“Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

Opalescent moonstone resembles a tiny planet or a luminous mini-moon. Moonlight and moonglow wrap the world in radiant light that glows like a pearl.

All things related to the moon have long been among my favorites, which is not surprising, I suppose, since the first thing I notice about my surroundings is the light. But here’s a surprising truth about the moon: Unlike the sun or stars, it does not radiate its own light. Rather, it reflects the sunlight that hits its surface, just like when light strikes a mirror.

In fact, although the moon magically looks pearly white to us, it is actually quite dull, with a massive gray surface similar to that of a dusty rock. Still, the light of the moon appears preternaturally beautiful. It seems to wrap itself around us in a warm, radiant glow that creates luminescence in anything it touches, especially the skin. In mythology and folklore, the moon is imbued with magical powers. But in truth, it’s a fraud.

No matter what it looks like or how you explain it, moonlight is an illusion, which in some ways serves to make it even more compelling, mysterious, and alluring. We strive to appear bathed in a moonlit glow—radiant, luminous, and lit from within. Here are a few secret ways to evoke the light of the moon on your face and body, with the help of makeup and skin care.

MS Beauty EyeLights

Cream Eyeshadow No one knows how to get a glow going like clean beauty guru Rose-Marie Swift, founder of RMS Beauty. Swift has worked with Sports Illustrated cover models and top celebrities, and RMS Beauty EyeLights Cream Eyeshadow has a slavishly devoted following—for good reason. A little dab on the lids lights up the entire face and creates a subtle look when you’ve got somewhere really special to go. It’s creamy but it stays put, and it includes organic green tea extract and ethically sourced mica. EyeLights won’t crease or smudge, and it reflects light so beautifully that your eyes radiate moonbeams! rmsbeauty.com

Soft Services Buffing Bar Miniature Collection

Any bookworm will be drawn to this collection of four mini buffing body bars, microcrystal exfoliants shaped like Lilliputian bars of soap. The bars are packaged in what looks like a book, and they’re perfect as a gift, great for travel, or as a special treat for yourself. With mineral-derived microcrystals tucked into bars that feature a moisturizing base, the collection features four flavors—Original (fragrance-free), Green Banana, Debaser (by D.S. & Durga), and Affocato L’Orange (espresso, vanilla, and coconut cream). Designed to smooth and buff rough spots and leave the skin looking luminous. softservices.com

California Naturals Glow Oil Body Wash

Owen Wilson is an investor in California Naturals, and also an adviser: His official title is “chief shampoo officer.” The Glow Oil Body Wash is a light gel that softly foams in the shower, leaving a fine mist of moisture lingering on the skin to keep it glowing. Loaded with lubricious botanical oils, including evening primrose, guava seed, sunflower seed, and aloe, it’s designed to soften and feed the skin. thecalifornianaturals.com

Live Tinted Born to Shine

A makeup and skin-care hybrid, Born to Shine is a skin hydrator, with hyaluronic acid, squalane, and sunflower seed oil that all nourish and hydrate, with an added bonus: a dollop of micro-shimmers that create a halo of light that looks like a lit-from-within glow. It’s perfect on its own, or blended into moisturizer or foundation, in three shades that radiate warmth for all skin tones. livetinted.com

Feature Image:
Photography: OLIVIA EDVALSON @oliviarosephoto 
Model and wings: Tatiana Pimentel @teepimentel 
Corset: Nightingale Corsetry @nightingalecorsetry

Texture is everything when it comes to the beauty industry. Formulators invest a lot of time and know-how into spinning skincare from gossamer-light to rich, silky, and occlusive. As the seasons change and the weather warms, our desires naturally move toward sheerer and lighter products. We embrace the translucent and luminous, and are drawn to formulations that are airy and more ethereal. Serums shape-shift into weightlessness. We seek fragrances that are light and subtle, such as delicate florals or elusive powdery notes.

New trends in beauty this season are all about reinventing gossamer weights. Soft, silky, “cashmere” foams with mild ingredients are popular in cleansers. They are so light, they’re barely a whisper, and they are especially suitable for irritated, sensitive skin. Water balms and lightweight, oil-based moisturizers and makeup, especially lip gloss, deliver dewy-looking skin while feeling weightless. “Jellies” are a fun way to hydrate and are turning up in blendable makeup. Silky milks are trending in milk baths and sunscreens designed to soothe all skin types. Vegan versions feature oat, coconut, and soy milk, some mixed with retinols.

