Welcome to Balsam Hollow
Welcome to Balsam Hollow. My name is Summer. I am the owner and founder of Balsam Hollow Botanicals and Forest Sanctuary. I’m a one-woman show right now, starting small while chasing big dreams. I am so glad you’re here.
What is Balsam Hollow? It is the name of the land on which I live, whispered to me by the balsam fir that dominate the landscape. This land is ancestral Ojibwe homeland, located in Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. One can almost pinpoint the date when ownership was formalized by white settlers. The date on the abstract is 1889. Not so long ago, really.
Most of the 14-acre property is forested, with a good chunk of that inhabited by tamarack-black spruce bogs. The property abstract indicates that the land was passed from logging company to mining company and back again several times over the years. While the land never was mined it was almost certainly logged. The presence of so much bog on this parcel probably prevented very much intensive logging as the species most desired by the paper companies (aspen) doesn’t grow in the bog. However, the logging that was done had its impact on the understory. There are reparations to be made.
My intention for this land is to first and foremost maintain the forest as much as possible. I will work to improve the understory by reintroducing native plants like lady slipper. Of the land that is already cleared, I will convert much of the yard to herb gardens that will serve as a source of material for herbal skin care and remedies. It is a work in progress.
Balsam Hollow Forest Sanctuary is my way to acknowledge the land and to give back to it as much as I can by serving as a steward and forest gardener.
Balsam Hollow Botanicals is a line of simple, thoughtful, bioregional skin care products inspired by the plants that make their home in Balsam Hollow.
Balsam Hollow is a philosophy as well as a place.
I would love to share my philosophy and vision with you. First, let’s start with a bit of background so you can understand how I came to develop the philosophies that form the basis of Balsam Hollow.
A Bit About Me
I currently work as an environmental scientist, a field I have worked in for the last 15 years. My background is in chemical fate and transport, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Don’t run away! It is not as complicated (or boring) as it sounds. In a nutshell, I study how chemicals move through the environment in air, water, soil, and living things. I study the build-up of those chemicals in animals and plants. And I study what happens to those living things when they are exposed to those chemicals.
“Chemicals” is vague, so let me clarify further. I study humanmade chemicals (as opposed to naturally occurring chemicals) and I am especially interested in the kind that don’t breakdown in the environment. In other words, chemicals that hang around long after their intended use. Chemicals that leave their mark on literally every imaginable place on earth.
That is not an exaggeration. The chemicals I study have been found everywhere from the top of Mt. Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
For the last 5 years or so I have served as a science advisor to a wonderful non-profit organization called Made Safe. It is an amazing organization that evaluates product ingredients for human and ecological impact. Made Safe only certifies products that meet its very high standards for product safety. I have been truly honored to work with Made Safe and so proud of everything we have accomplished. (You can learn more about Made Safe here).
Prior to becoming a scientist, I studied esthetics at the Aveda Institute and worked as a licensed esthetician for several years. While I no longer work as an esthetician for a living, I have never stopped using the knowledge I gained in that field.
In addition to my full-time job as a scientist and my part-time work on Balsam Hollow, I have been studying herbalism casually for many years and intensively since 2020. In 2021, I finished the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine 1,000-hour immersion course, followed by the Herbal Academy Herbal Business program. I am currently enrolled in the Vitalist Herbalist program at the School of Evolutionary Herbalism.
I have been a gardener my whole life, and I come from a very long line of gardeners. Gardening is imprinted on my soul. It just made sense to gain a better understanding of how all the wonderful plants I have been working with for so long can be used to support wellness, as well as heal the planet. To be able to use that knowledge in a tangible way is very fulfilling. To be able to share that knowledge with you is an honor.
Phew! That felt like a lot. What I hope is clear to you after reading all that is this: I am passionate about environmental and human well-being. I have spent my life learning about the impacts our product choices have on our bodies and on the earth. I have in-depth, scientific understanding of the chemicals commonly found in numerous consumer products. And I have used that knowledge to create a line of simple plant-based products to support the health and beauty of your body’s largest organ – your skin.
