the other side made anew. Fall is a time for rooting down, turning in, and breaking down in order to build back up again.

For me, fall is also a time to nourish my body with warm, slow cooked, nutrient dense foods that take full advantage of the bounty that is the autumn harvest on Southern Vancouver Island.

But most importantly, fall is an opportunity to tend to the body and spirit in a way that the fast paced, hot hustle and bustle of the summer just doesn’t allow. This means providing ourselves with the nourishment, both internally and externally, to prepare with anticipation for whatever the coming year brings. It’s also an opportunity to nourish the skin, with long hot mineral baths, full body exfoliation, and a focus on truly building up the health of the skin barrier during a time when the weather is cooler and life grows slower.

I would encourage you, during this fall, to take stock of what truly matters, and find some time to put yourself first each day. Feed yourself well, slow down, and immerse yourself in a well deserved warm blanket sewn from tenderness, self care, and compassion for all the seasons of life.

C H A M O M I L E B A L M
// my secret polysporin substitute.

Chamomile balm is by far one of my absolute favourite products. This humble little healing balm flies under the radar a lot of the time, but anyone who has had the pleasure of using it will know exactly why I think it’s so damn special.

Made with a herbal infusion of brilliant yellow garden grown chamomile, wild yarrow, and locally harvested calendula and chickweed, this occlusive, oil based offering is filled with herbals great for relieving itchiness, reducing inflammation, and healing skin abrasions.

But the star ingredient here is a potent wild poplar bud resin extraction infused into a base of organic, cold pressed olive oil. Poplar bud resin has long been utilized for its magnificent abilities to reduce swelling and disinfect wounds, and is ultimately what brings this offering from simple herbal healing salve to a potent, natural alternative to polysporin. It’s the only thing I use on my son’s wide array of cuts and scrapes, and it never fails me.

Scented with a blend of undiluted Roman chamomile, Peru balsam, copaiba balsam, and benzoin essential oils, which not only offer a beautiful, subtly sweet, soothing scent to this balm, but also increase its anti bacterial and anti microbial qualities, Chamomile Balm is gentle and powerful topical plant medicine at its finest.

Because chamomile balm includes the beautiful, sustainably wild harvested poplar bud resin extract, it’s one of those offerings that inevitably runs out and cannot be replenished until a new batch of poplar buds are gathered (from fallen poplar branches) and warm infused into oil.

As summer fades into fall, my jar of this magical oil infusion is growing quite low, and I have a feeling this balm will end up out of stock for a while.

I have about 30 ounces of chamomile balm remaining until poplar bud season (between November and January), so if you love this product as much as I do now is the time to stock up!

S U M M E R H A Z E
// smoky - resinous - woodsy

Literally the smoky, sweet, gourmand scent of my dreams.

Summer Haze is a base blend of five sustainably sourced, powerhouse essential oils to ground, cleanse, purify, and relax the senses.

Palo santo, rosewood, cedarwood, patchouli, and benzoin create a magical foundation that is equal parts resinous, smoky, sweet, and just a touch salty. Think salted caramel with just a touch of church incense.

To this blend, a variety of whole woods, resins, and wild crafted gums are added to weave together a scent blend that is nothing short of magical. Wild harvested poplar bud resin, labdanum gum, whole frankincense tears, and charred Palo santo wood pull this scent together, filling in all the in-between spaces with an intoxicating sweet and smoky quality that morphs and bends with the oils of the skin.

The final element is an exotic Attar of oud - a perfect blend of mysore sandalwood and agarwood that creates the sexiest dry down.

The more I get to know this scent, the more I feel it to be a gender neutral, natural tinctured perfume that can work perfectly on whomever is wearing it. Masculine, feminine, and all things in between. Because scent blends and perfumes are such a subjective experience, please feel free to request a sample of this scent if you’d like to get to know it before purchasing 🤍

Find Summer Haze in my Etsy shop, in Penticton , in Brentwood Bay , in Fernwood Square , and in the Cowichan Valley .

Let’s talk about this lovely lady!

FLOWER CHILD

A water based serum built to deeply hydrate, scavenge free radicals, tighten skin, and build up that healthy skin barrier.

Made with a water base of aloe Vera distillate, rose water, and a house distilled organic strawberry and watermelon hydrosol, this lady wants to pamper and SOOTHE your skin!

Infused with organic hibiscus, wild Nootka rose, and locally harvested cherry blossoms, and blended with a delightful blend of natural actives meant to fortify, heal, and hydrate the skin, this serum is the perfect thing to layer beneath a moisturizer morning and night.

Find her in my Etsy shop, or in store in Victoria, .loft in Vanderhoof, .lifestyle in Langford, and soon she will be international as she is heading all the way to NEW ZEALAND to hang out on the shelves of Alaina Natural Beauty with a beautifully curated selection of Forest Etiquette goods!

I love this offering and I hope you will to!

I felt the air shift subtly about a week ago, & found myself in a state of panic. The summer is coming to an end, calling in the colder, rooting months of fall & winter where we get to slow down & decompress from the high energetics of summer.

But with this encroaching season of stillness comes the uncertainty of wondering: has enough been done over the summer months to carry us through?

I know we aren’t supposed to talk about not-positive things on social media, but the anxiety around potential fall food shortages, increasing inflation, & rising costs for pretty much everything are very much on my mind.

I dream of a life where we are self sufficient; disconnected from the grid that simultaneously nourishes & drains us as a collective existing in the concrete lined city scapes of a twenty first century world.

But how do we accomplish an infinite number of things in the finite number of hours each day? How do we prioritize those we love, ourselves, and our sources of income, with sustainable forms of food & energy security?