Going gossamer is the ultimate goal at this time of year. Like a dragonfly’s wing, iridescent, incandescent, extremely light and delicate, in a way that seems to be not of this world.

Method Dream Foam

Anyone who relies on Method’s dish detergents and home-cleaning line will want to check out its new personal care products. The skin-softening Dream Foam foaming body wash comes in four fragrances that are light as air. And the Body + Hair Mist line is perfect for adding a touch of fragrance (the jasmine-sandalwood is a personal favorite), cooling down the skin and reconstituting curls over the spring-summer season.

Acrely Farms Recovery Balm

Botanical Blend Acrely Farms is a woman-owned organic farm tucked into the mountains of Utah. Hand-harvested, its products are grown and crafted to deliver plant- and CBD-based remedies for whatever ails you: inflammation, sleepless nights, localized pain, stress, rashy skin. The Recovery Balm, with a base of coconut oil and beeswax, is a light and lovely cooling blend formulated to provide relief from pain.

RMS Beauty Cashmere Matte Eyelights

Always on the cusp of everything new, RMS Beauty, founded by celebrity makeup artist Rosemarie Swift, launched Cashmere Matte Eyelights—light, long-wearing, and delicate whispers of color for the eyelids. In eight shades, inspired by 1950s pastels, the nourishing new formula feels as soft as breath. Infused with green tea and natural peptides to nourish the sensitive skin on the eyelids, they are packaged in a 100-percent-recycled aluminum artist’s tube with a needle-nose tip for perfect application.

Leaf People Nettle & Cucumber Soothing Toner

This lightweight toner removes makeup, soap, dirt, and other impurities while gently nourishing the skin with aloe vera, rose, hyaluronic acid, green tea, and soothing cucumber. Keep it in the fridge and it will cool down overheated or inflamed skin. Put it in a spray bottle for a spritz on the go. Wild-harvested, certified organic, and formulated in the Rocky Mountains by an herbalist.

Renowned mycologist Paul Stamets is, simply put, mad about mushrooms. From tame little grocery-store white buttons to flamboyant foraged chanterelles, there isn’t much that Stamets doesn’t know about the funky fungi. A recently discovered species of magic mushroom has even been named after him: Psilocybe stametsii, which was unearthed in a cloud forest in Ecuador.

Stamets is the author of Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World and the forthcoming Psilocybin Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats, and he has delivered brilliant talks for TED and TEDMed. He’s devoted his life to studying and sharing the magic of mushrooms, yet he’s barely gotten started. That’s because there is just so much to learn—culinarily, medicinally, nutritionally, spiritually, and beyond.

Mushrooms are especially good at building things up and breaking them down. The root structure of mushrooms— mycelium—is so strong that it’s being used to build bricks that might eventually be used to construct buildings. At the same time, through a process called mycoremediation, mycelium breaks down pollutants, pesticides, heavy metals, even radiation in the soil. Mushrooms are scavengers—their entire raison d’être is to digest and decompose other plants—which makes them a rich source of vitamins, enzymes, and active compounds that are being studied to cure disease. When it comes to human and environmental health, the curative possibilities, Stamets says, are potentially limitless.

Mushrooms are creepy, delicious, poisonous, and profound—but mostly miraculous. We talked to Stamets to find out more.

What first attracted you to mushrooms?
My parents warned me about wild mushrooms—that they were dangerous. Yet our family loved button mushrooms. I was always curious about my parents’ fears and was attracted to the study of this “forbidden fruit.”

Why do you think mushrooms have become so popular nowadays? And why should our readers be excited about mushrooms now?
There is a confluence of positive realizations about mushrooms: so many colorful species, so many delicious edibles. Taking family field trips into the woods has centered families in shared positive experiences. Mushrooms also help the immune system and are packed with antioxidants. They can support nerve health. In addition, the research surrounding psilocybin mushrooms has opened up so many new eyes to this exciting yet understudied field of science.

Moreover, the art world has rediscovered mushrooms, as well as the film community. [Stamets was featured in the documentary film Fantastic Fungi, by award-winning cinematographer, director and producer Louie Schwartzberg; along with best-selling author Michael Pollan, Dr. Andrew Weil, Timothy Leary, and others.]

