I was recently given a liquid soap scented with lavender essential oil with the words ‘Follain’ and ‘Refill Me’ scripted simply and beautifully in white across the small brown apothecary bottle. I used that soap up! It was soft and creamy, and smelled divine. I felt good using it, the white pump top matched the script in such a satisfying way, and the feel of glass in my hand, plus having glass atop the porcelain sink my two littles use(!) had an element of ‘be careful, watch what you’re doing’-ness about it. It felt imbued with a Japanese or Shinto-style elevated care, special.

When I ran out, I took a trip into town to visit the store on Charles Street. I needed to see about this ‘Refill Me.’ I walked into a white and copper-clad glass box of a store that exuded an apothecary chic / squeaky-clean bathroom / farmy-department store counter vibe. A big charcoal grey soapstone sink sat in the middle of the store, and botanicals like lavender and eucalyptus flowed over creamy pitcher-vases. I was greeted by the owner Tara and store director Amy, who were bright-faced and friendly and helped me find a toner to tame my large pores, but not right away.

Amy agreed with me that talking about one’s skin can be an intimate experience; so much of a woman’s self-image is projected by and encapsulated in the health of her skin. We are all a body/mind/spirit union – the fact that we have different words for these doesn’t help our conception of our unified being-ness. One can be talking about skin and quickly, find oneself down the rabbit hole into diet and emotion.  Our emotions and stress levels show up readily in the skin. I sniffed and squirted each of the seven toners on the shelf; each carefully selected based on ingredient list and efficacy. I selected one in a mist bottle that uses essential oils as the preservative that also smelled lovely in a green, botanical way. I used it after an oil wash and noticed an immediate difference. Immediately in love with Follain: they select carefully and I appreciate not being led astray. This led to a discussion on discernment.

We talked about sourcing ingredients and the care with which the items on the shelves were crafted – displayed with plenty of space and with few stocked bottles so as to show their true preciousness – and got to discussing plant blindness, my area of particular evangelism.

I explained that I feel plants are often ignored, unseen, or even mistrusted because of fear of poison or toxins (even water is a toxin in high doses – poisonousness is as much about quantity as substance)_. I love plants and knowing them, knowing where they like to live and what they do in the landscape, understanding how they work in the body (at least partially – it is wonderful that some things are unknowable and a mystery), and appreciating that we share the same AIR. Using plants in an intentional, daily way, has changed my life. And I want that for anyone who will listen to and touch and smell and feel and look carefully at plants.

We decided it would be a beautiful thing to bring in plants that are featured in some of the products, like Salvia, or St. John’s Wort, or Witch Hazel, and display them in the store next to the skin-care products. I could then talk about the active constituents, highlighting the plant’s essence and what it does in the body and on the skin. I love this idea because it gets at the issue I care so much about which is heightening recognition and awareness of plants; especially for those in the city who may not have as much exposure with a wider variety of plants that are considered non-ornamental, or plants that just simply don’t like living in city conditions. (Of which there are many, see my post on urban medicinal plants).

I left with my soap-bottle filled, a new misting toner, and a little round wooden-and-bristle brush for cleaning out my gardener-nails. Happy Follain-er.

See the Follain website, where you can shop for products and see that Follain is an Irish word meaning healthy, wholesome, and sound. Follain promotes good health and well-being by carefully selecting well-crafted herbal blends for the skin and ensuring the packaging and merchandising of these products is in keeping with that care and discernment. You can be sure that your product choices are sound as soon as you enter the store, physically or online. I wish you happy Follain-ing!