Pure, chemical-free skincare
Cosmetic Herbalist was born out of a long-held passion for natural skincare, a never-ending quest to understand botanicals, their phytochemistry and how they can improve our lives.
My Story....
I'm a Medical Herbalist BSc and have been for almost twenty years now, I gained my degree at Lincoln University and have practised in wellness centres, in the community and provided online consultations. After university I worked for several years on a community nursing team providing emergency out of hours nursing care across Nottinghamshire.
Much of my work involves writing now, either for my own blogs such as for this site or my other nomadicherbalist.com. I have written countless articles and ghostwritten and edited several books.
I love to travel and as part of my degree I observed and trained in Ayurvedic therapies at a clinic in Kerala, I have since qualified in Ayurvedic massage therapy of the body and face.
My passion for herbal medicine began way back in my late teens, I had terrible acne which destroyed my confidence for many years. Several trips to the doctors in despair did not help at all, I was given creams, gels, dab on lotions- none of which helped, all of which irritated and inflamed my skin. The worst treatment of the lot was a presciption for six months of antibiotics, which in my desperation, I took. Knowing what I know now about gut health, I find this shocking and can only imagine the harm done to my entire system as my microbiome would have been destroyed. It didn't work either.
My mum was going on holiday and asked me what I would like as a present, I told her I wanted to make my own, natural skincare and would like a book with recipes. On her return, I was delighted to recieve my first aromatherapy book 'Aromatherapy For Women' and this really set me on my lifelong path of using essential oils and making my own skincare. Eventually, I combined my family background in horticulture and farming with a desire to seek alternative health solutions and decided to train as a medical herbalist.