One of our favourite like-minded brands sharing in our philosophy that luxury should be uncompromising through the creation of beautiful and intentional products to elevate the well-being of both people and planet is natureofthings. We are equally as in love with the team of beautiful souls behind these indulgent wellness products. We sit down with Jamie to chat Earth medicine, self-care, and nurturing rituals ...
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
My name is Jamie Leilani Pelayo and I’m the co-founder of natureofthings, a botanical bath & body line rooted in the enduring wisdom of nature. My role at natureofthings is to oversee the brand vision, from our core values to product development merchandising to visual identity and packaging and our messaging and imagery. I’m a trained folk herbalist and also the founder of Stories + Objects, a travel storytelling platform that celebrates artisans of hand-crafted and cultivated goods from around the world. I live in Malibu, California in the Santa Monica Mountains above the Pacific Ocean.
WHAT INSPIRED THE NATUREOFTHINGS JOURNEY?
natureofthings was, in part, inspired by my interest in Earth medicine. I met my two co-founders JP and Kendra as they were embarking on the creation of a CBD-focused line. I was instantly curious to explore with them how to see past the trend of CBD and speak to the true benefits of this ancient plant medicinal, especially combined with other high beneficial botanicals and minerals that amplified the effects.
Our name was inspired by a poem De Rerum Natura that was written around 50BC by the Roman poet Lucretius who amongst other things was trying to describe the Epicurean philosophy of life to the Roman public. He argued that true pleasure in life was derived by eliminating two things - fear and pain. So that is what we set out to do with our launch collection, beautiful the skin and purify the mind while helping to alleviate fear (stress and anxiety) and pain (inflammation). We devised a ritualistic set of products that target these ailments within the body from the inside out through fully natural and organic whenever possible formulations.
DAILY ROUTINE AS A BUSY MUM AND FOUNDER?
My husband and I both work from home. Luckily we have help during the morning hours so that we can manage to get most of our work done and leave the late afternoon hours to enjoy family time. My day starts with morning cuddles with my two-year old son. Followed by my morning affirmations and greeting to the universe and a hot cup of tea. I’ll usually get to work while my mind is fresh, taking breaks to play outside with my son or to visit our brood of animals or do some light gardening.
FAVOURITE SELF-CARE RITUALS?
I find my sanctuary in my bathtub. Well before natureofthings I was a huge fan of bathing as a form of self care. Usually I’ll give myself a 20 - 30 minute soak 2-3x per week in either our Restorative Floral Bath or Fortifying Magnesium Soak sometimes both! I like to start my day this way versus ending it. Sometimes it is just giving myself a moment to be outside, breathing in the fresh air, studying a flower or listening to a songbird sing…. I find that being present and attentive to nature is an incredible healer of stress or dis-ease. I usually end my day with light reading or a meditation. I try to make time each day for a 30 minute mediation. Recently, I’ve really been enjoying Shaman Durek’s Ancient Wisdom Today meditations.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR BIGGEST SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
Travel although we’ve been grounded for these past few months. I guess you could say that I’m inspired by ancient cultures and traditions. I am so in love with the larger world in all of its diverse ways of life. My biggest sources of inspiration are learning about how people around the world lived in the past and how those traditions are still incorporated in the now. There is a vast amount of knowledge that we’ve accumulated over time that in some cases seem mundane now or that have been nearly forgotten or replaced by modern concepts, but I see many people returning to these ways as we realize that we need a better balance and some simplicity brought back into our lives. In some ways my work with both S+O and natureofthings are really about this.
WHAT'S IN STORE NEXT?
We have many things on the horizon, some of which was pushed out due to the current health pandemic. We have some incredible hand-crafted artisan skin-smoothing stones from France which we’ll be launching soon. We have six new products, some non-CBD, ranging from bath to facial skincare that will be launching late this year and early next— all highly efficacious and sustainably minded. We have a pretty detailed vision of what wellness, or more importantly well-being, will look like in the future given the radical shifts and changes in society.
