The Herban Lifestyle Story

My Story
Once upon a time (back in the late 1990s/early 2000s), I had a handcrafted herbal bath and body product business in New England. I sold my all-natural lotions, masques, balms and oils at my local farmers market, as well as through my (primitive by today’s standards) online store. I delighted in the process of creating new products, and I took great pleasure in learning about the aromatherapeutic properties of essential oils and the healing properties of herbs. When people came to my house, they always commented on how wonderful it smelled. I did all this while working full time, raising my two daughters and working on my doctorate in psychology. I didn’t have much spare time, but I relished the moments when I was able to work on my herbal business – it provided me with a creative outlet and much needed stress-relief.Then one day, I took a position in NYC, which made my days very long. I soon found that I had little time for my business. So, reluctantly, I let it go.

Over the years, people have inquired about my old herbal business, and I always responded that I hoped to resurrect it some day. I never let go of my herbal habit – I loved the process, and continued to make bath and body products for myself, family and friends.

I reside in the DC area now where I’m learning to balance my urban lifestyle with healthful habits – mind, body and spirit – and I share this knowledge with others through my workshops and writing. Since moving to DC, as part of this balance, I began formal herbalism studies, and it occurred to me that this would be a great time to re-start my herbal bath and body product business. So, after several months of planning and formulating, I would like to introduce you to my new love child – Herban Lifestyle®

My Mission
Herban Lifestyle®, a healthy answer to the urban lifestyle, offers products that are good for you, and make the planet happy, too. It is my mission to create high-quality products that are handcrafted in small batches using natural and organic ingredients, pure-essential oils, earth-friendly packaging, and made with Love and Gratitude!

My Promise

My products contain pure oils, essential oils and herbs, the majority of which are either certified organic, or pesticide-free/chemical-free.Because the substances that you apply to your skin get absorbed by your body, and because I care about your health and wellbeing, I promise that Herban Lifestyle® products will never, ever contain chemicals, preservatives, synthetics, artificial fragrances, artificial colors, GMO’s or any other stuff that’s bad for you. Yuck!

Because I also care about the Earth’s health and wellbeing, I donate a portion of all sales to Sierra Club and Organic Farming Research Foundation. All Herban Lifestyle balms and salves come packaged in recyclable containers. All of our labels are printed with soy ink on 100% recycled paper. I encourage you to recycle or reuse the container once you have used up your product.

Welcome! And please feel free to contact me with questions or comments at info [at] herbanlifestyle [dot] com!

Mary K.

Chief Herban Developer
Herban Lifestyle®

23 thoughts on “The Herban Lifestyle Story”

Suchinta on October 21, 2008 at 9:07 pm said:

Mary:

I LOVE the name of the company and the play on words -Herban – Very cool!!!!

When you come over, please feel free to pick whatever you can use from my herb garden. I am not sure if it is a good time to pick right now – since I am new at growing herbs, but I am thinning my plants out now and cutting and drying leaves etc, so the plants can put energy into the roots over the winter.

Hugs!

Suchinta

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ann on June 19, 2009 at 3:08 pm said:

Hello i was browsing through your website and i was very excited to read you use all natural products. I was wondering if you teach soapmaking. thanks ann

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herbanlifestyle on June 19, 2009 at 3:24 pm said:

Hi Ann. Thank you for stopping by. At this time, I don’t have any workshops on the horizon. If you would like to sign up for my mailing list, any future classes would be listed as they arise (you can do this by sending me an email at info {at} herbanlifestyle {dot} com.

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jamessina on April 12, 2010 at 7:55 pm said:

hi! Great blog- are your products vegan?

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herbanlifestyle on April 12, 2010 at 8:06 pm said:

Thanks! Most of my products are vegan, but some include goat’s milk, honey or beeswax. All of my ingredients, however, are extremely carefully sourced, and most are organic. Also, they all come from environments where the people and animals are treated humanely. Also, unlike many vegan products, my products never contain any potentially harmful fragrances, preservatives or other synthetic and chemical ingredients.

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ReadersHeaven on September 20, 2010 at 10:26 pm said:

Hi, nice to meet you !

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Herbaloo, Earth Apprentice on December 7, 2010 at 7:01 pm said:

Mary, you are keeping yourself busy i see. a bustling bee! i wanted to send some holiday blessings….may the darkness bring you feminine power and may the return of the sun bring you inspiration! and keep up the good work!
-jessyloo

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- herbanlifestyle on December 7, 2010 at 7:40 pm said:
  
  Thank you so much for your kind words, Jessyloo. I wish you all the best, too, as we move toward the Solstice, for another year of the wonderful work you are doing to remind us of our roots.
  
