Twigroot Botanicals is a young business, steadily building a reputation for high-quality body care products that began with a garden.
”I wanted to do something different because there is so much skincare out there,” said Cortes Island-based owner and formulator Tamlyn Collingwood. “My preference is to only use herbs that can grow in our climate and in particular, in my garden here.”
Some of the plants have been with her for over 25 years, moving from garden to garden over the years. She calls these her mother plants; among them are mugwort, vervain, rose, mint and bergamot.
Collingwood studied Traditional Chinese Medicine and applied her knowledge to topical remedies in her massage practice. She was originally inspired to create a skincare line out of her concern for what washes off people’s skin into the pristine lakes on the island. The Twigroot Botanicals website says, “We wanted a product line that would be safe for our earth and waters, cruelty free and of the highest quality.”
“The skin is our largest organ in our body. It absorbs everything. So can we make something that’s healthy for people as well as for the environment?” she added.
Twigroot Botanicals now has a core line of face creams and serums, rounded out by body butters and balms, and the more recent addition of bath products. A mineral, chemical-free sunscreen is due out this summer.
Besides the Friday Market, the products can be found on her website, at the Cortes Natural Food Co-op and perhaps soon a store in Campbell River. However, it’s important to Collingwood to keep her operation small-scale in order to preserve “the quality and the personal touch that goes into every product that I make.”
This post was an overview, the details are in the podcast.
Top image credit: Twigroot Botanicals wanted to create a product line from local organic materials – submitted photo
Sign-up for Cortes Currents email-out:
To receive an emailed catalogue of articles on Cortes Currents, send a (blank) email to subscribe to your desired frequency:
- Daily, (articles posted during the last 24 hours) – cortescurrents-daily+subscribe@cortes.groups.io
- Weekly Digest cortescurrents – cortescurrents-weekly+subscribe@cortes.groups.io