Nature-Based Self Care: A Holistic Approach to Natural Skincare

Originally published February 2020. Updated April 2026.

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Natural skincare is often reduced to ingredients or labels, but it can also be understood as a way of working with the skin as a living system. Nature-based self care draws on whole plant formulations, ethical sourcing, and non-industrial practices to support long-term skin health through balance rather than correction.

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Most people don't actually know what their skin needs. They've been taught to follow routines, buy products, and correct "problems," but not how to observe, listen, or build a relationship with their own body. Over time, something starts to disconnect.

You see it in people trying product after product without much clarity, reacting to their skin instead of understanding it, and not really knowing what's helping—just hoping something will. This is the environment most modern self-care is built in. What we practice at Deschampsia moves in a different direction.

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Non-Industrialized Self-Care

One of the most accurate ways I've found to describe our work is non-industrialized self-care. This is different from terms like "clean" or "natural," which at this point have been stretched so far by marketing that they often stop meaning anything at all.

So what does "non-industrialized" actually mean?

It reflects a set of values that shape how we move through the world of self-care, perfumery, and life in general. Deschampsia is not a corporation. We don't outsource production or rely on private label manufacturers, and our products aren't mass-produced in a factory setting. There's no board of directors or marketing team shaping the message from a distance.

We are directly accountable to what we make, which allows us to prioritize what actually matters: quality, authenticity, and the ethics of how things are made.

We craft everything ourselves, by hand, in small batches. Ingredients are chosen intentionally, often based on season and availability, which keeps the products fresh and connected to the materials they come from. In many ways, the work we do today could have been done hundreds, even thousands of years ago. The tools may be slightly different, but the core processes haven't changed much.

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A Brief History of Plants and People

The archaeological record shows humans using medicinal plants going back at least 60,000 years. Realistically, it's likely much older, especially if you consider earlier human species and the ways animals interact with plants.

We see this in what's called zoopharmacognosy—the ability of animals to self-medicate using plants. Black bears, for example, will eat certain roots after hibernation to help reset their digestive systems, and they'll also chew those same plants into a paste and apply them to their fur. Early humans likely learned a great deal by observing these kinds of behaviors.

Across cultures, this connection shows up again and again. In China, early herbal traditions attributed to Shen Nong describe the use of plant infusions thousands of years ago. In ancient Babylon, people were already making soap using plant oils and alkali. Distillation—the same process used today to create hydrosols and essential oils—appears in early perfumery traditions in Mesopotamia.

Different cultures, different materials, but a similar pattern—people working directly with plants, learning through experience, and refining their methods over time. These are the same foundational processes we continue to use today.

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A Different Way of Seeing

Beyond the materials and methods, there's also a difference in perspective. Modern culture often treats nature as something separate from us, sometimes even something to control or overcome.

We don't see it that way. We see ourselves as part of the same system—a web of interconnection that includes plants, people, and the environments we move through.

From that perspective, self-care looks different. It's not just about applying products or correcting symptoms, but about paying attention. Holistic skincare isn't about chasing symptoms; it's about supporting the underlying conditions that shape how your skin functions over time.

That can mean listening more closely. When something is out of balance, the goal isn't always to override it. Sometimes it's to understand what's being communicated, and sometimes, the response isn't a product at all.

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Whole Plants vs Industrial Extracts

One of the ways this perspective shows up is in how we work with plants. We prioritize whole plant preparations over heavily processed or isolated extracts.

Whole plant preparations—infused oils, hydrosols, traditional distillations—carry a more complete range of the plant's chemistry, along with the balance that exists naturally within the plant itself. Modern extraction methods often isolate specific compounds, which can be useful in certain contexts, but they also remove that broader balance.

Whole plant preparations tend to interact with the body differently. Sometimes the effects are immediate, with skin feeling more hydrated, supported, and at ease right away. Other changes—balance, tone, and resilience—tend to develop more gradually over time.

It's less about forcing a single outcome and more about supporting multiple processes at once. It's a fundamentally different approach to formulation.

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Pure Sourcing

Where materials come from matters. We avoid conventional industrial farming practices and instead focus on sourcing that maintains a connection to the land.

This includes:

• ethically wild-harvesting fresh plants
• growing herbs in small organic gardens
• drying herbs ourselves in small batches, without heat or direct sunlight
• sourcing from trusted suppliers when needed

We also prioritize local and regional sources whenever possible. This reduces environmental impact, but more importantly, it keeps that connection to place intact.

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In-House Herbal Extractions

We carry that same intention into how we work with the plants once we have them. Rather than purchasing pre-made ingredients and combining them, we do our own extractions in-house.

This includes:

• oil infusions
• water and alcohol extractions
• saponification for soap
• distillation using a copper alembic still

These processes take time. Weeks, months, sometimes longer. They're not designed for speed or convenience. They're designed to preserve as much of the plant's original character as possible.

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Impacts

The way something is made doesn't stop at the product itself. We try to minimize waste by using glass, metal tins, and compostable materials wherever possible, and shipping materials are reused when we can.

We don't test on animals, and we prioritize ingredients that are sourced in ways that support both ecological health and fair labor practices.

These choices aren't perfect. There are still limitations, especially when it comes to packaging, but the intention is to move in a direction that reduces harm and supports life where possible.

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Final Thoughts

Plants and people haven't changed as much as we sometimes think. Plants still carry the same properties they always have, and people still benefit from being in connection with them.

What has changed is how we see that connection. Nature-based self-care is really about restoring it—not perfectly or all at once, but gradually over time.

When I started Deschampsia, it was with the intention of making products that felt grounded in that connection, not just "natural," but actually tied to something real.

There's still a lot to learn, and that's part of the process.

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If you're interested in working with whole plant formulations, you can explore our collection of botanical skincare and aromatic preparations.

— Jonathan Deschamps
Founder, Deschampsia

Jonathan Deschamps is the founder of Deschampsia, an independent apothecary based in the Pacific Northwest. His work draws from ecology, traditional herbalism, and hands-on experience with plant distillation and formulation.