You recently recommended a beautiful fungal lunar calendar designed by artist Grace Ng Dung, as well as some of Heather Brooks’s mushroom collages. [Her art site, Small Woodland Things, is also featured in this issue.] Can you talk about other mushroom-related art you’re enjoying right now?
I’m a big fan of Alex and Allyson Grey, Autumn Skye, Mark Hansen, and many others. I love artists who accurately portray mushrooms. It tells me these artists are not only skilled in painting but know the subject matter personally. They have my great respect.

What are some of the most exciting developments in mycology?
Mushroom mycelium is beneath every footstep you take. It influences and can support the immune systems of diverse animals and plants. Mushroom mycelium is the immune system of the mushroom life cycle, and we can tap into these immunologically active networks to potentially help our health. There is preliminary cutting-edge research showing that mushroom mycelium of turkey tail and agarikon, grown on grain, can support innate immunity. While this study is pending publication, the results are very exciting.

What might surprise our readers the most to learn about mushrooms?That about 90 percent of them have not yet been identified!

How do strangers react when you tell them what you do?
They used to avoid me and the subject. Now they’re excited to speak to me, from children to grandparents. Everywhere I go, people approach me with smiles, curiosity, respect—and often a wink!

What are some of the best mushrooms to include in your diet and why?
Foodwise: shiitake, maitake, oysters, enoki, porcini, truffles, and pine mushrooms. For support of immunity and cognitive health: turkey tail, agarikon, reishi, chaga, and lion’s mane.

Do you forage for mushrooms?
Yes! Every day as I walk. My favorites are pine mushrooms, hedgehogs, chanterelles, winter chanterelles, porcini, oysters, lobsters, and candy caps for culinary purposes; turkey tails and ganodermas for health supporting purposes; cyans and liberty caps for spiritual purposes.

But it is the wide range of colors, forms, and mysterious species that excite me. I don’t have to pick them to enjoy them.

One of the most common revelations for those new to this subject—often students of mycologists—is that they had no idea how diverse and beautiful mushrooms are, and that they’re everywhere. I often hear them question themselves: “How could I not have noticed them before?”

What advice can you share for other foragers?
Join a mycological society. See namyco.org for a national and international registry.

How do you stay enchanted?
Mushrooms and mycologists build bridges across cultures, religions, politics, and generations. They bring us together, and the excitement, the eureka moment, is a shared experience in wonder, delight, science, and comradery. Mushrooms, particularly psilocybin mushrooms, make us nicer people—and smarter too!

When you say that “mushrooms and mycologists build bridges across cultures, religions, politics and generations,” what do you mean? Throughout the world, people have discovered mushrooms, and through trial and error, they have come to know which mushrooms are safe to consume and which ones are not. Moreover, many polypore mushrooms like turkey tails have been used for enhancing health by making teas or used, as in the case of some Native Americans, as a chewing gum for dental health.

When people from one region of the world travel to new lands, they bring that cultural myco-knowledge with them. A good example is the popularity of the pine mushroom, a.k.a. matsutake. In the 1970s, few Americans of European descent consumed these mushrooms.

I joined a mycological society around 1975, and our Japanese members brought these mushrooms to our attention. They relished in the fact we had not awakened to them in the Pacific Northwest, as competition for finding them in Japan was fierce, and indeed a “national sport.” The French and Italian cultures helped bring our attention to boletus (ceps, porcini). From Mesoamerica to Russia to South Africa, many cultures have deep love for mushrooms. These are just a few examples of mushrooms bridging cultures across continents. As humans migrate, mycological knowledge is shared and spread.

To learn more about Stamets’s work, visit fungi.com, hostdefense.com, instagram.com/paulstamets, facebook.com/paulstamets, youtube.com/paulstamets, and listen to his TED and TEDMed talks on YouTube.

Note: The statements made throughout this article have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The Renaissance was a boon time for beauty. There was a widespread belief throughout Europe that beautiful people were also the healthiest. Obviously, good health was a valuable attribute for a woman seeking a husband, because it implied that she would be successful at bearing healthy children.

But striving for the appearance of health through beauty was just as popular as trying to attain actual health because, after all, who could really tell the difference? And that’s where the use of artifice and illusion, along with lotions and potions, came in handy to help attain the idealized beauty standard (la bella donna) of the time: golden hair, peaches-and-cream skin, long wavy tresses.

