My favorite seasonal offering is back for winter. I got to smell the delicious aroma of Cottonwood/Poplar buds infusing into sure pure rendered bear fat this week. It’s the gifts of winter here in the PNW — the Poplar and the Bear. The deep penetrating moisturization offered by this duo blows me away. Independent they’re wicked! Together, it’s pure magic. 
 
Plus you get all that bonus bear magic.. introspection, fierce love, fierce protection, healing, strength, insight..
 
Ingredients
Recovered bear fat*, ethically wild-harvested cottonwood buds, organic olive oil, local beeswax, touch of lavender essential oil + flowers. 
 
*It’s my intention to make medicines with ingredients that I have a significant relationship or at least a good story for it. This bear fat is the latter. Here in Oregon bears are open for hunting seasonally. It’s really sad to me that bears get hunted at all. Ever. But the bear fat in this salve was a bear that was hunted during game season, for meat by someone that I don’t know. That person brought the bear to a local butcher for processing and packaging. At this particular place, parts of the animals brought in for butchering like fat, feet and heads often get thrown into the trash. That’s right- the trash. The fat in this salve was going to be thrown into the landfill but my friend knowing how special it was, brought it home and rendered it to divine purity and gave it to me to use to make salves with. This bear’s fat got to be used for medicine and healing instead of being thrown into the trash. I like to imagine this is more honorable. Tenderness goes out the that bear every time I use and share this medicine. 🙏🏽