The rose petals fall, as rose petals are wont to do, upon finding themselves, if but for a moment, suspended in nothing but air. But these particular petals will not reach the ground to rejoin the soil. Resting in the scoop that is held in the hand of Erin Hewgley, both queen and worker bee of the busy, home-based hive that is Erin Body Care, these petals will find themselves in a concoction of health and wholesomeness. Like Hygieia, Greek goddess of health and hygiene, Erin understands that we are sentient sponges in human form, and that what goes onto our bodies goes into our bodies. To ensure that what gets into our bodies is good, she invokes ancient insights into the medicinal benefits of herbs and oils, balms and blooms while informing her formulas with full knowledge of modern “science-y” stuff like antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, humectant and non-comedogenic substances. The results of her loving labors are handcrafted batches of body, hair, and skin care products, all of it pure, all of it natural, all of it food grade, but intended to be savored from the outside in.
Looking back, it seems that Erin was destined to combine science and art in a room full of bottles and jars and digital scales.
“Mom was a biochemist at Vandy working on her dissertation when I was young,” Erin says as she adds jojoba oil to some organic marigold blooms. “I would help her in the lab, but I didn’t get to do anything more interesting than pipetting 10 ml of water into a hundred different test tubes.”