Feral Botanicals

.remains is vending at the Renaissance Faire in Essex Junction! I had the pleasure of meeting the creator in person and took home an adorable bee and a protection jar (bee-sized). They live on my charm window and watch the way to my witch home. 🐝🌱 the Faire is happening today as well, at the Champlain Valley Expo - go find yourself some marvelous bones, bees, or stones to enhance your abode!

Happy Summer!

Busy as a bee! I am looking at ways to grow my shop while I work in the woods. The heat wave this week was intense! Keep your skin hydrated and treat it before and after sun exposure. (Hint: tallow is a great way to do this). Happy Summer!

You can discover my balms at Black Meadow Gallery and Tattoo, and other amazing local artists, as well as the artists who own this lovely space, here in Randolph, VT! ❤️🦇

Come feed your skin at Black Meadow if you’re in the Randolph, VT area! Shop my herbal tallow balms here, and support the other amazing local artists and artisans featured in this shop! If you love tattoos, this is also the place for you! @blackmeadowvt is an underrated treasure trove for magical minded folk. ❤️

Online store is up and running! Currently, I have wonderful handcrafted Herbal Tallow Balm in stock. In the coming weeks and months, the little shop will have exciting new products carefully developed and created by me. VT locals - I have two new exciting updates - until next time! ❤️

My tiny online shop is now live! Herbal Tallow Balms are now in stock. Stay tuned as I have more wonderful skin treats in the making at https://www.feral-botanicals.com

I am excited to announce that I am nearing the date of finally being able to launch my online shop next week! In the meantime, I am also brewing some cool ideas that will make their way into reality as the products in my tiny apothecary grow. I am grateful to the receptive community I have reached out to in the past year. Some awesome collaborations will be manifesting this summer!

I am excited to announce that I am nearing the week of finally being able to launch my online shop next week! In the meantime, I am also brewing some cool ideas that will make their way into reality as the products in my tiny apothecary grow. I am grateful to the receptive community I have reached out to in the past year. Some awesome collaborations will be manifesting this summer!

Good morning! As I work towards growing something special, I’ve decided to share a few insights behind the creative process of this shop-to-be. Our skin is one of the most important organs, if not the most important one in our health and function. Protect that which protects us, without questionable ingredients. Thanks for watching!

A bit of philosophy behind my creative process. More than ever, we are becoming conscious of what is being put in the things we use in our daily lives. The skin is one of the most important organs of our body, and reflects our health visibly. It is a crucial shield for our immune functions. Let’s treat it right.

Feral Botanicals now has an Instagram! For those who don’t already follow my page on Facebook, here’s what we’re about. In 2023, ideas revolving around folk medicine, slow and natural health & beauty, herbal and pharmaceutical knowledge, and a desire to make use of a by-product from local farms all converged to create a tiny apothecary-style shop, all run by a woman forester in the heart of little Vermont. The concept of using age-old ingredients like tallow and medicinal plants in skincare is not new. However, it is one that should be carried out with utmost care and dedication, detail and passion. In recent years, more humans seek to revisit our collective wild roots and cast away excess toxic ingredients from the most important aspect of our lives - our body, our well-being - and it is this collective desire that lends its helping hand to the establishment of small artisan shops, like myself. This year, I am pleased to announce that I’ve emerged into the world to contribute safe, sustainable, and fun skincare products to all who want a simple and healthy daily ritual. Online shop coming soon! Follow me as I steadily grow a mighty little line of skin food and beauty.

It all starts with one of the most ancient skincare products known to humankind: animal fat.

Pure, organic grass-fed tallow is worth its weight in gold. While it is a carnivore-oriented product, its benefits for the skin are often overlooked! In its pre-processed state as beef fat, it is considered an ABP (animal by-product), and often wasted alongside other parts of an animal considered not fit for consumption, if not retained for use by restaurants or farmers.

To reduce the amount wasted locally, I’ve reached out to local butchers that provide their service to farmers with small operations in the area of Central Vermont. The operations in question raise free-range, grass-fed local cattle in numbers that are very small compared to large-scale industry across other parts of the US.

It is known that tallow, like the batch I have triple-rendered and processed to cosmetic-grade, pictured below, was historically used in candlemaking and soaps (and still is, by various artisans).

What makes it a prized and underrated ingredient in skincare? Here are the reasons:

It is rich in vitamins A, D, E, & K, as well as Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamin A (retinoids) improves the appearance of wrinkles and sagging of skin. Vitamin D aids in resilience against sun damage. Vitamin E is a great help to locking in moisture and is an anti-inflammatory agent, while Vitamin K is helpful in reducing acne inflammation, and helps the skin to heal itself. Omega fatty acids are what helps your skin regulate its oil production, helping reduce breakouts and manage unruly moisture imbalances.

These essential nutrients give tallow its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory properties.

You might think, “why in the world would I put fat on my skin?!”

Contrary to its nature of being, well, fat, tallow actually does not clog pores, and it helps reduce excess sebum production when applied to the face!

This batch, rendered through a process of water and salt, is nearly odorless (it has a slight smell like fresh ghee!) and a beautiful cream color.

It is ready to be infused with herbs curated for their specific properties used in my Tallow Balm. Stay tuned for future posts!