In 15th century France, for example, upper-class women concocted a paste to improve their skin, a kind of face mask made of asparagus root, wild anise, and the bulbs of white lilies steeped in the milk of asses and red goats, aged in warm horse manure and filtered through felt. Also in France, not surprisingly, they washed their faces in old wine.

Catherine de’ Medici applied a mixture of crushed peach blossoms and almond oil, while rosemary boiled in white wine was also a popular skin tonic among Italian women of the time. Women in 17th century England tackled aging head-on by wearing a base of egg white or lead and vinegar—an early version of foundation, perhaps—to tighten the skin, though there was no way that could be comfortable. But makeup is where things really got creative. A trendy look in the late 1500s was known as “transparent skin,” which is not at all similar to the “glass skin” look of today. A bluish tinge to the skin was seen as a sign of an innocent heart and considered beautiful. To attain it, women would use a pencil to accentuate their veins—no kidding! When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, she was said to have had an inch and a half of makeup on her face. In her day, washing and bathing was frowned upon and both men and women (including the Queen) used makeup to conceal smallpox scars.

Fortunately, makeup textures and palettes have come a long way. Here are a few that take inspiration from the beauties of the Renaissance.

A-England Archangels Collection

Not much is known about the use of nail polish in the Renaissance, but the A-England Archangels collection—as with the company’s past collections inspired by Burne-Jones, Edgar Allen Poe, and Virginia Woolf—certainly captures the feeling of the period. Ethereal shades with names like Gabriel (an iridescent whitish silver), Ariel (a meltingly soft lavender gray), and Raphael (a radiant green gold) evoke an otherworldly beauty. a-england.co.uk/collections

Anastasia Beverly Hills Mini Modern Renaissance Eyeshadow Palette

Everything in one little palette, the Mini Modern Renaissance Eyeshadow Palette offers a lovely selection of matte shades and one shimmer shade, enough to suit your mood, change up your look, and channel your inner Renaissance woman. The Deluxe Mini Brow Wiz will enhance the brows, and a rich and luscious Lip Velvet pencil enhances but never dries the lips. anastasiabeverlyhills.com

Flower Knows Midsummer Fairy Tales Embossed Five-Color Makeup Palette

It looks like a precious jewel box inspired by a Renaissance artist with a penchant for fairies. With four matte and one pearlescent shade, the silky, waterproof eyeshadow applies smoothly and evenly for festive nights or elegant days. And the delicate compact is nothing short of divine. flowerknows.co

Honeybee Gardens Nude Renaissance Eye Shadow Palette

We love indie beauty brand Honeybee Gardens, and this palette is one of our favorites. Eight neutral shades warm up any skin tone. It’s vegan, talc-free, gluten-free, cruelty-free, and parabenfree. The compact is refillable, and the shadow is formulated to be especially gentle on sensitive eyes. Plus, the colors are gorgeous and you will want to wear them all (though not all at the same time, of course!). honeybeegardens.com

The turning of the seasons is always an ideal time for a home refresher. This can be something as simple as adding a few new throw pillows, or it can be a grand gesture, like switching up the lighting or bringing in a new piece of furniture. In any case, for me, autumn ushers in a yearning for new textures and palettes and the flickering of candlelight.

The House of Blackwell

We first spotted this talented designer at the Darksome Art & Craft Market (@darksomecraftmkt), and we’re enthralled with her handmade corn-husk bats. Made with stained corn husks and artfully arranged by hand into tiny bats that hang upside down (of course!) on a black satin ribbon with a charm, they look amazing on an altar or hearth, or hanging from the branch of a houseplant. She also crafts corn- husk brooms, spiders, and other delights. thehouseofblackwell.com

Club Magic Hour

Here’s everything you need to host high tea at home, including a range of fair trade and organic teas. You can also find charming tea accessories and tea-inspired gifts, like a set of the lovely 100 percent cotton Tea Ceremony Towels, whose mystical design is inspired by the cosmos; tarot tea tumblers and tools; all sorts of sets and samplers; and when they’re not sold out—you have to hit it right!—gorgeous, hand-painted porcelain tea cups. clubmagichour.com

Dark North Craft & Curio

If you see something here you like, don’t hesitate, because the one-of-a-kind witchy vintage treasures at this online shop go fast. You’re guaranteed to find a perfectly magical home gift for yourself (you deserve it!) or for someone near and dear, from letter openers to ornate candlesticks to crystal balls and perfume bottles. Definitely check out the talismanic jewelry, which features gemstones (like a big, round moonstone Morningstar Ring) and sterling silver and turquoise (the River Priestess Necklace with hammered brass moons, shimmery kyanite stones, and turquoise nuggets in a power formation). darknorth.bigcartel.com

Hopeless Romantic Trading Co.

