Two Sisters Herbs & Sundries

Material Goods/Craft/Flea/Art

Douglas County, OR 97486

Two Sisters Herbs & Sundries

Material Goods/Craft/Flea/Art

About

Two Sister's Herbs origin story -

Back in high school (circa 1990s), Sierra had her first ever reaction to any substance in the form of a new type of makeup used for her senior high school portraits. Within 24- 36 hours after the pictures were taken, every bit of skin that had come into contact with this makeup was red, itchy, and scaly. It looked like a chemical burn.

Having never experienced anything like this before, Sierra didn't think much of it until she realized her skin kept responding the same way for months afterwards even though she wasn't using that same product. Somehow, that first reaction suddenly made her face and neck sensitive to other substances. She graduated high school and left for college still not knowing what was happening.

Almost five years of reactions to anything but water made getting dressed up for college events challenging. What college aged female doesn't like to look her best? She tried product after product after product - all supposedly "good" for sensitive skin. Nothing worked, not even the insanely expensive "natural" products. Price didn't matter at all.

Five years of out of pocket dermatology visits and some pretty harsh antibiotics were the only thing (besides no makeup and just plain water) that eventually allowed her skin to stop getting red, angry, and infected over and over, but by then, her skin was pockmarked and red if she looked in the mirror wrong.

Sierra, a bonafide biologist who loved chemistry as well (and who liked to solve problems), started cleaning up her diet and beauty regimen, removing everything she could that might be causing such a reaction. She improvised her own sensitivity / allergen restricted diet and food intake since the allergist didn't believe her (and wouldn't apply those cosmetic products to test for a reaction). It took months to get to a happy skin situation.

About that same time in the 1990s, Sierra's younger sister was studying to become a certified aromatherapist and licensed massage therapist, all while working for a natural product company who did everything from distill essential oils, teach classes, and make wonderful high quality body care products. Sierra's sister started sending her care packages filled with these products to try. FINALLY! Most could be used without more angry skin, but some still caused problems. Sierra finally had an Aha! moment when she realized her reactions were mostly to liquid products. Solid bar soap was usually fine, but liquid makeup like concealer, moisturizers, and other products all caused the same response- red angry skin only where those products had direct contact with her skin. It wasn't just one brand, it was ALL liquid cosmetics and body care products. Sierra's best guess? A synthetic stabilizing agent or a shelf life enhancing ingredient (think preservatives).

Removing those products completely ended the reaction. More than a decade after the original skin rash, Sierra and her sister really started talking about how to make soaps, lotions, whathaveyou, with the end goal of Sierra being able to make and use high quality products that wouldn't anger her body. Her now exceptionally well-versed sister guided her on this path since she had continued creating her own product recipes the entire time.

It started with simple cold- process, unscented bar soap. Years passed, and by 2012 Two Sisters Herbs and Sundries was born. Two actual sisters founded their own company using recipes honed after countless tweaks, adjustments, and ingredient research / replace adventures. They knew that Sierra was not alone on her sensitive skin journey because countless people started asking for soap for gifts, birthdays, and for every other day that ends in "Y".

Here we are, five years later, and people are coming back again and again for new products. They have different issues, different sensitivities, and different journeys. But, they all have finally found body care products that they love and can use with no issues.

Showering is fun again.

We are proud 5 year members of the Handcrafted Soap & Cosmetics Guild. (https://www.soapguild.org/)

Programs and Partners

Production Practices

Use Only Organic Materials Permaculture Design Holistic Management Perennial Crops

Location

Umpqua, OR

Manager

Sierra Lewis
Owner, Muse, Product Maker/Tester

Contact

Around the web