Recipe for Radiance
When a dermatologist looking at a mystifying rash gave me the surprising diagnosis of Rosacea, suggesting lifelong antibiotics and topical creams, and every article I read advised the avoidance of sun, wind, heat, cold, exercise, stress, spicy foods, cheeses, sweets and any other type of pleasure, I knew that just wasn’t going to work for me.
Dozens of research hours later, I learned that my (voluntary) breakneck scheduling, lack of sleep and marginal diet had probably caused the issue. Everything indicating medical treatment would be tricky, and not guaranteed.
The phrase “In nature, wherever you find poison, nearby will be the cure,” kept running through my mind, quoted by my world-traveling friend, Sharon, who’d witnessed an herbalist heal a jellyfish sting with herbs found in woods off the shores of Provence. Believing this, I knew there had to be simpler answers.
Walking into Fig & Honey’s throwback-style apothecary in Boise, it appeared I’d discovered something different. I’d arranged for an all-natural facial from owner Courtney Feider, who has an ongoing curiosity about how food and beverages affect the body internally and externally. She’s known as the “medicine woman” among her friends and family and has long made skin-healing recipes from food and essential oils.
Feider and her husband recently moved to an extremely upcycled urban farm, complete with chickens fed on spent beer grain that, as she puts it, “smells like freshly baked bread.” Influencing that shift was the observance of excessive waste: flowers and food from events and other discards. She wondered if there was a way to use those by-products.
While at a winemaker friend’s wedding in Italy, she noticed vast amounts of grape seeds and skins, known as pomace, being thrown away. Back home, she collected some pungently sweet, vinegary-scented pomace from a local Idaho winery, combined it with grape-seed oil and activated the ingredients with the sun’s heat.
The formula proved intensely healing for most skin types and became the base of many Fig & Honey products. Feider is searching for more pomace, preferably from Idaho wineries. Feider knows of no local model for what Fig & Honey is currently doing, using food-based topical products.
“It’s upcycled, and super, super natural,” she smiles.
Feider has a no-nonsense approach to her products and recommendations. It’s simple: “Like cures like,” she says, referring to the homeopathic law of similars. When hearing of my epidermis complications, she went right to work.
“I have so much for you,” said the educated nurturer. “A lot of this is straight-up food. None of it’s going to irritate your skin. That’s the good Capricorn in me,” she assured.
I sniffed the offered cobalt blue spray bottle. It smelled a little like licorice.
“That’s a gentle wash, made with broccoli seed and basil essential oils. Follow up with almond butter scrub that’s got a little witch hazel, tea tree oil and honey. Then add this oatmeal, yogurt and green apple mask. It’s calming, a good astringent but not harsh. Then we’ll use balancing tonic made with chamomile and rose absolute. Your face will sing,” she promised.
While the mask worked its magic, Feider addressed interior health.
“You got totally overloaded,” she said. “In a calm, nurturing environment, you’ll heal. Stick with safe places, safe people and use good ingredients. Eat green apples, a miracle food that’s good for your liver. Also, stay away from inflammatory stimulants. You need chamomile, dandelion, or peppermint tea, or just water, anything gentle.”
She encouraged me to sip Tulsi (holy basil) tea daily, which can be made by soaking fresh leaves, powder or dried leaves in hot water. I researched more and found basil’s medicinal use to be broad, as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, stress reliever, toxin remover, toner, blood purifier and well-known skin rejuvenator.
Feider dug a little deeper.
“Doing anything in excess is a heat issue. If you’re a hot personality, going really fast, working all the time, you’ll need exercise and grounding. Those you’re with, whatever you’re eating and drinking and whatever you’re putting on your skin, needs to be calm and cool.”
Feider promised natural, eventual results for my skin from that day’s facial. The next morning, my face was surprisingly smooth and blemish-free. After two months of spending a fortune on medicinal product, it was simple food that had the final say.
Who knew?
Mother Nature … and Courtney Feider