You may know them by their former name—Victorian Trading Co.—but as Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Among their treasures: The Leaves of Lace Runner, a lacy burnt-orange table runner inspired by October’s forest floor; a stunning Gothic Stained Glass Lamp to cast a gorgeous glow; and the Moon’s Mistress Globe, a crystal orb set on a silver metal base and embossed with the image of Rona (my namesake!), who fell in love with the moon. hopelessromantictrading.com

Wild Talisman

Anyone who loves a walk in the woods and wants to bring a bit of folklore from the natural world inside with them will be delighted by the clay figurines crafted by ceramic artist Janine Hardy (on the following page). Taking her inspiration from all sorts of wild things—foxes, owls, deer, wood witches—Hardy infuses her figures with a wit and whimsy that will endear them to you.
etsy.com/shop/wildtalisman

Firelight Fables Candle Co.

Handmade in Oregon, Firelight Fables’ candles feature the softly enveloping scent of fragrance oils and essential oils. The Dark Forest candle evokes a walk in the woods, with notes of earthy moss, flowers, cypress and cassis, gray amber, and tobacco. The wax is a rich, creamy coconut-apricot wax blend that is vegan, gluten free, toxin free, paraben free, phthalate free, and sourced from renewable sources. Utterly enchanting! firelightfables.com

Parks Project

This project’s mission is to leave our national parks better than they found them. The organization has already raised more than $2.5 million to give back to national parks across the U.S., supported by sales of recycled, upcycled, sustainable goods like the reversible Pinecones & Butterflies Luxe Faux Fur Blanket, which packs down neatly into a bag, making it easy to tote along when on a picnic, camping, or couch surfing. Made with 100 percent recycled polyester polar fleece. parksproject.us

Moth & Myth

These crazy-beautiful cruelty-free vegan paper moths and butterflies are perfect for decorating the lair of any Autumn Queen, as Tricia Saroya does in “Beauty in the Darkness” (page 78). The Psychedelic Specimen Set features three gorgeous butterflies, two mushrooms, a fairy helmet, and a katydid and gray fox skull, based on real specimens and printed double-sided on heavyweight shimmer paper, all exquisitely detailed and packaged in a beautiful booklet inspired by vintage botanical illustrations. moth-and-myth.com

“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly,” wrote Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing, and that goes a long way toward explaining our delight when leaves turn to burnished gold and float through the sky when the wind picks up, tinging the air with something crisp and bright.

On the autumnal equinox (this year it’s September 22), magic happens: The sun moves directly above the equator and day and night take on exactly the same length. When that fleeting moment occurs, a cosmic change does too as the earth cools, hot temperatures dissipate, and we can feel the change in the cooling of our bodies— and our temperaments as well.

This is also a transitional time for our skin, and it needs extra love and care. To see if your skin is dehydrated from summer sun, surf, and swimming pools, gently push up your cheek from the jaw to the cheekbone: If you see a lot of tiny lines, it can be a call to action.

Have a natural-bristle brush at hand, apply a face cream or oil to the skin, and use the brush to massage it in, using circular motions. By stimulating the circulation, you’ll help your skin absorb the moisturizer, making it look and feel better.

Even if you don’t ordinarily get facials, try and get one now. A facial will clean out clogged pores and remove flaky skin buildup from the summer. If you can’t get a professional facial, take fifteen minutes on a Sunday morning to give yourself a minifacial at home: cleanse, exfoliate, apply a mask.

Autumn is, all in all, a good season for the health and beauty of our skin. Not too cold, not too hot, it tends to balance out excessively dry or oily hair and skin. As temperatures drop moving toward winter, you may want to begin to protect your skin by switching to a heavier moisturizer or face and body oil. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I often find myself drawn to autumnal flavors for my skin—pumpkin, cranberry, maple, ginger, cinnamon, sage, chai, and nut oils (unless you’re allergic, of course)—and perhaps you do too.

