Photographs by Shelly Strazis | Styling by Jules Moore and Nicole Myer Skin is our biggest organ…and a porous pathway to all of our other bio-systems. So it makes all kinds of sense that the lotions and potions we slather on it be chemical free.
But for the most part, they aren’t. The beauty industry lags behind the food industry in adopting organic standards.
“People just haven’t been aware of how many toxins are put into these products,” says Shannon.
“There are plenty of products out there that promise clean and natural on their label, but you still can’t recognize the ingredients on the back side of the package.”
Paying attention to the labels she brings home is more than a personal policy for this mother of two—it’s a professional passion. As co-founder and creative director of Madplum Creative, a Bay-area-based marketing agency, Shannon has put a pretty face on top brands such as Kate Spade, Method and Pottery Barn, digging down for their essence and communicating that in a fresh, innovative way.
So when Nourish Organic charged her firm to shape a brand identity for its beauty and personal care line, it got under her skin in a good way. “Nourish Organic is a brand built from my heart,” she says. “You can’t get a cleaner, more pure skin-care product. It’s a line that I feel good about consuming and putting on my children as well.”
Shannon tapped her “love of all things vintage” to design apothecary-cool packaging and promotional pieces that better reflect what modern natural living is all about. “It can be clean and feminine,” she says. “‘Natural’ and ‘organic’ no longer have to look brown and woodsy to be from the earth.”
Organic chic is how Shannon and her husband, Clay, play it at home too, in a 1940s ranch-style house tucked into San Francisco’s East Bay area where reuse and recycle is a style credo. “I am an avid flea market junkie,” says Shannon. “Almost everything we have was used by someone else. I love to find new ways to reclaim housewares and gifts from the past. I feel that everything that has lived a past in the hearts and lives of others carries a more rich and meaningful story.”
A conscious, caring way of living suits this creative family of four, which includes Savannah Bleu (age 8) and Hudson Grey (age 5), who already know firsthand that it just feels better to give than to receive. “Both of my children keep wanting to give away their toys,” she laughs. “I think being a thoughtful consumer—being conscious of what resources we consume—just helps them be more caring individuals.”
1. Peace with a Past
“The headboard is a very old antique cabinet door imported from Provence, France. The wall color was a surprising discovery once we removed the many years of gaudy old wallpaper. The raw, cracked, perfectly discolored texture is amazing! You just couldn’t create it if you tried! We then added a chair rail, crown molding and baseboards to give it a clean, purposeful finishing touch.”
Also, certified-organic Coyuchi textiles and bed linens are as pure as the Nourish line, with carefully sourced, certified-organic fibers that are minimally processed for a naturally luxurious feel.
2. Family Orientation
“As a family we try to be really conscious about what we put in our bodies and what we purchase in general. We think about how much water and energy we use. Everything we shop for and consume comes with an awareness…a thoughtfulness about its impact.”
3. Organically Artful
“This vintage French cloche has a 10-foot-long rattlesnake skin inside. It was collected naturally by a woman who rescues injured snakes. Once the skins are shed she treats and sells them at the Alameda Flea Market. We sculpted it like a rose in the cloche in a sort of art piece. I’m a Texas girl, after all!”
4. The Illuminati
“This is a modern take on a vintage design using Edison bulbs. We purchased it from our dear friend and collector of amazing reclaimed things around the world, Dave Allen, and his shop, Artefact Design & Salvage in Sonoma, California.”
5. Communal Table
“We like its modern profile, with a strip of reclaimed wood down the center in a cross pattern. We worked with our close, local friends, the Farmyard Darlings, to build a matching reclaimed bench for one side. It adds fun and easy seating for more friends and kids.”
Why we love this collection
*It’s clean. Nourish Organic’s line of skin-care and beauty products is the first to wear the USDA Certified Organic label—the products contain no chemicals and are composed of only food- and plant-based materials that are 95 to 100 percent organic.
*It’s real. These luxe balms, lotions and oils are formulated with fresh, natural ingredients. The result? They feel and smell so good going on…in ways synthetics just can’t duplicate. And they work, using natural-only formulas that hark to the ancient art of the apothecary.
*It’s affordable. Most products in the line will only set you back from $10 to $15.
Balm for Baby Bums
• 1/3 cup Nourish Organic’s Raw Shea Butter
• 1/2 cup Extra-virgin coconut oil
• 1 tsp. Grated beeswax
• 1 Tbsp. Chamomile flowers
• 1 Tbsp. Arrowroot powder
• 1 Tbsp. Bentonite clay
• 1 Tbsp. Vitamin E oil
Just follow these 5 steps. Once you get the hang of it, making your own bum cream (that soothes other minor skin irritations, too) is pretty easy.
STEP 1
Infuse the coconut oil with chamomile: In a double boiler over low heat, melt the coconut oil. Add in chamomile flowers and simmer over low to medium heat for at least one hour. Strain the oil using a fine wire strainer or a
coffee filter.
STEP 2
Place organic raw shea butter, infused coconut oil and beeswax in a microwave-safe bowl or over a double boiler. Heat until melted.
STEP 3
Remove the mixture from heat, poor it into a blender and allow it to cool completely.
STEP 4
Once it has cooled, add vitamin E oil and arrowroot powder. Blend until it becomes creamy.
STEP 5
Transfer the cooled mixture into a glass or recycled-plastic container and mix in bentonite clay, an ages-old healing clay. (DO NOT allow metal to mix with the bentonite clay; it will make it less effective.)
