Quality over quantity. Not always.

You know how we say ‘quality over quantity’? That’s the rule I live by except when it comes to plant medicine making.

To create beautiful Woman Divine formulas that bring healing and vitality to your skin, I follow strict plant medicine making protocols. BOTH QUALITY AND QUANTITY of the plant material are of the essence. Old devitalized plant material and weak herbal extracts will produce weak and ineffective formulas. It’s a foregone conclusion.

As an example, to make a cup of a calendula medicine which I drink daily, I approximately use a cup full of dry calendula flowers. The high concentration, the vibrance of the plant material, and the way that I prepare the decoction, will result in a cup full of healing for my body. When I formulate for you, I want all my formulas to be as wonderful and as potent as my daily cup of calendula.

Every time I work with plants I give my gratitude to the plants and the land and the people who grow the plants. Plants offer their essence to support ours. It’s pretty amazing and humbling and it reminds me that Nature provides all that we need for our healing and wellbeing and that all is divinely connected and interdependent.

It gives me a sense of purpose and it brings me joy to capture some of that magic in Woman Divine formulas. I hope that you can feel it every time you apply them to your skin.

Wishing you a wonderful week where you feel deeply connected to yourself and the beauty all around you,

Magdalena xo

Anupaya

My husband Tony and I (plus our puppies) just came back from an end of the summer getaway to the beautiful Anupaya.

Right upon our arrival we were welcomed by the mystical and absolutely beautiful view of the Ottawa river. It truly is something!  I’m a sucker for a great water view and the Anupaya setting definitely delivers.

The magic of this location lies in the view of the river constantly changing; from gentle fog over the water, low clouds dancing in the sky and light shifting from gold to clear blue… , it’s truly a perfect meditative and contemplative scenario to find oneself in. 

When you see photos posted by Anupaya and wonder if they use filters to promo their Anupaya cabins, I can assure you they don’t. It’s for real!

Shan and Pete who run the show at Anupaya are wonderful and kind people with their hearts in the right place! You can see and feel their creative spirits woven throughout the Anupaya grounds and cabins. Committed to creating a soft getaway spot for others to land in, they certainly pay great attention to detail and quality. 

In our rustic cabin, we were thrilled to find the luxurious organic king size Obasan bed covered with pure white sheets that smelled like fresh air, a warm duvet  and two types of pillows to choose from for our comfort. Perfect white towels, pure woollen blankets and a woollen shawl in my favourite colour just in case you feel like you need extra warmth. 

The little kitchen in our cabin had many little things that made our experience more special; like the lovely pour-over glass coffeemaker and a gooseneck kettle to do it right:)

The cabin is decorated in warm cozy tones and touches that make you feel right at home. A generous front porch overlooks the river and the beach, and I only wished that summer was still here so we could’ve experienced the warm sand underneath our feet and relax on the stylish beach loungers to catch the rays. 

There is lots more to the property and the experience but that’s for you to discover personally. We certainly will go back in the summer for more of the Anupaya rustic luxury!

Thank you Shan and Pete! It was truly wonderful meeting you and Anupaya! Until next time,

Magdalena & Tony

Goldenrod.

Very common and plentiful in our environment yet new to @womandivineskincare apothecary.
I’m very excited to welcome Goldenrod into my circle of plant friends 🧡

Goldenrod grows all around me and I love how it sprinkles its beautiful golden colour over the fields and forest. Finally this year I feel ready to explore the healing powers of this beautiful plant and to work towards including it in my formulations.

Goldenrod is warming and drying and has a special affinity for the urinary system. However it is also wonderful as inflammation modulator when applied topically. It helps with muscular and arthritic joint pain, infections, swelling, wounds, painful bruises and bumps and fungal infections.
It’s anti microbial, astringent, antioxidant and has a tonic action on the skin strengthening its protective physical barrier.

Goldenrod is often used in formulations treating chronic conditions like eczema, psoriasis or acne… And it’s high saponin content may be beneficial in skin cleansing formulas.

I’m wilting my Goldenrod harvest as we speak and I’ll be starting a Goldenrod infused oil in a bit:) Feeling very excited🧡

Solidago, the Goldenrod’s Latin name means “To Make Whole”
I love that🧡

Magdalena xo

When the outside world is throwing crazy at you.

When the outside world is throwing crazy at you, put your feet strong on the ground and take a deep breath!

Sometimes, I look at the current beauty models and I feel, oh boy! What a sad state of affairs!
Confusion is the game and it is all around us. But we need not to succumb to it.

The fact is that you were born a perfect being and nothing and no one can take this away from you unless you’re willing to surrender your greatness.

Being an expression of life (which you are) is in itself sacred and beautiful. There’s no need to augment anything.