Three Sisters Apothecary Harvest Pumpkin Cinnamon Body Butter

This rich, spicy body butter smells like autumn, with a blend of pumpkin and cinnamon in a base of shea, avocado, and cocoa butters. Lightweight, creamy, and absorbent, this magical body butter in a handy tin is a keeper, and the Harvest Pumpkin Cinnamon flavor comes as a bar soap, bath salts, and lip soother too. Loaded with antioxidants and essential oils to nurture and protect the skin, along with vitamin-rich botanicals to nourish and heal, Three Sisters Apothecary Harvest Pumpkin Cinnamon Body Butter at Soap Cauldron is a lovely soufflé for the skin.

Mychelle Pumpkin Renew Cream

This lightweight moisturizer absorbs neatly to nourish and hydrate the skin. The line also includes the Cream Pumpkin Cleanser with pumpkin enzymes and vitamins to wash away surface impurities and smooth and cleanse the skin and the Incredible Pumpkin Peel, made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin extracts, to exfoliate dead skin cells to enable moisturizer to better absorb.

Maya Chia Revitalizer Beautifying Supercritical Body Oil

This rich and nourishing body oil is superfood for the skin: It combines a load of natural botanical oils—grape seed, cranberry, pumpkin seed, baobab, marula, and chia—that are packed with antioxidants, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants. Nongreasy and easily absorbe

Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil

Hungary boasts a long and storied beauty history. Locals soak in thermal baths as an everyday occurrence. This Budapest brand has become popular for good reason: The products are clean and nourishing, and they work. The Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil is a blend of several botanical oils including sweet almond oil, rich in antioxidant vitamin E. It also contains bakuchiol, a natural retinol alternative that increases skin turnover and collagen production.

For centuries, wise women have hand-plucked flowers, foraged for herbs, wild-craft ed with plants, and pulverized nuts and seeds to extract fragrant essences and oils for beauty rituals that resulted in glossy hair and soft, smooth skin. The ancient Egyptians mixed animal fat and plant oils to create an early hair conditioner. In 16th century Italy, Catherine de’ Medici relied on a moisturizer made with a mix of peach blossoms and almond oil; at the same time, Italian herbalists boiled rosemary in white wine to create a tonic for the skin. (And they drank it too!) The power of plants is pure magic, which is why the women who knew how to use them were often accused of sorcery. Here are some tried-and-true beauty botanicals for skin, hair, body, and spirit.

ALOE VERA

What Soothes sunburn, moisturizes, and temporarily tightens the skin.
Where The American Southwest. It is thought to have been brought there in the 17th century from Barbados, where it covered the ground so thickly that Spanish sailors named the island for effect it created: Barbados means “bearded.”
Why It feels soothing partly because aloe is 99.5 percent water. But it also contains nourishing ingredients such as polysaccharides, glycoproteins, vitamins, and minerals that are moisturizing and anti-inflammatory.

GINGER

What Stimulates the circulation, tones and softens the skin, helps with stretch marks. Often found in lip plumpers and body scrubs.
Where Southeast Asia and Thailand, where a form of ginger known as prai is commonly used in beauty. The Ancient Romans considered ginger to be an aphrodisiac, and it is mentioned throughout One Thousand and One Nights. Why It promotes blood flow and revs up the circulation.

LAVENDER

What Soothes inflamed skin, heals burns, relaxes tired muscles, and calms the mind.
Where France, where lavender fields are endless, along with other areas of the Mediterranean. In the 1920s, French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé burned his hand in the lab and mistakenly plunged it into a vat of lavender oil, thinking it was water. It healed so well that he began to research its medicinal properties and eventually coined the term aromatherapy.
Why Lavender is antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory, and it calms the nervous system.

ROSE

What Moisturizes sensitive, mature, or dry skin; reduces inflammation; and works as also a gentle astringent. The scent is said to ease anxiety and promote feelings of love.
Where Ancient Greece, where rosewater was used to soften the skin, and throughout Europe, where women would massage hips and legs with
rose oil to ease the pain of childbirth, perhaps by lessening anxiety.
Why Rose oil constricts small blood vessels and broken capillaries.

