The Mini-Mineral Journey Inside Every Bottle
What makes Resonant Botanicals products so different?
The short answer is: not just one thing.
It is a multitude of journeys over my lifetime that have found their way into prominent places in the architecture of our lotions.
We have talked before about terpenes, the name Resonant and our use of frequencies. Today, I want to uncover another fascinating part of that journey and share it with you:
Water.
More specifically, the concentrations and ratios of minerals in the water that makes up our lotions - and the journey that led us there.
Where it began
Several years before starting Resonant Botanicals with my brother Dave, he invited me to visit him near Albuquerque, New Mexico. While I was there, we made a trip north to Ojo Caliente, a mineral springs spa near Taos.
We stayed for a few days and experienced the different mineral pools - arsenic, lithia, iron and mud. While soaking, Dave told me about his fascination with the spa and some of the stories he had heard about it.
I began talking with other spa-goers. Some had traveled great distances to spend time there, many seeking relief from the aches and pains associated with chronic conditions.
As a memento of the visit, I filled a few jars with water from the different pools and brought them home with me.
At the time, I had no idea those little jars would eventually become part of a much larger story.
A Few Jars on a Shelf
A few years later, I was researching ways to help our mother with the pain in her arthritic hips. My study was filling with books and PubMed articles as I explored alternatives to first-pass metabolism - taking a pill - for delivering relief.
One day, I noticed those jars from Ojo Caliente sitting near some of the articles I had been studying.
I stared at them, smiled at the memory, and wondered if I could convince Mom to take a trip to New Mexico.
I still wasn't thinking about those jars as part of a formulation. Not yet.
Then It Happened Again
Fast forward a few years. Resonant Botanicals was enjoying modest success, and I joined a friend in France for a holiday.
She took me to a spa.
Once again, I found myself talking with people who had traveled considerable distances because of their experiences with the mineral waters there.
And once again, I filled a few jars and brought them home.
They ended up in my study, right beside the bottles from Ojo Caliente.
A pattern was beginning to emerge.
From Curiosity to an Experiment
Around this same time, we had begun investigating ways to incorporate more magnesium into our products and eventually settled on Zechstein magnesium.
When another opportunity arose to travel through Europe, those jars sitting in my study had changed the way I was thinking.
This time, I traveled with a purpose.
Saturnia Hot Springs, Tuscany, Italy
I visited mineral spas and thermal baths across Europe - including the Szechenyi and Rudas Baths in Budapest; Bukfurdo, Harkany, Igal and other Hungarian mineral spas; Thermes de Spa in Belgium; Saturnia Hot Springs in Tuscany; and the bathing caves of Miskolc, Hungary.
And this time, I wasn't simply bringing home souvenirs.
I collected water samples with a question in mind:
Was there something these waters had in common?
Looking at the Water Differently
When I compared the mineral concentrations in the waters from this later trip through Europe with the samples I had collected years earlier, I began noticing something interesting.
The concentrations of certain minerals were somewhat consistent from one location to another.
That got me wondering.
So I did what seemed like the logical next step:
I filled my bathtub with warm water and started experimenting.
I added different ratios of those minerals to the water, climbed in, and paid attention to how each combination felt.
In case you're wondering, I really do love my job!!
After multiple baths and quite a bit of experimenting, I settled on a mineral ratio that was the most enjoyable for my body.
From there, I began incorporating those mineral ratios into test batches of our lotions. Eventually, that mineral profile became part of the water phase of Royal, Royal Gold and Neuro-Soothe.
Another seemingly small piece of the formulation - with a surprisingly long journey behind it.
A Little Journey in Every Bottle
So, the next time you use Royal, Royal Gold or Neuro-Soothe, take a moment to consider that one very special little part of that lotion is the result of a journey around the world - collecting, comparing and learning from mineral-rich waters to arrive at the mineral ratios we use today.
From a few jars collected at Ojo Caliente...
to mineral springs and spas across Europe...
to experiments in my own bathtub...
to the water phase of a lotion sitting in your hand.
A mini-mineral journey inside every bottle.