Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit more about the ingredients we put into NIH products, it's something we are passionate about!
Did you know a majority of the ingredients we use to make our handmade products are local to Hamilton and surrounding rural areas? Let's get into it!
Animal-based Ingredients
We use both tallow and lard in our signature soap line, and tallow in our lip balms and creams. A traditional practice for luxurious, sustainable skin and hair care. We source from a local butcher shoppe that has a pasture raised farm in Cambridge, Ontario (about an hour west and north of Hamilton). Animals are raised outdoors, in fresh air, and grass.
Golden beeswax is used in NIH creams, lip balms, and soap. Beeswax is a strengthening agent that both nourishes and has a fantastic aroma. We source from a bee keeper on the Hamilton mountain who has 3 sets of hives in the rural Hamilton area and Haldimand County. He also uses a solar melt system, which is an awesome eco-bonus!
Plant & Herbal-based Ingredients
Did you know we grow a majority of our herbal ingredients in the NIH organic garden? Our herbal blends are seasonal and largely based on our harvest. As well, we support Canadian companies who grow and import some vibrant organic herbs to top up our shortages.
Here's a list of the NIH perennials:
Raspberry leaf
Nettle
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Rose
Rosehips
Mints/ spearmint
Catnip
Dandelion
Red clover
Yarrow
Feverfew
Goldenrod
Oregano
Hops
Echinacea
Evergreen
Lemon balm
Did you know that 6 of the herbs above showed up in our garden without me intentionally planting them? Local seeds flew and made a home, I have since then tended to them and now they flourish alongside my intentional plants! Just one more reason why I will always recommend leaving your weeds until you really understand what they are, and what they are going to do. Native species keep your garden resilient to pests and disease.
Can you guess which 6 plants from the dot jots above showed up on their own? Here's a clue, I didn't count evergreen in the tally, although I didn't plant those mighty trees, they were planted intentionally at one point nearly 100 years ago!
Some plants that come and go depending on space in the garden and what plants are dominating:
Calendula
Chamomile
Mullein
Chicory
Evening primrose
Sunflower
Bergamot/bee balm
Marigold
Some plants we forage both locally and up North:
Chaga
Rosehips
Horsetail
Mullein
Echinacea
Ginkgo
Burdock
Ingredients sourced locally and Canadian
Sunflower oil is from a farm in Waterford, Ontario.
100% Canadian oat flakes.
Coffee beans from a local roaster, who sources direct-trade.
We grow aloe plants and source the jumbo aloe from supermarkets to scrape fresh.
100% Canadian apple cider vinegar.
Ingredients we import / source from Canadian companies who import fair-trade
Shea butter
Cacao butter
Jojoba oil
Castor oil
Argan oil
Specialty herbs that are not grown in Canada such as- ashwagandha, ginger, vitex, camellia sinensis (black and green teas), yerba mate.
Himalayan sea salt.
Bentonite and rhassoul clay.
Organic essential oils and paraben-free natural fragrance oils.
So thank you!
We appreciate your interest in supporting the immediate community, the local economy, and a small biz!
I just want you to know that when you buy Nature IS Health products you are getting a little bit more in touch with Southern Ontario and the Canadian wilderness.
Your positive footprint is rippling on the environment and sustainability of the Earth.
Love NIH: Sam, Brian, Wrex, Willow, Indie and Oatsz.