SAGE

What Controls excess oil secretion, regenerates skin cells, and kills bacteria that cause odor and breakouts. Good for acne-prone skin.
Where All over the Mediterranean and American Southwest. Native Americans use it in purification ceremonies and to cleanse a room, a practice known as sageing. Sage was thought to cure disease by driving out evil spirits when disease was considered a spiritual affliction.
Why Sage is antiseptic, astringent, and detoxifying. It kills bacteria and microbes, which is why it was used to keep meat from spoiling before refrigeration.

CHAMOMILE

What Calms dry, sensitive, itchy skin; conditions and brings out blond highlights in the hair; reduces broken capillaries.
Where Southern and western Europe. The Victorians used it in a tea to calm women who suffered from “hysteria.”
Why Roman and German chamomile contain azulene, a potent anti-inflammatory.

SEAWEED AND ALGAE

What Moisturizes, nourishes, and restores minerals to all skin types.
Where The sea, especially coastal areas of South America and Europe. In France in particular, residents in some areas would “take the cure” from the healing waters and bracing salt air. Beauty treatments involving seaweed are known as thalassotherapy.
Why Seaweed is rich in vitamins A, C, and K; fatty acids; and minerals that replenish what we lose through everyday life. It also has antioxidant properties to protect from free-radical damage.

GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The beauty of botanicals is that they are not only good for our personal health; they are also good for the environment. Think about it: Everything goes somewhere, and when you wash your cleanser, scrub, or bodywash down the drain, it eventually goes into our rivers, lakes, and oceans, where it can have an impact on flora and fauna. That’s one reason it makes sense to rely on natural products. Here are some seductive botanical brands.

AIRØ

Created by master aesthetician Daphne Chapman, Airø is a beauty and travel lifestyle brand designed to restore skin on the go with lightweight but deeply penetrating products. Chapman has two great passions—travel and skin care—and she knows firsthand the toll that high altitudes, environmental stressors, and cabin pressure can take on the skin. The brand features two beautiful collections: the original Airø, formulated with healing desert plants such as aloe vera, prickly pear, and Joshua tree root; and sē, made from richly nourishing marine extracts.
Star products: Airø Jetsetter Recovery Mask, Airø Facial Recovery Oil, sē Apres Sun Serum

BOTNIA

Botnia, an organic skin-care brand from aesthetician Justine Kahn, features products made by herbalists from plants grown on the Botnia microfarm in Sausalito, California. The name comes from bot, for botanicals and botanists, and Nia, for an imaginary land where plants work magically with our bodies. The line of small-batch face and body products is formulated by herbalists to harness the power of plants.
Star products: Chamomile Gentle Cleanser, Rose Geranium Hydrosol, Well Serum

LVNEA

Lvnea sources its fragrant essential oils and extracts from an exotic garden. The Montreal-based company offers a line of heady natural perfumes, featuring exquisite blends such as Moon Moss (lavender, oak moss, patchouli) and Jasmine & Fig (jasmine, fig, pink peppercorn), as well as bath, body, and face care and candles.
Star products: River Bathing Ritual Bath Salts, Larmes
de Rose Facial Serum, Jasmine Cardamom Damiana Floral Body Serum

OSEA

Founder Jenefer Palmer went to the end of the earth—Patagonia, at the southernmost tip of South America—to research the most pristine seaweed she could find. Palmer discovered that the Patagonian Gigartina species was not only known for its high content of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and trace elements, which are extremely nourishing for the skin; it also comes from some of the most pristine waters on the planet. An award-winning, innovative mother-daughter team, Palmer and her daughter Melissa now run Osea, based on the California coast.
Star products: Ocean Eyes Age-Defying Eye Serum, Vagus Nerve Bath Oil, Atmosphere Protection Cream

From baroque to biophilia and every period in between, interior designers have been influenced by the pull of nature to create spectacular—and soothing—indoor environments that connect to the natural world. The Victorians were masters, relying on earthy pigments mixed from plants and dark woods such as mahogany, burl walnut, oak, and rosewood, and a mad obsession with collecting, cataloging, and mounting colorful butterflies, insects, and bones in glass boxes.

Biophilic design, extremely popular over the past few years, is a way of connecting indoor spaces with nature by incorporating elements that evoke the calming aspects of the outside world: terraces and gardens, fountains and indoor plants, oversize windows that frame views of the landscape outdoors. Here are some lovely decor items inspired by the world’s flora and fauna.