‘Perfect’ features (whatever the trend is at the moment), don’t ensure happiness. I have met plenty of women who by societal standards are very attractive yet believe themselves to be ugly.
I have also met many who are thought of as ‘average looking’, who own their beauty like a boss and feel fantastic about themselves.

Connect to what’s real and true!

Finding ways to ground and re-connect with self and nature is fundamental to thriving in a confused world.
For me it is plants! I love working with plants not only because I do what I do but also because they keep me grounded, connected to life and they bring real beauty into my life experience.

Designating time and energy to take care of yourself helps you to be present with your body, strengthens confidence in your own choices, and ups your self-worth.

Choosing local food which comes directly from the earth is not only healthy but also ensures that you stay connected to your environment and your food growing community.

Choosing skin and body care products like Woman Divine allows you to bring healing plants into your everyday life in an effortless and beautiful way.

Meditate, contemplate and/or journal regularly on what are your values and what has real meaning for you, so you never forget it and can live without confusion!

And talk to your friends!!! Many women feel disturbed by what’s going on. Share your insecurities, have a laugh (there is lots to lough about) and give each other a big hug!

And most of all remember who you really are!

With love,
Magdalena

Suppressing skin problems is not a solution!

Suppressing skin problems is not a solution! Suppression drives problems deeper into the tissues.

When your skin is experiencing a challenge, in a way it is communicating to you that something in your present way of being needs attention and adjustment.

Maybe it is something as simple as your skincare choices needing reassessment. But more often your skin is letting you know that your emotional and/or physical health are in need of attention and thoughtful support.

So what happens when rather than providing attention and thoughtful support, your skin is forced to shut up through the application of suppressive drugs or suppressive topicals?

Well, first and foremost the opportunity for actual healing and resolving the underlying problems is missed and swept under the carpet.

And since the problem was actually not resolved but suppressed, where did it go now? It didn’t just go puff, and disappear for good.

Since we didn’t allow it to express and release through the skin, it has been now redirected deeper into the tissues. And it will now seek to express through different organs that pick up what the skin is not allowed to do.

The moral of the story is to listen to your skin. It is your ally not your enemy!

Magdalena xo

Calendula - my plant ally

When we study herbs, we’ll often choose one herb to work very closely with and study for the given year. We call it our plant ally.

We consciously commit to spending time with our plant ally. We sit with it, taste it, make various forms of medicine with it, grow it if possible, observe it in its habitat, meditate on it…, and keep detailed notes. I even put mine under my pillow when I go to sleep. Hoping for some extra info coming through while I sleep:)

This year long process allows us to develop a deep relationship with our chosen plant and if we are truly present with our plant ally, the knowledge we gather will go far beyond our intellect.

This year, I have chosen Calendula officinalis 🌼 as my plant ally.
I love this happy sunshine filled flower so so much! It is the very first plant I explored in skin care creation. And over the years, it has proven its healing magic over and over again; nourishing, soothing, calming, repairing and protecting our clients skin.
Calendula is a very powerful skin healing plant yet it is gentle enough for a baby skin too.

Besides using Woman Divine formulas which contain calendula, I personally love using calendula infusion in warm facial compressing and in my bath. It is amazing at moving stagnant lymph and who doesn’t want help with that!

I drink copious amounts of calendula decoction daily and I’m now growing it in my garden. I’m looking forward to the summer salads graced with my edible plant ally and to visits from bees and butterflies who love it very much.

There are many more months ahead that I will be spending with my plant ally. But I already feel like this golden flower is revealing itself to me in ways I never knew before…

At the end of the day, life is all about relationships! How much of ourselves, our attention, time and energy are we willing to invest in listening, sitting with and getting to know another being will determine how harmoniously we will flow through life with them. Plants, people, animals, it’s all the same! There are profound gifts to be found within all life and that maybe the most important lesson that I’m learning from my plant ally.

Magdalena xo

Vote for Woman Divine!

Maybe you already have heard that Woman Divine has been nominated for Faces Magazine 2024 Ottawa Awards - Best Natural Wellness Company! 

Thank you very much to the kind soul who has nominated us for this award and to everyone who has already voted. Also, thank you much for placing us within the Health & Wellness industry because at heart we feel that that's where we belong. 
As a small unassuming business that was built by word of mouth, we feel truly honoured.

We are grateful for initiatives like this one by Faces Magazine which provides a platform to celebrate Ottawa's most appreciated professionals and businesses. From personal experience we know that running a small business in the best of times is a hustle but the last three years have been exceptionally difficult. So a little bit of cheer feels extra good.
Please check out other nominees in various categories. You may find your fave people and business there. We are certain that your votes will be deeply appreciated ❤️
.
Saying all of that, if you like us:) and would like to vote, here is how to do it.
You can vote daily until March 7th/2024

1. Go to Faces Magazine
2. Scroll down to categories and choose Health & Wellness
3. Select Natural Wellness Companies and scroll down to find us
4. Vote for Woman Divine🙏

Thank you for your support and for celebrating local businesses and professionals. We are very proud to be part of this amazing community❤️

Magdalena and Julie xo
 

I sit in stillness.

