The Blender and the Witch: The First Formulation

Dear Rosies,

People sometimes ask how Rosebud began. It started in the kitchen.

My husband was very ill, and we were learning everything we could about what we put in and on our bodies, and how to lower the toxin load. The Environmental Working Group's cosmetics database opened my eyes to the fact that most of the products made for our tenderest skin were full of body offenders, and that skin absorbs up to ten times more than skin anywhere else on the body. What touches it, enters the body, if the molecule size is right.

In the days I was formulating, I went looking for herbal wisdom, for what women had used for generations. We consulted Chinese medicine, South American plant traditions, the white witch wisdom of Northern Europe. I traveled to Peru and Ecuador and sat with medicine women, asking what they used for lubrication, for tone, for post partum, for menopause symptoms, for arousal, for healing. A short list of plants emerged, and I started mixing — creams at first, then a dense balm that holds its shape until it meets body heat and melts into slip.

I also surveyed 3,000 women about their intimate lives. What I found stayed with me: these concerns touched 75% of women over fifty and 30% of women under. Almost no one was serving them with care and beauty, only with pathology and quick fixes.

When I brought my kitchen recipe to a chemist who specializes in clean formulation, he smiled and told me I'd made a cookie recipe, not a formula. Beautiful ingredients, but it wouldn't hold. So we started again, properly: a brief built on real needs, the plants I wouldn't compromise on, round after round of refinement. No synthetic perfume, ever — only the natural aroma of the plants themselves. Then testing with women, with OB-GYNs, with labs.

The first finished product shipped to 200 women who'd raised their hands for samples. We were on the road. We still are — same plants, same reverence, same question we started with: what if this part of you was cared for like it mattered?  We were so happy to be picked up right away by pioneering retailer The Detox Market, which has a super stringent clean beauty buying policy. 

Learn about the plants in Honor, and what they do for the vulva, vagina, and the skin in general.

Because it does.

With love, Christine

“Same plants, same reverence, same question we started with: what if this part of you was cared for like it mattered?”

Shop what’s in this story

Honor — Everyday Vaginal Moisturizer & Intimate Balm for Dryness$90.00Shop → The Ritual Gift Set in Embroidered Bag$200.00Shop → Anoint — Nourishing Body Oil for Scars, Stretch Marks & Skin Resilience$45.00Shop →

Frequently asked

How did Rosebud Woman get started?

Rosebud Woman began in Christine Mason's kitchen while her husband was gravely ill and the family was learning to lower their household toxin load. Studying ingredient databases, she was struck that products for the tenderest skin were often full of body offenders, and that almost no one was serving intimate wellness with real care and beauty. She gathered herbal wisdom from Chinese medicine, South American plant traditions, and Northern European herbalism, then worked with a clean-formulation chemist and OB-GYNs to turn a short plant list into Honor.

Why does Rosebud Woman avoid synthetic fragrance?

Because intimate and mucosal skin is highly permeable, Rosebud Woman has never used synthetic fragrance in its formulations. The only aroma in the products comes from the natural plant oils themselves. This keeps the formulas gentle for the body's most sensitive tissue while honoring the brand's clean-beauty standard.

Does skin absorb what you put on it?

Yes, and intimate skin absorbs especially readily. The vulvar epithelium is more permeable than skin elsewhere on the body due to differences in structure, hydration, occlusion, and friction, so what you apply there is more readily taken up. That permeability is exactly why Rosebud Woman formulates Honor with clean, food-grade plant oils and no synthetic fragrance.

What plants are in Honor balm?

Honor is built on a short, intentional list of botanicals chosen with herbalists, OB-GYNs, and labs to support lubrication, tone, and comfort for vulvar and intimate skin. It is a dense balm that melts to a slip at body heat, drawing on plant oils and butters rather than synthetics. You can read a full breakdown of each oil and what it does for the vulva, vagina, and skin in our companion post on Honor's ingredients.

References

1. EWG Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database— Environmental Working Group
2. The vulvar epithelium differs from the skin: implications for cutaneous testing to address topical vulvar exposures— Farage & Maibach, Contact Dermatitis (2004)

Keep reading

• Why So Many Oils in Honor Every Day Balm? Here's What They Each Do →
• Honor and the Biology of Barrier Function →
• The AI Scorecard for Rosebud Woman Honor Everyday Balm →