A True Story!

“What on earth are you doing?!” I asked my husband in a horrified tone.

“I, um, er…..I’m trying out the new face peel formula using fruit acids.“ he answered.

“You know Pat, one day your eyes are going to fall out your head ” I mumbled walking down the passage.

Growing up in the harsh African sun, and guilty for not using sunblock, my husband’s face was checkered with an interesting array of red blotches. A daily reminder of just how much his skin had been damaged by the sun. He had carefully formulated a fruit peel and calculated that the mixture should be left on for ten minutes, but he had not predicted quite how painful it would be! By the time ten minutes had passed, he was yelping and wheezing and dashing for the water. After patting his face dry he looked up and all I did was smile, shake my head and say: “I can’t believe you would put yourself through that just to end up with a face that looks like a beetroot!”

The odd thing is, the formulation seemed to attack only the bad cells on his skin and after a few days these peeled off leaving a bright, sparkling new face. Pat and I still use the same formula even after all these years, although we did tone it down quite a lot! Unbeknown to us at the time, Pat’s sensitive skin was to become the ‘testing ground’ and would ultimately be healed through the incredible power of plants. This then combined with our passion for formulating led to his decision to become a cosmetics formulator.

However, before continuing, we need to wind back many years. I suppose Pat’s first foray into the world of magical ingredients offered to us by flowers, plants and trees, was when he got lost as a toddler in a huge display of Namaqualand daisies. When his parents eventually found him, he was sitting on the ground chewing on a daisy and his mother looked down proudly and said “Well, well, it would appear we have another one in the family.” Pat’s grandfather was very interested in the healing properties of herbs and plants, and Pat’s mother carried on the tradition treating injured soldiers in London during the Second World War. She went on to become a herbalist of note. Going through the same war, but in Berlin, my mother was also on her path to becoming an expert on the medicinal properties of plants. How interesting that two people from two countries in conflict, ended up with exactly the same interests focusing on the wellbeing of others.

A few years ago, a very good friend asked if there was something we could do about the mud fever (Pastern Dermatitis) from which his horses were suffering. This affects the area directly behind the hoof, leaving it cracked and sore. The cost of medicine from the vet was something he could not afford and it also did not seem to work. We made up a very simple mixture of 4 drops of tea tree essential oil, and 4 drops of lavender essential oil into a tablespoon of aqueous cream, which was not an ideal carrier for the essential oils, but it was all we had on hand. (Proper carriers would come later!)

We rubbed the mix on morning and night for three days and after 5 days the pasterns were completely clear. Our friend still keeps a supply of these wonderful ingredients!

After this people started coming to us with various ailments, including Pat’s brother who suffers badly from eczema. We found that helping people successfully, and listening to their reports of amazing results, brought immense satisfaction. We were spurred on to learn as much as we could about the healing abilities of the nature around us, and eventually this interest and passion became the driving force behind the creation of Lahini Naturals and the arrival of the first product in our line…Care.