slow farmed beauty
love in the supply chain
Slow Farmed Beauty is not a technique or a trend — it’s a way of existing. It is how we show up in the world. Inspired by the mindfulness of the slow food movement, the integrity of biodynamic and regenerative agriculture, and intentionally practiced self-care rituals. At its heart, Slow Farmed Beauty is our committed practice to doing less harm, ensuring that every step we take in creating plant medicine paves a path that benefits the Earth, communities, individuals, animals, and plants along the way.
Pioneered by Laurel more than 15 years ago, this philosophy is shaped by relationship: with our partnering farms, with our community, and within our small team. It guides how we source, how we formulate, how we build partnerships, and how we make decisions—always choosing integrity, seasonality, patience, and alignment with nature.
Slow Farmed Beauty isn’t something that fits neatly into a tag line or certification; it’s so much bigger than that. We are building something in alignment with Nature, rather than in alignment with industry—a heart-led process that is not easily definable.
planting seeds
Slow Farmed Beauty begins long before ingredients reach our apothecary. We have built a domestic network of organic growers who share our values of integrity, transparency, and ecological stewardship. What started with a single farmer at a local market has grown into a regional supply chain born of long-term relationships rather than online transactions.
Instead of relying on bulk ingredient suppliers, we choose to work directly with small family farms, artisan distillers, and skilled oil pressers. Each partnership is intentionally built to support domestic agriculture, ensure plant vitality, and maintain the highest integrity from seed to bottle. Our grower collaborations can be years in the making before we see a single ingredient, because it can often take that long to develop healthy soil and harvest conditions.
This seed-to-bottle approach is the root system for everything that follows: nutrient-rich plants, ethical and regenerative sourcing, and skincare made with a level of attention and vibrancy that you can feel on your skin and in your whole being.
the ecology of potency
In Slow Farmed Beauty, healthy farming practices begin with the soil. Living, nutrient-rich soil creates the microbial diversity and vital growing conditions that plants need to thrive. This is why we rely on organic, biodynamic, and regenerative growing practices that not only restore ecosystems but also protect the integrity of each plant.
We follow the natural rhythms that govern plant life, like the turning of the seasons or the shifts in weather, and we honor the brief harvest window when each plant reaches its peak vitality. We never rely on quick fixes like pesticides, herbicides, genetic modification, mono-cropping, or chemical fertilizers. We encourage healthy cohabitation with land, animal, and plant, resulting in a diverse micro-ecosystem on all of the farms we work with. While much of this may sound unrelated, all of these details directly affect not only environmental health but also the potency of our formulas.
Small batch production
In a world that is seemingly AI-generated and machine-run, we take great pride in our hand-made processes. From the moment a plant reaches us, every herbalist-led step is designed to preserve the plant’s vitality and potency. Nothing is rushed: the plants determine the timing and the subtle variations that emerge in each batch. Each extract, infusion, and formula is made by hand at a pace that preserves each plant’s full spectrum of nutrients. Our proprietary whole-plant infusions take three lunar cycles to complete, and some of our Compounds take even longer!
We remain intentionally small because this work requires presence, patience, and the touch of real people, not machines operating at speed. After formulation, every product is hand-bottled, hand-polished, dated, and packaged by our team before being shipped directly to you. When you receive a Laurel Skin creation, you’re receiving something made only weeks before meeting your skin. This slow, relational way of working—between plant and maker, and between our team and you—is part of the medicine itself, and is something no automated system can replace.
human-centered
Slow Farmed Beauty is dependent on human relationship across the entire ecosystem of growers who make this work possible. Our sourcing choices allow us to advocate for domestic farming profitability, strengthen regional agriculture, and invest directly in the regenerative future we want to see in our community. Many of these farmers are deeply impactful themselves, growing food to donate to communities and doubling as nonprofit operations. Financially, Laurel Skin gives back to both partnering and non-partnering farms to ensure fair wages and expanded opportunities for farmworkers, with a strong emphasis on California’s organic farming community of color.
slow farmed realities
Slow Farmed Beauty is labor-intensive by nature. Every product is made by hand in small batches, requiring a lot of time and expertise. The reliance on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients means that we are often at the mercy of Nature – whether it be harvest, climate, or grower demand, we cannot control every aspect of the Plant Kingdom, which leads to the limited or seasonal availability of some of our products.
Because we work with regeneratively grown plants and artisanal production methods, scaling at the pace of conventional brands is neither possible nor the goal. This is a reality of Slow Farmed Beauty that we wholeheartedly accept and lean into, allowing us to attract and nurture a passionate community that values quality, seasonality, and relationship.
The commitment to using high-quality, regeneratively farmed ingredients often results in higher raw material and production costs. The choices we make are not investor or profit-driven, and when you learn thetrue, long-term benefits and ripple effects to both people and planet, the costs are more than justified.
the impact of Slow
Beyond the bottle, our Slow Farmed Beauty approach helps strengthen a more ethical and regenerative herb trade. Our prioritization of regional and domestic growers not only supports our community, it reduces our footprint on the Earth greatly since our plants have less distance to travel to get to us. Our mindful practices prevent over-harvesting and exploitation, and keep pesticides and petrochemicals out of waterways. Each of our 150 organic, biodynamic, and regeneratively grown plants positively impacts the health of both people and planet. All of this isn’t just better for your skin; it helps move the industry toward something more responsible, more reciprocal, and minimizes harm. This movement is something we are incredibly proud of.