Found & Foraged Kitchen Towels

Imagine the most deliciously soft kitchen towels, made from 100-percent flour-sack cotton, screen-printed with eco-friendly inks. Then conjure a pattern of lovely foraged wild plants like horsetail shoots, leeks, sweet clover, and ostrich ferns, also screen-printed, on the long-lasting, generously sized 25-by-26-inch towels. Prepare to be delighted by the Found & Foraged Flour Sack Towels, which you can find in Enchanted Living’s Enchanted Kitchen Collection! enchantedlivingmag.com

Purple Vanda Flower Bowl

Gazing at the handcrafted Emilio Robba Purple Vanda Flower Bowl from Belle & June Home Decor creates a moment of pure joy and brings a Zen tranquility to any room. Robba, known as the “sculptor of flowers,” is a photographer and floral designer who creates stunning floral designs in collaboration with designers, architects, and luxe hotels. The thick glass bowl is available in three sizes and comes in a precious gift box—because it is a perfect gift! belleandjune.com

Sin in Linen in Your Dreams

The mise-en-scène embroidered on the Forest Witch Duvet Cover (shown above) from Sin in Linen is a botanical image with a golden-thread spiderweb, spider, moth, insects, and foliage that took many thousands of stitches to create on an eggplant-colored background. In rich gem tones that evoke a sun-dappled forest, which was the inspiration for this dreamy vision, with spiderweb shams in 300 thread count, 100-percent cotton sateen. sininlinen.com

Linebaugh Studios Suncatcher

The Linebaugh Studios Corner Hanging Spider Web Suncatcher (shown at right) holds and refracts the light coming through the window to create a gorgeous kaleidoscopic effect. The asymmetrical piece features iridescent clear glass in a variety of textures, made with lead-free solder and an antiqued zinc frame with two loops for hanging. An intriguing piece that plays with light in a uniquely magical way! linebaughstudios.com

Victorian-Style Kim Seybert Arbor Placemats

The Kim Seybert Arbor Placemat Set (shown at right) from Alchemy Fine Home might be over the top in its hand-beaded gorgeousness, but that is why we want it immediately—and you will too! Inspired by the romance of Victorian greenhouses that have been abandoned, the Arbor Placemats (set of two) feature exquisite work with glass and acrylic beads and sequins, hand-folded to create a three-dimensional effect. They need and deserve to be treated very gently, but they’re worth the extra care! alchemyfinehome.com

Needlepoint From Beth Russell

Designer Beth Russell creates the loveliest needlepoint kits based on nature designs from William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. We love the Acanthus & Birds cushion in a dark or light palette, and her interpretation of William Morris’s famous Strawberry Thief fabric for a chair seat or cushion, and the Bee Miniature from the Rose Garden collection for pollinator fans! Create something truly special, stitch by stitch, with one of these needlepoint kits. bethrussellneedlepoint.com

Living in the forest, in the mountains, or along the beach is a beautiful way to connect with the sights and sounds of nature.

But most of us are not that fortunate. Nonetheless, taking natural flora and fauna as inspiration, it is easy to be creative and dream up lovely design ideas that will bring the outside in. Here are a few to think about.

Some fragrances last longer than others, and it depends on the type of fragrance that you choose.

For example, fruity, citrusy scents are light and disappear faster. Fragrances with a heavier base note, like sandalwood, vanilla, or patchouli, burn off more slowly. Here are some ways to help make your scent last.

• Never spray fragrance on your wrists and rub them together. When you rub you create heat, and the top notes will burn off quickly. Instead, put a dab on one wrist and gently touch it to the other.

• Layer your fragrance. Apply perfume or eau de toilette on top of scented lotion or body oil.

• Eau de parfum is more expensive, but it lasts longer than eau de toilette, which contains more alcohol. Alcohol is a volatile carrier and can evaporate quickly.

• If you don’t want your fragrance to enter the room before you do, avoid applying fragrance directly to your skin. Instead, spray it into the air and walk into it.

• Fragrance has more resonance on the pulse points, because of the heat of your heartbeat. Apply it to the décolleté, behind the ears, and in the crook of the elbows. When you want to be more seductive, spray it directly on your ankles or behind your knees. That way, when you walk it will follow you.

• Essential oil fragrances last longest because they don’t contain alcohol.