Changes, changes

Doing research and planning out a custom order involving allergies and texture preferences has introduced me into the lotion making world! At first I had only planned on slightly adjusting a basic salve to use candelilla wax instead of beeswax, and to try to make it feel less greasy by lightening the texture through whipping it like butter. Luckily the person I was working with graciously gifted me with more funds so I did even more research to find ingredients that could be simply put together for a non-greasy/non-heavy feeling and didn’t contain their allergens. We ended up agreeing to try a custom herb blend with plants that don’t contain linalool, and to make a calming lotion so that it wouldn’t contain the beeswax of the salves.

Due to Ebony and I leaving to see if China would be the right move for us, I was able to let the calendula and plantain to steep in oil to later use.

Something I’ve learned is that the slower/cold method of herbal infusion has felt a lot more potent than the quicker/hot method. I’ve had to rely mostly on the hot infusion method for the preparations featured on MUCK due to the fast paced life of living off grid in a new place with my partner. So a lot of the ‘herb business’ was on the back burner (literally) until I had to do a market or push fundraising for whatever emergency we were going through.

Life has been so turbulent since moving here and I hope that leaving will help me re-prioritize my life around things that matter to me and that I enjoy. Namely, learning herbs and making art (which is what MUCK has been centered around!). And with how I’m not planning to live on the land in New Mexico full time, I’m needing to rearrange a lot of the tools/supplies I use in order to fit in a sort of nomadic lifestyle. It’s been a dream of mine to travel and visit people and groups that I can learn from in order to better understand myself and my relationship to the Earth as well as other people.

Part of what will be rearranged will also be this very website! I’m so thankful to what this website has brought to me and Ebony as we’ve learned so much about managing sites, what it takes to run a shop, how to appeal to people, and how to stay true to ourselves while doing it. I’m still looking at my options for what platform I can use to sell products, make posts, and receive donations. Right now Ko-Fi looks to be my best bet. So if anyone’s reading this, I’ll see y’all out there eventually!

In order to reduce the amount of ‘things’ that I need to carry around here and there, I’ll be marking down the price some herb blends by about 60%. These won’t be offered anymore after the stock runs out so please take a chance to try them out if you never have!

Also, the hot processed salves and tinctures will be discounted to make room for the cold processed products. They’re not lesser quality, but I want to focus the most on what I feel best aligns with.