Product Philosophy
Having spent so many years thinking about the products we use every day, it should come as no surprise that I have developed my own philosophy of the perfect product. It is this philosophy that guides all my choices during product formulation.
I like to think about products, especially skin care, the way I think about clean eating. For example, pick up a packaged food and look at the label. (OK, so maybe the first indication that you are not looking at a clean food is that is in in a package at all.) Does it have a huge list of ingredients? Do you know what all those ingredients are? Are they recognizable as naturally occurring?
I look at my skin care that way. Unlike food, skin care will always come in a package. Like food, it is important to read labels. If you look at the label and immediately feel overwhelmed and start thinking, “Only a chemist would know what this means!” then you might want to reconsider your purchase.
For many years, I have had my own rules that I use when choosing skin care. Those rules are the guiding principles at the root of Balsam Hollow Botanicals. All Balsam Hollow Botanicals products are formulated following these rules:
Ingredients are recognizable as natural. My promise to you is that I will never use synthetic or petrochemical-based ingredients. While there are some synthetic ingredients that do not have safety concerns, processing those ingredients is chemical and energy intensive. Many ingredients have little (if any) toxicity data available, so it is impossible to know if they really are safe.
For those reasons, I will always choose natural ingredients with a history of safe use.
Ingredients are minimally processed. There are many naturally derived synthetic ingredients on the market, or natural ingredients that have gone through intensive processing. That processing is chemical and energy intensive. Heavy processing can also alter the innate character of the plant being used.
I will always choose ingredients that have gone through minimal processing.
Like food, skin care products with only a few ingredients are preferable to those with a huge ingredient list. Why? Fewer ingredients minimize the likelihood of an adverse reaction while making it easier to pinpoint the culprit if a reaction does occur. Using fewer ingredients conserves energy and resources in production and shipping. In addition, using fewer ingredients mean I will avoid using the “kitchen sink” method of formulating in which you just throw every interesting or trendy herb into the mix.
Balsam Hollow Botanicals products have clear intent, are gentle on your skin, and safe to use.
Ingredients that are safe to ingest. Your skin is your body’s largest organ. It is permeable, meaning that what you put on your skin can enter your body to some extent. Why would you want to put something on the outside of your body that isn’t safe to put inside it? In general, if it is safe to eat it is probably safe to put on your skin.
I choose ingredients that are safe for consumption.
(Disclaimer – please don’t eat any of the products from Balsam Hollow Botanicals. These products are not intended for human consumption).
Ingredients that are readily biodegradable. Remember the bit about chemicals that don’t breakdown leaving a long and nasty legacy after use? I don’t want to contribute to that legacy, and I am sure you don’t either. Don’t let your product choices leave a lasting, poisonous legacy in our water, soil, air, or fellow inhabitants.
I will always choose ingredients that are easily broken down and assimilated by nature.
Ingredients that are organically grown or wildcrafted. Of all the humanmade chemicals in wide use, pesticides are some of the most well-understood in terms of ecological and human impacts.
I will never use pesticides on anything I grow myself, nor will I purchase ingredients for use in Balsam Hollow Botanicals that are not organically grown. Period.
Packaging that is sustainable, reusable, and minimizes plastic. While packaging is not an ingredient per se, it is an integral part of the product and deserves as much attention and care in selection as the ingredients themselves. I will always do my best to choose packaging that is reusable, recyclable, uses with minimal plastic, and is free of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). I really encourage you to clean and reuse your bottles and jars once you have used all the product!
I will use the packaging with the lowest impact possible.
I hope I have given you a better sense of my intentions for Balsam Hollow. The very first Balsam Hollow Botanicals product will be launching soon. Stay tuned! I am so honored to share the beauty of this land with you.
All my best,
Summer