Interview with Denise Williams
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Every year, for as long as I can remember, my mom and I would go to the One Of A Kind Show before the winter holidays. This is an ALL-DAY event for us. We wear layered clothes so we’re always comfortable no matter the temperature. We bring water and snacks so we’re never thirsty or hungry (important note: we’re not nice people when we’re hungry). We go up and down every aisle discovering new and wonderful things. But our favourite part of all: we chat to vendors about their creations! This is how I met Denise Williams, a certified therapeutic herbalist, and was introduced to her business Matter Company, a luxe range of all-natural skincare products focused on the healing power of herbs. I was initially drawn to their heat rub, an incredible soothing rub for tired and sore muscles, made from cayenne pepper and ginger root; but as my life has shifted, I’ve recently been using more of their baby line products, like the lip and cheek balm and chest rub, with my little one.
Denise initially went to school for environmental studies but when she thought about her future after university she wanted something different than what the corporate world could offer her. She’d always been inspired by nature and is a big lover of the outdoors and camping, so when she decided to take a year off to study the traditional practices of herbalism it felt like the right fit. Her apprenticeship, which we dive into below, sounds like a dream! She learned firsthand about how to grow, harvest and wildcraft herbs and plants. Afterwards, she began formulating skin salves and first aid ointments with all-natural ingredients that weren’t available elsewhere. Initially her creations were gifted to family and friends, but they were such a big hit that Denise decided to start her own company. She uses traditional methods, small batches, and a 24-hour herbal infusion process. And as you’ll soon read, it’s evident that a lot of care and thought goes into each one of her products and she’s passionate about what she does. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.
Let’s chat to Denise!
What drew you to the traditional practices of herbalism? I was interested in urban landscapes and what grew around them. I had a lot of exposure to native communities in the West Coast, in Northern BC, and was doing my own self studies initially. When I came back to Toronto, I decided to take environmental studies at the University of Toronto. But as I was studying, I became concerned that my prospects afterwards would likely include working for a large corporation or organization, which I didn’t want. So when my good friend, who was living in an off-the-grid community, was going to be taking an herbal course I decided to join her. I took a year off and delved into the study of herbalism with a well-known master herbalist named Shantree (fka Walter) Kacera who lived on a farm just outside of London, Ontario. It was a very different learning environment than university. We lived in a log cabin with a wood burning stove, surrounded by a forest, and were fed vegetarian food. Outside the cabin was a huge medicinal garden in the shape of a medicine wheel. The wheel was divided into 8 pies and each one of the pies represented a system of the body and the herbs that supported that part. This was over 20 years ago, it was a unique hands-on experience, we learned about herbal medicine and did a lot of wildcrafting. We were also studying and corresponding with David Hoffmann out of California, who’s a well-known herbalist. We were using his curriculum and he’d come to Canada to teach occasionally, which was a treat. The whole experience left a huge impression on me, and I really fell in love with herbalism. That was kind of the start. But what drew me to the practice initially was that the curriculum felt like it lent itself to the things that I was already interested in, for example harvesting wild edible plants, but learning about how the flora and fauna that grew around us could be turned into medicine was a new idea for me. The concepts of herbalism also tied into environmentalism so well. Both David and Shantree are huge environmentalists so that’s how they approach herbalism too, we’re not separate from the environment. Like the Gaia Hypothesis, purposed by James Lovelock, where the earth is a living entity, and everything is interconnected. It’s what I was taught and the approach that we at Matter Company take too.
How do you use essential oils in your practice? Essential oils for us really complete the recipe as they blend nicely with the herbs and have additional therapeutic properties. We use them in two ways. One way is to tell a scent story, similar to what I would consider a natural perfume. For example, we have a collection called Matter: Outdoors, which the heat rub is a part of, but it also includes a few other products likes a hand cream, body wash shampoo and soap. I design collections based on lifestyles, and this one was geared towards things that I was doing at the time – camping and outdoors sports. The products all have very practical utilitarian applications, but the essential oil blends are there to inspire and evoke memories of being outdoors. The smell of our biodegradable soap was formulated to recreate smells of skiing through a cedar patch – like sun melting snow on nature; green, fresh, and clean – it combines juniper berry, bergamot, cedarwood, pine and grapefruit. The second way we use essential oils is medicinally as they add or complement the products with their therapeutic value, completing the herbal formula. But we don't use a lot of it – only 1% – they’re used sparingly and gently so they’re not overpowering. We tend to err on the side of less is more when it comes to essential oils.
Has the way you use herbs and essential oils changed over the years? If so, how? No, not really. Although, we do use more organic ingredients now mainly because it wasn’t readily available before and they’re a little bit more affordable.
As we’re in cold and flu season, any herbal or natural tips you can share to stay healthy? I recently wrote a whole blog post on winter tree medicine that’s filled with great tips, including a thyme & pine needle sore throat tea recipe that’s antimicrobial and great for viruses. There’s also an herbal cough syrup recipe on our blog. But a lot of the respiratory herbs, like the evergreens, are great for the lungs, and cold & flu season. They’re also the only wild medicine around right now. Warming herbs like cayenne pepper are good in food for circulation and the digestive system. Ginger is a favourite of mine, and slippery elm lozenges are good for colds and coughs. Echinacea is great for supporting the immune system. Deep Immune, by Canadian company St Francis Herb Farm, comes in a tincture form that you can take daily, and they have a kids’ version too. It works similarly to an adaptogen and was created by one of my mentors, Dr Anthony Godfrey. He passed away quite a while ago but it's a great formula, especially for kids.
What is your go-to herb or essential oil, and why? The essential oils I love are eucalyptus and lavender as they’re both so versatile. Another reason I love eucalyptus is that it reminds me of one of my favourite places in Northern California, Bolinas, where one of my best friends lives and the eucalyptus trees are off the charts. Whenever I smell it, it brings me back to that very special place and visiting with my friend. For herbs I’d have to say ginger and peppermint for digestion and stress.