Jana Blankenship - Wild Beauty: Wisdom & Recipes for Natural Self-Care

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my superstar team at Ten Speed Press for making this book possible. I am so grateful to my editors, Dervla Kelly and Jenny Wapner, for your openness, support, and feedback. Thanks to my creative director, Emma Campion, and designers, Lisa Ferkel and Isabelle Gioffredi, for bringing this vision to life. Thanks to Jane Chinn in production and Windy Dorresteyn and Lauren Kretzschmar in PR and marketing.

To Mandy Aftel, I am so grateful to you for starting me on this journey, for your friendship and encouragement, and for always being there for me. I am so thankful I stepped into your world of wonder.

To Julianna Blizzard, my photographer and skipper. I am so thankful to have gone on this adventure with you, for your deep respect and love of nature, your creativity and focus in the process, and for the beautiful and wild work you created. You are always an inspiration.

To Chris Lanier, our stylist extraordinaire. Thank you for your hard work and creativity, for getting down and dirty with your ninja skills, always making us laugh and being game for anything. I am so in awe of what you helped us create.

Thanks to Jenny Bowskill and Brad Lail at Lail Design for the beautiful ceramics that we used in the recipe shots.

Thanks to Em Gift for your friendship, support, and for creating the beautiful ceramic shell bowls that we used in the recipe shots.

To my crew at Captain Blankenship (Sara Allexander, Julianna Blizzard, Amy DeAngelis, Karen Holly, Alexandra Dowling Lari, Shannon Mooney, and Magnolia Neel), this ship wouldnt sail without you sisters. Thank you for letting me take the time to step away and work on this book while you kept everything on course. Holy ship, I am lucky to have such an amazing team.

To Lisa Foti-Straus, thank you for being my friend since the beginning of our time in this world, for helping me become who I am, and for supporting me in everything I create in my life.

To Sara Magenheimer, thank you for your deep friendship, your inspiration, and for helping me get this ship sailing from the start. You have always believed in me, supported me, and I am so grateful for our connection.

To Erica Carroll, thank you for being my rainbow for the past twenty-five years and for your support, encouragement, and help always in navigating every part of my life.

To my family (Levi, Mila, Caspian, Ljiljana, Peter, Sasa, Renee, Sofia, Vivienne, Jason, Mira, Andjela, Margaret, Tom, Julika, David, Viola, Xander, Emma, Damon, Laura, and Teddy), I feel your support and love every day.

Thank you to Beth Altshuler, Becca Baker, Rachel Barrett, Erica Beckman, Sara Bright, Amanda Christan Burran, Sarah Cabell, Leandre Camacho, Ajay Chaudhary, Susanrachel Condon, Anna Conlan, Laura Ferrera, Eleanor Friedberger, Chrissy Glenn, Cali Gorewitz, Bronwen Halsey, Patrick Kelly, Katy Kondrat, Maffy Malaver, Eve Mayer, Dana McClure, Cassie McGettigan, Micki Meng, Susannah Morse, Magnolia Neel, Francine Niyonzima, Tara Pelletier, Barrett Purdum, Joanna Radin, Jenn Hoos Rothberg, Romy Silver, Julie Ullman, and Natasha Wheat for your friendship and support. And to all my friends in the green beauty community who have been so welcoming, supportive, and compassionate.

JANA BLANKENSHIP started her nautically inspired beauty company Captain Blankenship in 2009 and it has quickly become a retail leader in the natural beauty world with a full line of hair and body products available in stores nationwide. Blankenship lives in upstate New York with her family.

Afterword

Everything has a beginning, middle, and an end, but the magic lies in the process. I want to return to where I started this book, to childhood. Children live with curiosity, openness, and a profound sense of play. If we can retain our childlike wonder while honoring the elder within, we can move wisely, powerfully, gracefully, intentionally, and playfully in this world. With an eye on the horizon, watching the winds, blue skies, sunrises, sunsets, and the storms brewing, we can stay even keeled and aware. We can be the captain of the ship.

We also need to find our anchor. Let ritual become one of the anchors that colors your days. Think of self-care as you would a meditation practice. Be present and enjoy it. Choose products that make you feel happy and that work for your skin and hair. Make sure to eat well and use herbs as your allies. Know that everything in your being is connected; treat yourself well inside and out. Stay as conscious as possible, and let wild beauty and wild nature guide you in your journey.

It feels powerful to be writing this ending on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Outside, bees hum, birds chirp, flowers turn their faces to the sun; everything is green and at its fullest in the summer heat. After the late sunset, the fireflies will create fireworks in our field. Today, I will hike beside mountain laurel blooms to the waterfall and drink my hearts fill of wild nature. On this day, there is so much light flooding the world. In the world, there is so much darkness, injustice, and inhumanity. We need to be the light, to believe in our power and be the radical change.

In nature, we see so many examples of the cycle of life and its beauty. Think about how children revel in the changes in nature that unfold before their eyes: the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly, the leaves coming back on bare trees after a long winter, or the bursting open of buds in the summer. Like plants, we humans have deep roots. We are all connected to the earth, for which we are stewards, and to one another. That is why we need to be mindful of what we buy, what we put on our skin and our bodies, and the effect of our scents on those around us and on the environment. Always remember, integrity matters and less is truly more. In the profound words of Mary Oliver, Attention is the beginning of devotion.

Resources

Many of these products are also available in natural food stores.

HERBS, CARRIER OILS, BUTTERS & WAXES

Jeans Greens
www.jeansgreens.com

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

Starwest Botanicals
www.starwest-botanicals.com

ESSENTIAL OILS

Aftelier
www.aftelier.com

Eden Botanicals
www.edenbotanicals.com

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

GLASSWARE, EYEDROPPERS & LABWARE

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

SKS Bottle & Packaging
www.sks-bottle.com

Specialty Bottle
www.specialtybottle.com

SKIN & BODY CARE

Babo Botanicals
www.babobotanicals.com

Earth tu Face
www.earthtuface.com

Fig & Yarrow
www.figandyarrow.co

Meow Meow Tweet
www.meowmeowtweet.com

Odacit
www.odacite.com

Osea Malibu
www.oseamalibu.com

Osmia Organics
www.osmiaorganics.com

S.W. Basics
www.swbasicsofbk.com

Ursa Major
www.ursamajorvt.com

HAIR CARE

Innersense Beauty
www.innersensebeauty.com

Josh Rosebrook
www.joshrosebrook.com

La Tierra Sagrada
www.latierrasagradahair.com

PERFUME

Aftelier
www.aftelier.com

Florescent
www.florescent.co

Ojai Wild
www.ojaiwild.com

Perfumera Curandera
www.perfumeracurandera.com

Sigil Scent
www.sigilscent.com

Smoke Perfume
www.smokeperfume.com

MAKEUP

Au Naturale
www.aunaturalecosmetics.com

Axiology
www.axiologybeauty.com

Gressa
www.gressaskin.com

ILIA Beauty
www.iliabeauty.com

RMS Beauty
www.rmsbeauty.com