Sami Jo Jensen is leading a crusade against the beauty industry. As the founder and chief beauty maker at Florapothecarie, she's fighting back against the ocean of chemical laden beauty products and her weapons of choice are essential oils, plant essences and a whole lot of research. Her journey started in 2009 when she realized her favorite body wash was created using many ingredients she couldn’t pronounce. She did some research into some of these ingredients and found that they caused an army of ailments ranging from rashes to cancer and birth defects. She threw out her toxic beauty products and took matters into her own hands to create simple, all-natural products
Part of Sami’s success stems from the authenticity of her products. Most of her product inspiration comes from suggestions and feedback from customers or a solution to a problem she faces herself. For instance, she found (as many natural skin-care lovers do) lackluster options in the natural deodorant market. “I had tried dozens of natural deodorants without success. I’m not particularly active so I don’t get very sweaty or stinky. I figured if I couldn’t find something that works for me, I knew there were much more active people out there who had to be even more frustrated with the state of natural deodorants.” She spent over a year creating, testing and perfecting her own cream deodorant, which is now her #1 best-seller.
Florapothecarie Deodorant Cream
As a graduate of UCONN, a school often recognized as a leading research institute, Sami is well equipped to verify the quality and effectiveness of her products. Florapothecarie is a sustainable business which uses all fair-trade, organic ingredients from the United States. Sami spends hours researching the fair-trade and organic certification of her suppliers, as well as their prices, reviews and shipping costs to make sure she’s using quality products at a fair price. On top of that, she studied herbalism through the Herbal Academy of New England to learn about how natural ingredients react together and on our skin.
Sami’s strategy when it comes to skincare is: simplify. She uses just three products a day; she cleanses with Rose + Willow Facial Cleanser; tones with Rose + Tea Facial Toner, and moisturizes with Rejuvenating Facial Serum. Most people’s bathroom cabinets are full of products each intended to “fix” a very specific problem, which then creates another problem, for which you buy another product and it turns into a vicious cycle. Florapothecarie’s product lines are streamlined and simple; reinforcing the notion that some skin ailments can be remedied without products. Sami explains, “ We don’t need under-eye cream; we just need to get more sleep. We don’t need a day cream and a night cream; we need to drink more water. We don’t need heavy cover-up; we need to stop using toxic makeup that clogs our pores and makes everything worse!”
Florapothecarie Rose + Tea Facial Toner
In the Fall of 2017 we collaborated with Sami on some cinder + salt inspired products to complement our line. She mixed up her incredible Charcoal Face Masks and some custom Sea Salt Hairspray with Aloe that you can find in our stores and online. ( And learn about our obsession with activated charcoal here!)
Cinder + Salt Charcoal Mask
Cinder + Salt Sea Salt Hair Spray
We love working with Sami because she shares in our passion for sustainability and small businesses with heart. Florapothecarie is creating the perfect opposition to the mainstream beauty market: all natural products that really work. “Really, my journey is about returning to nature. Hundreds of years ago foaming agents, manmade fragrances, colorants, and preservatives didn’t exist. Everything that was used for skincare came right from the earth.Creating and using natural beauty products is not about covering up our flaws. It’s about trusting that our body already knows what it’s doing, and using a few ingredients from nature to help it along.”
This small business is helping revolutionize the beauty market while reminding us that, “you’re a natural beauty; keep your beauty natural.”
