Black Sheep Botanicals – the Evolution

by Mar 12, 2021

 

 

Science Vials

Right from the first whiff, I was hooked !

I was at my very first aromatherapy class in the year 2000, exploring the art of blending essential oils…and became enthralled by their profoundly healing qualities.

I could hardly wait to adopt and share these underestimated treasurers.

I purchased a selection of oils to sell in my massage office.  I created instructions and suggestions on how to enjoy them…and I happily presented them to my clients.

But they didn’t share my enthusiasm!

Busy people just don’t have time to figure out how to use essential oils.  But I so wanted my circle of friends and clients to benefit with them.

There was nothing else for it. I’d have to create ready-made products.

So, I ventured into the world of manufacturing complete products, and discovered that ….  I loved it!  The perfect venue for my interests: herbal medicine, personal spaces, wholistic lifestyle, creative design, relationships.

A lab of my own design.

Surrounded by hundreds of bottles and containers of oils, herbs, flowers, roots, seaweed, moss and more —  stirring, grinding, mixing my own concoctions — I continued to study with the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy.

I experimented.  I found what worked, sometimes by what didn’t work. Designing the packaging and presentation to convey the intention of my creations was thrilling.

Laboratory with hundreds of bottles

A line of products is born.

Over a period of 10 years, I formulated and produced a variety of original hand-crafted, hand-packaged organic products with essential oils as the primary active ingredients.

* Custom salves for pain relief and assorted turmoil, both physical and emotional.

* Skin care, scented gifts, soaps, creams, bath salts, massage lotions…

This collection, simply called Scents & Botanicals, moved consistently through my shop and office, A Touch of Wellness in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Then…it all stopped.

tall building

In January of 2011, I moved to Florida and started over. Building a new therapy practice as well as a new facility for products was too much all at once.  So, as I moved to Tampa Bay, I chose to focus on my touch therapy/massage and wellness coaching practice.  My precious essential oils I kept for my personal use and closest friends.

 

Until a need arose four years later!

A friend’s athletic past suddenly struck him with a fierce, immobilizing back spasm!  Waaay too severe to respond to massage.  What to do?  How could I give him the pain relief I knew was possible?

I whipped out my oils and some other ingredients and made him a gel.

Not only did it ease his back pain, it profoundly soothed his arthritic wrists and hands; a legacy of his pole-vaulting days.

Man happily wiggle his fingers

I watched him happily wiggle his fingers as the gel took care of the pain, swelling and ‘crispiness’ of the joints.  It turned out to be so effective he insisted that I HAD to share it !

And so…Black Sheep Botanicals was born. Black Sheep Botanical logo

Brenda has been a full-time massage and bodywork practitioner since 1979, focusing on wholistic mind-body healing. She owns A Touch of Wellness in Largo, Florida

 

If this is valuable please Share and Follow:

Book a Massage/Bodywork Session

You might also like…

A Chilly Reason to Love Rice

An occupational therapist friend of mine shared this tip with me a few years ago, and it's been my go-to ever since to prevent swelling and bruising. What do you do when you accidentally bash into something, drop a heavy item on your foot or overwork your hands or...

How to Prepare to Get the Most from Your Massage

How do you get ready to receive a professional massage? Maybe you’ve had massage by different practitioners with mixed results.  Maybe you’ve never had massage but you’re interested and unsure how to go about it.  Maybe someone gave you a gift certificate to...

0 Comments