I watched a reel about a family who lives totally off grid, doing everything from curing their own meat & churning their own butter, to darning the holes in their worn socks. Organ meats are dried & ground to mix with spice blends made from home grown garlic scapes, & a well stocked pantry is added to each day with ferments, canned goods, & brined foods.

So how do we manage all of this alone? Our world is increasingly disconnected & our desire for connection is fuelled by the platforms of social media corporations whose sole purpose is driving profit ever upwards.

I see so much hope in our world, for love, for self care, for a legitimate and tangible form of prosperity whose flames are stoked not by capital, but by a genuine desire for something greater than money. But I also see the opposite of this, & sometimes this can feel undeniably overwhelming.

My hope is that we can all come together to persevere beyond the confining structures of a capitalist world, to build an ever better, brighter, more nourished, & collectively united vision for the holistic longevity of our magical species.

I guess time will tell.

Life is a constant ebb & flow of ever changing seasons. Much like the many buds on a single stem, while one part of life is unfurling, another may be closing, ending, even dying. But like the petals on a freshly pollinated flower, vitality fades from one part in order to impregnate another with life.

I’ve spent lots of years learning to understand my own energetic seasonalities. To tend to my own garden of life, death, and rebirth with care, tenderness, and an attunement to the harmonies that exist beneath the chaos. Some times feel alive with creation, passion, outward joy for all the wonders of the world, while other times are internal, introspective periods of deep learning + a profound sense of grief for what is being shed in order for new layers to emerge.

What this has helped me to understand is that some moments are meant to be shared + others are to be observed. Some seasons burst forth from the heart with the kind of joy and excitement that cannot be contained, while others settle below the surface, asking for tenderness + grace as they find their own place within that same space of infinite potential, possibility, and growth.

The last couple weeks have felt like the latter. I’m still sorting out what parts of my own personal experience with the wonders of life are meant to be shared publicly, and which should be held a little closer to my chest. Is it appropriate for a skin care business to share openly about all the other meaningful parts of a self care journey? And does anyone want to know? Do we exist in a world where the dark + the light are accepted equally as we integrate all parts into our whole selves, or is this a space for ease without the struggle?

If I figure that part out, I’ll let you know. What i have figured out, though, is that all parts are beautiful, necessary, and required for a full + wholly beautiful experience of life to unfold, and ultimately to share our own profound experiences with existence is one of the most magical ways we have to truly reach out and connect with other humans. To cultivate love. To share our own growth as it unfolds.

S U N S H I N E B A R
// the little solid facial cleanser that could.

Recently restocked and ready to support all the skin types in their quest for soft, supple, cleansed without feeling tight or stripped, glowing skin.

Sunshine Bar is a solid facial cream cleanser made with Vancouver Island raised grass fed beef tallow, kaolin clay, white willow bark, and a herbal infusion of locally harvested calendula petals and wild white yarrow flowers.

This bar is rich, creamy, and gently foaming, made possible by the addition of an ultra soft, coconut derived natural foaming agent that cleans and cleanses the skin without stripping away its beneficial natural oils.

Sunshine Bar is a super affordable, accessible way to cleanse and nourish the skin, and can be found through the link in my bio or in Victoria, .clothing in Brentwood bay, in Cowichan, and .sister.mercantile in Rossland. Also coming soon to .loft in Vanderhoof!! $10 a bar and they will last you a month of morning and night cleansing! By far one of my favourite Forest Etiquette skin care offerings right now!

Sunshine Bar works great as a stand alone cleanser or as part of a two step cleanse paired with an oil to milk cleansing oil or balm (cleansing balm first, cleansing bar second) 🤍🤍🤍.

T W E N T Y S E V E N C E N T S
// accessible self care project.

There were two listings that came with the recently dropped summer release that I’d really love if everyone considered sharing. These two listings are called ‘The Twenty Seven Cent Project,’ named such because Etsy won’t allow sellers to list items for free, and 27 cents is the lowest price value you can put on a listing.

These two listings are special because they are a small step in my own personal quest to break down the financial barriers that prevent some folks from treating themselves to skin and self care offerings by making these items as accessible as I possibly can for anyone who needs them.

One listing contains a list of offerings, all priced at 27 cents, available to purchase just like any other item.

The other listing contains a variety of donation options that can be added to any order as a contribution to this project. Any dollar amount given is matched by Forest Etiquette and that amount of products as a dollar value are added to the fund to, hopefully, maintain a continuous replenishing of items as they are accessed.

This project is accessible to anyone who would like to use it. There is no catch, no questions asked, no list kept, no names marked down (outside of shipping details). My hope is that, through the power of community, we can all work together to bolster wellness and rituals of self care for everyone, regardless of the figure in their bank accounts.

You can find more information about this project by following the link in my bio and clicking on the Etsy shop.

S U N S H I N E C R E A M
//meadow child.

If a body balm and a lotion created a baby, it would be Sunshine Cream.

Sunshine Cream is a thick, rich, emulsified body cream inspired by all the beautiful and emollient qualities of Sunshine Balm, combined with some magical water soluble elements that blend together to create a silky smooth, intensely hydrating, moisturizing body cream that won’t soften or melt in the summer heat.

Made with all the same lovely oils and herbals as sunshine balm, Sunshine Cream also contains a house distilled wild yarrow flower water and a small amount of fruit based AHAs and hyaluronic acid, giving it some added soothing elements for sunburned or inflamed skin, as well as the benefit of being both gently exfoliating and deeply hydrating.

You can find Sunshine Cream in my Etsy shop, available in a 4oz clear glass jar 🤍🌞✨