Some are forest people, some are ocean people, or desert people... I'm a prairie person. A soul-deep sense of relaxation washes over me when I'm in a vast expanse of tall grass. As someone with a highly attuned nervous system, it puts my mind at ease to have an unfettered view of my surroundings, and a direct connection to the sky.

GRASSLAND is my way of introducing you to the spaciousness that already exists within you.

M Y  C A L L I N G

Being an esthetician is a profound thing. I use my hands to help, to support, to love in such a literal way. I graduated from esthetics school in 1998, and I decided right away that I wanted to be the best esthetician ever. So I devoted myself to learning and perfecting my craft. Unfortunately, I allowed an outside metric into the equation, which threw the whole thing out of true. I let the beauty industry define "best" for me. This externally defined "best" ended up being not a very authentic "best".

I mean, how can anyone be their best if they're trying to conform to an outside idea of what's best?

Let that sink in. Let it be a lesson to us both.

After many years of constant giving, coming home at the end of the day too exhausted to talk, I finally burned out like a candle. I had been gifted with a brain injury (it truly was a gift), and it made my life of constant perfection-driven striving untenable. I closed my esthetics practice, signed up for a bioregional herbalism school, and spent a year of self-imposed study, learning how to make skin care products.

I spent a very happy, very fulfilling several years making skin care under the name Heart of Gold. A confluence of catastrophic events in 2020 led to the closure of Heart of Gold. At first I was relieved, but eventually I realized that I really missed it. Formulating skin care products is such a spiritual practice for me, and I feel a very magical whistle-while-you-work sort of flow when I'm co-creating with my botanical buddies.

As an esthetician with over 25 years of hands-on experience, I know that part of what makes me a great formulator is my years of experience & discernment. I'm using this superpower to research, test, and curate a gorgeous array of skin care product lines for Grassland, and I know there is something for everyone. I'm thrilled to share them with you. You'll never meet a more skin-fascinated nerd, so please reach out if you want help figuring out your optimal routine.

I'm also offering a quarterly capsule collection of dearly beloved Heart of Gold products- launching on each solstice and equinox, with a mix of perennial favorites and limited edition treasures. My goal is to mark the beginning of each season with a capsule collection of freshly handmade skin care products, available by way of a mini-magazine called Grassland Quarterly, which I hope will help us reorient into the present moment with seasonal recipes, beautiful photography, and inspiring interviews.