Sattva Botanica Apothecary

October at Sattva Botanica

Restoration after summer. Nourishment for what comes next.

Our Autumn Oil + Cleanser move into their first full month, warmer and richer, with Manjistha + Licorice Root for skin carrying the lingering heat and uneven color of summer.

If you’re curious about seasonal care, Touch of Autumn is a small place to begin at $9.99.

Sattva Taila™, Ravi Press™ and our Hair, Scalp + Nail Oils will remain at the table as restorative companions.

And currently in testing, Tiny Tendings, small preparations for the little things we have chatted in person about.

Windows are open, it’s a beautiful day.

On O’Neil preparing little offerings for upcoming gatherings.

Shanti was made when I discovered fenugreek leaf, who offered a comfort I had not felt before. She met me in a transitional time in my personal life and reminded me how sweet the essence of life is underneath it all.

In that comfort, I felt and understood the difference between habit and ritual.

Shanti means “peace.” And when there is no action, no doing, there she is in her being, whole.

Her intention within Sattva Botanica is as a transitional oil, not to balance what our skin is experiencing with the current weather, but simply a resting place between seasons.

There are, however, a handful of women who choose her every day.

She may not be front and center, but she is always on the table.

THE PLANTS WE FOLLOW

Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice Root)
A plant we use.

Where She Grows
Native from the Mediterranean through Western and Central Asia. Her relationship with people is ancient, appearing across Ayurvedic, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Greek and European plant traditions.

What She Offers
It is her root containing glycyrrhizin, liquiritin and glabridin that has long been valued for soothing irritated tissues and inflammation.

How We Prepare Her
At Sattva, we work with the whole dried root, rather than isolating a single constituent.

You’ll find Licorice Root in Ravi Press™, Shanti Oil, Jyoti Eye, coming soon, Sattva Taila and Sattva Oil of Autumn.

Why We Use Her Now
Autumn is when we begin to notice lingering summer color from the sun, uneven tone and skin that has spent months responding to heat and exposure.

Licorice Root makes sense here.

Research connects her constituent glabridin with reduced tyrosinase activity and UV-induced pigmentation. Newer research is looking even further, at glabridin’s relationship with melanin formation, transfer and breakdown.

Not to erase summer from the skin, but to support it as it moves into a new season.

I said goodbye to Summer this weekend with extra w**e and spicy food.

To balance it today, a cooling preparation of milk, saffron and sandalwood powder.

Autumn is on the table.

Farewell Summer, Autumn is here now.

Warmer and richer.

See you at the table. And, around downtown tonight for our last, Last Friday in Clayton.

Sattva at The Station
Downtown Clayton

From Earth’s Table

Synotis solidaginea (similar to the Daisy and Sunflower), a plant I’m watching.

Where She Grows
High in the Himalayas, including Tibet. She has been documented in Milin County, an area particularly rich in medicinal plant diversity and traditional plant knowledge.

What She Offers
Traditional records document the whole plant prepared as a boiled liquid for several uses as she is cooling in nature. Modern research is now looking at her relationship with pigmentation and inflammation in the skin.

How I Prepare Her
I don’t. Not yet.

Why I’m Watching Her
New research published this month found that Synotis solidaginea extract reduced melanin production and influenced several pathways involved in pigmentation in laboratory models, including tyrosinase and other melanogenesis-related markers.

A morning serum from this past weekend’s conversations.

Testing, then sharing.

Message me anytime with something you’d like. When I’m in a creative mood, I may make it.