For most skincare recipes – I’m always going to recommend going to the supermarket. You can get oils like almond, grape seed, rice bran, avocado… and it’s often far less expensive than the very same oil sold as a “skincare” ingredient.

That said, the world of oils and butters is vast – and there are so many exciting, and special types that you just can’t get at the supermarket. For those, here are some great shops:

• 3CayG
• Aliapure
• Baraka Shea Butter
• Berry Beautiful
  • specialize in cranberry and raspberry seed oil
• Better Shea Co
  • the popular trio of butters: shea, cacao & mango. I used their butters for all of the recipes in my book.
• Eden Botanicals
  • when I worked in the natural beauty industry, this supplier was used by some of the bigger brands.
• The Jojoba Company
  • my favorite jojoba oil (this is the one that I used for my recipe book)
• Rainforest Chica
  • all from Brazil (ethical sourcing). They have an interesting range of butters. I like their clays too (purples, greens, rose..)
• Lotus Garden Botanicals
  • A beautiful range of interesting oils. I love their Papaya Seed Oil!
• The GLO HAUS

Herbal skincare is made with real, whole food ingredients: salt, sugar, grains, herbs, fruit, vegetables…. which means that so much of what you need for making skincare – is in your pantry, and in your local supermarket.

The shops on this list specialize in healthy ingredients and some of the more “specialty” foods: freeze-dried ingredients, superfood powders, specialty grains, etc.

• Beanilla
  • vanilla pods and extracts
• Jungle Powders
  • freeze-dried fruits and powders
• Judee’s Gluten Free
  • milk powders, juice powders, starches and grains…
• North Bay Trading
  • freeze-dried ingredients
• Nuts.com
  • superfood powders, baking ingredients
• Terrasoul Superfoods
  • cacao butter, cacao powder, superfood powders
• The Rotten Fruit Box
  • freeze-dried fruit and veg. Sourced from small farmers.
• Wildly Organic

Here you’ll find a vast range of ingredients – that cover the whole spectrum of skincare – from “conventional” to “all-natural”

I enjoy playing with synthetic mica powders and clean-fragrances to add a fun, sensorial “skincare” experience to my herbal recipes. But, mostly, I look to these shops for ingredients like citric acid, lye, and other skincare-specific ingredients.

* You can also find carrier oils, butters, and botanical ingredietns of all kinds.

• Best Natures
• Blossom Bulk Ingredients
• Bramble Berry
• Bulk Apothecary
• Candle Science
  • clean fragrances, soap making supplies
• Cocojojo skin care
• Garden of Wisdom
• Fizz Fairy
  • bath bomb molds
• Formulator Sample Shop
• From Nature With Love
• Health & Beauty Natural Oils
• Lotion Crafter
• Majestic Mountain Sage
• Makesy
• Organic Creations
• Soaper’s Choice
• Wellington Fragrance

The most important consideration when buying essential oils and resins is sourcing (ethical, and environmental).

These shops below have a focus on quality sourcing. You’ll also find aromatic waters (hydrosol) and floral waxes in this section.

• Apothecary’s Garden
  • ethically sourced resins
• Aura Cacia
  • Part of the Frontier Herbs Co-op.
• Higher Mind Incense
  • ethically sourced resin, and aromatic medicine school
• Essential Natural Oils
  • a big range of oils, floral waters, flavorings. I see more of a focus on quality of oil (very pure) but not as much on e
• Liberty Natural Products
• Organic Infusions
• Plant Therapy
  • this company consulted with renowned expert, Robert Tisserand when sourcing the oils.

My happy place 🙂 This is where I spend much of my time online, exploring all the different herbs and products.

• Anima Mundi
  • herbal powders
• Banyan Botanicals
  • Ayuverdic herbs and powders
• BC Kelp
  • seaweeds
• Black Locust Gardens
• Diaspora
  • the most vibrant dried rose petals I’ve ever seen. All ingredients ethically sourced from India.
• Frontier Co-Op
• Herb Pharm
  • tinctures and glycerites
• HERBCo
• Moonflowers
  • premium saffron
• Maui Medicinal
  • kava extract and powder – my favorite topical herb for body aches
• Mermaid Botanicals
  • all seaweeds
• Mountain Rose Herbs
  • sustainable sourcing
• Nature’s Garden
  • also do candle and soaping supplies.
• Oregon’s Wild Harvest
• Oshala Farm
• Pacific Botanicals
• Rebecca’s Herbal Apothecary
  • Where I sourced blue lotus for my sleep-time bath salts
• Red Moon Herbs
• Rosemary’s Garden
  • Was started by Rosemary Gladstar in 1972
• San Francisco Herb Co.
• Starwest Botanicals
• Zack Woods Herb Farm

I don’t like to buy ingredients from Amazon – I’ve heard about “fake” business there and I don’t like to risk it. But, I do buy many of my kitchen tools on Amazon.

Here are the items that I’ve purchased and recommend.

• Fine Mesh Strainer
  • the best for straining infusions – it separates out even the smallest particles
• Box Dehydrator
  • I use this for drying herbs – but my favorite thing is that you can remove all the trays and place jars of herbal oils in the dehydrator to infuse at a low temperature.
• Sous-Vide
  • Heats water to a precise temperature. I use it for making herbal oil infusions, to gently heat honey for infusions, and for tempering butter.
• Magical Butter Machine
  • Botanical extractor, used a lot for making cannabis-based products. I don’t love using it for oil infusions, but I think it’s great for making tinctures!
• Wide- mouth funnel
  • this is an essential item for me! Otherwise I make a mess filling jars!
• Plastic canning jar lids
  • I like to use these when infusing vinegar and even alcohol – so you don’t get the rust and corrosion that can happen with metal lids.
• 4 oz amber pump bottle
  • I use these bottles for packaging herbal oils. For personal use, I find that 4 oz is a good size.
• 5 oz aluminum tins
  • I like these for packaging balms which I use all over for deeper moisture and care. Smaller sizes, like 1oz or 2 oz tins are great for making a balm that you can carry with you.