Every day I consciously sit in stillness. Silence emerges when tension, conflict and struggle fall away. I find myself listening to the sound of silence. 

A daily grounding practice for 2024 anyone?

find wd Meditation Drops here

This is an invitation to introduce quiet moments into your busy life.
Thoughts are things. And mindfully selected affirmations repeated with conviction are powerful tools for creating a life you desire.

The ritual of anointing the third eye area helps to balance the third eye chakra, helps to focus and prepares for a meditation practice. @womandivineskincare Meditation Drops can also be applied simply as a reminder to pause and take a conscious breath.

I blended organic essential oils of sandalwood, myrrh and frankincense in a base of jojoba in WD Meditation Drops. Sacred oils for a sacred practice.

Many blessings for 2024!

The cold weather is here, what does that mean for your skin?

When the weather gets cold everything constricts in a protective response. Exposure to low temperatures stimulates cold receptors of the skin and puts the sympathetic nervous system into action. Sympathetic stimulation causes vascular constriction in your skin, arms and legs and all energy goes towards delivering blood where oxygen is most needed during this fight or flight response. Skin becomes of secondary importance when you are exposed to very cold temperatures. Thus always bundle up and keep your skin and body warm.

Many people experience skin dryness, dehydration and sensitivity during cold months. And as if cold weather was not enough, our body needs to constantly adjust between the exposure to the drying indoor heating and the outdoor cold temperatures often accompanied by equally cold winds.

As a result of this temperature roller-coster and cold constricted tissues, your skin produces less sebum, becomes tighter, dryer and has difficulty to retain moisture. It also has difficulty absorbing what you apply to it.
Even though your body as a whole adjusts to cold temperatures and with time can cope better, cold temperatures continue to present your skin with challenges throughout the season.

Applying heavier, more protective and deeply moisturizing products is definitely the way to go during the Canadian fall/winter. But when skin is tight and dry and has a hard time holding on to moisture it is important to know how to practice your skin care in the most effective way.

So what can you do to help the skin healing botanical formulas absorb as intended and have the greatest impact on the health of your skin during the cold season?

1.
Keeping the skin barrier healthy and intact is a no brainer. If your skin’s  protective layer is compromised how can your skin thrive? Oil cleansing offers a perfect support for healthy skin barrier. Do not use any harsh products which strip the skin and disturb its precious microflora: No harsh drying foaming cleansers, no sharp grainy exfoliants, no acid peals, no resurfacing treatments… . I know there are different opinions out there and this is mine based on the holistic approach to life and skin care.

2.
Warm purified water compressing, to increase blood flow, relax, soften, hydrate and open pores for better absorption of serums, oils and balms.

3.
Adding skin hydrating, softening and soothing herbal infusions to your facial compressing like: marshmallow, burdock, calendula and lavender.

4.
Adding heavier more protective face products to your skin care practice such as face balms.

5.
When needed adding a very gentle exfoliation to assist with dead skin cell shedding.

6.
Adding a weekly skin softening, soothing facial mask (WD facial mask coming soon)

7.
Dry skin brushing your body to stimulate lymph flow and sebaceous gland function. This way your body will produce more of its natural moisturizer - sebum. Use a natural bristle brush only. Choose soft bristles if you have sensitive skin.

8.
Taking relaxing warm baths in purified water enriched with herbal infusions and/or essential oils. Marshmallow, calendula, oats, lavender... made into a strong infusion and added to bath water are great. When your body feels warm and relaxed and skin pores are open you will benefit greatly from the healing properties of botanicals which you choose. You can add your favourite essential oils to the mix, first blending them into a bit of a lipid oil like almond, olive or camellia … and then dropping them into the bath water.

9.
Face and body massage (now is the time to visit a massage therapist who works with warm oils, long relaxing and warming strokes.
It is wonderful to know how to take care of ourselves but it is very important from time to time to simply lie down and receive care from an attentive therapist.

10.
And last but not least, skin health also starts from within! So strive to feed your body the best you can. Pay attention to your stress levels and mental health. Sometimes we get so busy, so wound up that we don’t even notice a downward spiral. Make time to meditate and stretch and breath and most of all know that you are worthy and the world needs you to shine the brightest you can.

Love and Light,

Magdalena xo

Sowing seeds.

