Beauty is in the meadow with Apoticari.
Verbena, nettle, chamomile, cornflower, sage: Apoticari cultivates its Auvergne herbarium and keeps it in the bathroom, halfway between ancient apothecary and contemporary skincare.
Since the dawn of time, we have found solace in nature’s refrains: dawn following night, spring after winter, or the tide that ebbs only to return... At Apoticari, the verses change with the seasons, but the refrain remains: calendula, verbena, nettle, orange blossom.
How could one not fall for this botanical care house crafted in Auvergne? It is the heir to an apothecary—that of the Hôtel-Dieu in Puy-en-Velay—where pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago were once restored. Even then, plants were used to help them back onto the path.
Today, the brand translates this heritage into skincare built around the plants of its native soil: verbena, nettle, chamomile, cornflower, sage, peppermint, and Velay green clay. Some are transformed into hydrosols through low-temperature distillation in century-old copper alembics; others become macerates, powders, or infusions.
The treatments are crafted in small batches in human-scale laboratories in Auvergne. Rather than building formulas around a succession of trendy active ingredients, Apoticari begins with the plant itself: observing its properties, choosing its extraction method, and then building the skincare around it.
It was just a biophilic affair, and it made me feel so unashamedly alive.