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Jackson Faulkes on February 14, 2011 at 9:37 pm said:

Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.

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- herbanlifestyle on February 27, 2011 at 10:27 am said:
  
  Thank you. My twitter handle is @herbanlifestyle. I took a look at your blog, and it has some very informative articles on minerals and stones.
  
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Mina on May 25, 2011 at 1:28 pm said:

Hi-
Great stories and ideas, beautiful pictures, but you’ve also got the most important element: safe body care products.

Can’t wait for the Orange Ginger Beer Shampoo Bar to come out. I already plugged the ingredients into the Skin Deep database. It’s a”0″ hazard.

Finding low to no hazard body care products is the focus of my blog. I’m so glad I found you!

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- herbanlifestyle on May 25, 2011 at 1:53 pm said:
  
  Thank you so much for your kind words, Mina! The unifying theme of my blog and my business is health and beauty, inside and out. And safe personal care products are a passion of mine — I want to provide my customers with only the best, yummiest, purest products.
  
  And, just to let you know, the Orange Ginger Beer Shampoo Bar is now available in my web store http://www.herbanlifestyle.com/. I had taken some things down while I was doing a couple of shows last weekend, but they are back in the online store. Enjoy!
  
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Sandy Hayashi on May 31, 2011 at 7:46 pm said:

Dear Mary,

We are huge fans of Herban Lifestyle over at Glam Media! We’re one of the top 10 online media companies in the US and would love for you to help pilot our new Health & Wellness Community at Bliss.com, slated to launch in the coming weeks.

If you’re interested, please contact me about joining our community for the launch!

Cheers,

Sandy Hayashi
Community Partners Editor
Glam Media
sandyh@glam.com

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Darlene on July 5, 2011 at 7:14 pm said:

Mary,
Just read your great interview on my Green America newsletter.Great job!
I am going to check out your shop and then hit all the archives here. Happy reading to me!! LOL Kind Regards,Darlene

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- herbanlifestyle on July 5, 2011 at 7:21 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much for your kind words, Darlene! Enjoy browsing through my store. And, yes, happy reading – there are lots of great interviews in that series!
  
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new sports cars on August 27, 2011 at 9:55 pm said:

Thanks i love your article about The Herban Lifestyle Story | herban lifestyle

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email cover letter on September 7, 2011 at 9:09 am said:

I like Your Article about The Herban Lifestyle Story | herban lifestyle Perfect just what I was searching for! .

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Lisabeth Homles on February 2, 2012 at 10:37 am said:

Great post!

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Peg Perego Reviews on February 6, 2012 at 1:27 am said:

I just added this web site to my rss reader, great stuff. Can not get enough!

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blwbirdbarbara on September 2, 2014 at 2:42 pm said:

I stumbled upon the book “The Unsung Season” by Sydney Eddison and in the book she talks about an Herban Lifestyles newsletter by Christine Utterback. I believe it has since been discontinued or perhaps this is the same newsletter. Please let me know as I am curious.

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- herbanlifestyle on September 2, 2014 at 3:47 pm said:
  
  Interesting. They are two different entities. I trademarked “Herban Lifestyle” in 2008 as nobody else had laid claim to the name, and at the time I Googled it to see if it was in use anywhere (which it wasn’t). But I just Googled “Christine Utterback Herban Lifestyles newsletter” and it appears it was from the early 1990s. It doesn’t seem to exist anymore. I would love to see a copy!
  
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  - Jack and Kathy Donohue on October 14, 2014 at 8:17 pm said:
    
    Chris was a friend of ours and belonged to the CT unit of The Herb Society of America. Her newsletter was published starting in the 80’s and continued until her death in 1999 from breast cancer. It dealt with many of the issues you cover and I think she would be pleased with what you are doing. She wrote many articles about the environment, alternative medicine and herbs. She co-authored a book on roses with Tom Christopher for NYBG and wrote articles for the Herbarist. She also wrote for the Herb Companion and the Herb Quarterly
    
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  - herbanlifestyle on October 14, 2014 at 9:15 pm said:
    
    Thank you very much for the information and kind words, Jack and Kathy. I wish I could have met Chris! I will definitely look up her articles.
    
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