It is this time of the year again! A couple of weeks ago I received an email from the wonderful Anne who grows healing plants for our WD formulas. Every year around this time, Anne wants to know what to plant and how much to plant for WD for the year. It takes a lot of planning on her part to deliver what WD needs. And it’s not that easy to plan because weather changes and every growing season is a little different. For example some years calendula grows in abundance and other years it is too dry and flowers are scarce. So it is a bit of a guessing game.

Anne in her element

It also is a guessing game for WD. How much product will we need to provide for our clients this year, determines how much plant material we need to purchase. Will we expand in the coming year or will we slow down is the question. We can try to project but with today’s economic situation, it gets very tricky.

So every season, I say a prayer and ask for only that which will be needed. 

I never want to order too much, because dry plants do diminish both in life force and their effectiveness as time passes. I also don’t want to waste any. And if I order too little, there is no going back. Whatever is planted is planted and there is no more even if we run out.

Working directly with the grower certainly has a lot of nuances. We could have opted for buying plant material from big suppliers. It’s much easier for sure! We could order whenever we want, and if we want more, there is always more. It is also a lot cheaper. Like three times plus cheaper. So why not do it the easy way?

THE QUALITY OF PLANT MATERIAL 

When you see dehydrated plant material from plants grown by Anne and those purchased from a large scale supplier, no explanation is really needed.

plants grown by Anne

Anne’s plants are full of vibrant colour and aroma and are packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients. Intense colours and scents, are the testament to their vitality. 

Most of the plants from big suppliers look pale and tired as if life was completely drained from them. And it actually did! 

When I purchase plants from Anne, I am 100% sure that I am provided with this year’s harvest. Anne tends to the soil, nourishes it and prepares it for each growing season. She is devoted to the science of organic and biodynamic growing and continuously expands her knowledge.

With large suppliers, I actually would never know. Corporate organic farming, often happens in old mechanistic ways. Nothing to do with the connection to the earth, caring and wellbeing. There is a demand, therefore it is profitable, therefore it exists. 

During summer months, I can drop by Anne’s farm and I can visit with the plants as they are growing. This in itself is an incredible gift to a skin care maker. Witness what becomes my formulas while still in the ground is a wonderful mind trip:) 

Did you know that WD receives fresh plant material from the farm the same day it was harvested? We rush most of it into the dehydrator to preserve its healing qualities using a very low heat process. When dehydration is complete, some plants are infused in oil and some are carefully stored for later use. Plants which need to be infused fresh, like St John’s Wort, are immediately placed in jars and covered with oil. 

Plants infused in oils are called herbal extracts and they are the foundation for WD skin care formulas.

herbal extracts in the making

INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY AND LOCAL ECONOMY

I consciously want to support small producers like Anne and I am forever grateful for the support she provides to me and WD! It is an exchange not only of $ and product but a conscious exchange of energy in a pursuit of creating a more beautiful world for all of us.

I know Anne the human, and I know that she is a kind, caring person who loves feeling connected to the land and the plants. She excels at providing an incredible service to the local community by offering healing herbs, food from her gardens and the best maple syrup I have ever tasted. I want more of what Anne does in our lives! And my products are certainly better thanks to her efforts.

Supporting local has never been more important than today. I believe that in the coming years we will need to rely more and more on local growers, farmers and makers. Hopefully we will learn and understand that small organic growers are at the base of our wellbeing. Those who produce organic food and herbs in tune with nature are essential to our health. 

As a small grassroots beauty company, it is WD’s goal to support our local community through providing the healthiest, most effective and accessible skin care products directly to our clients.

We also feel that products created with local plants are best suited for the local skin care. 

Over the years we have been asked to sell our products in the US and in Europe. Even though it would assure an expansion and more sales, I refused. You may call me not business savvy but I have a very strong conviction in hyper-local service and although very important, $ is not a driving force for WD.

We have been also asked to wholesale WD products, and I refused that too:) Our price point is such that it has a modest markup so we can make a living:) and at the same time it makes our products accessible to everyday women.

If we would expand to the wholesale market then our price would have to double (or more) in order to make it feasible for us and for everyone else who would be providing our products. We would either have to drastically raise prices or downgrade to low-quality, cheap, raw ingredients. We will do neither:)

How can we ever make a shift to a healthier life for all, if high quality organic skin care and food is accessible only to high income earners? Not a chance! So this is how we choose to contribute to our local community.

Then in return you purchase WD skin care products and not only feed your skin with amazing quality ‘skin food’ but you also support a small business like mine and indirectly Anne’s as well.  And in this simple way together we create a beautiful circle of exchange of wellbeing, beauty, healing energy, care and yes money. I trust this is the way forward and this is how together we sow the seeds for a new purposeful and expanded way of life.

Love & Light,

Magdalena xo