Cocoa butter, also called Theobroma oil, is from the seeds of the Theobroma cocoa tree of South America.  Cocoa butter is formed after the seeds have been fermented, dried, roasted, and pressed.  It dates back 3,000 years, and was used by the Mayan and Aztec civilizations for nutritional and medicinal purposes. 

St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a small bush type plant with yellow flowers.  The sure tell sign that you found one is if you hold a leaf up to the sun, there will be tiny pin holes throughout the leaf. The yellow flowers are where you will find the Hypericin.  Crush the flower heads and you will be left with a rust-colored residue on your fingers (this is the medicine).

Extracted from the nuts of the Vitelleria paradoxa tree aka Tree of Life.  The shea tree grows naturally across the savannah belt of Africa. All parts of the shea tree are used for medicine purposes. The butter is extracted from the fruit of the tree, commonly used as food & cosmetically for the skin & hair. 

A great deal of focus has recently been on how natural resources can help our skin.  Air pollutants is closely linked to skin aging, inflammation, wrinkles, pigmentation spots, atopic dermatitis, acne, cardiovascular disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, and cancer.

Sea buckthorn is a bush that was originally found in Europe and Asia.  It can now be found in parts of Canada. The berries are normally plucked using a sustainable harvest method, meaning only the branches with the most berries are pruned leaving most of the plant intact for future production. Supercritical CO2 extraction is used to extract the active properties of the plant material. CO2 extraction is very gentle, and the cleanest way to preserve the nutrients and keeps the oils stable. This method is used because cold pressing the tiny seeds won’t produce enough oil to process. Sea buckthorn extract has a unique composition that is high in natural antioxidants, vitamin C, tocopherols, carotenoids, and fatty acids. It’s a very powerful berry that contains a lot of useful phytochemicals.  I include this berry in my line of lotions and body butters, it’s what gives the products that beautiful orange color.