2008 Archives: Ogallala Escapes: All Natural Body Care
It’s all about the weed, ladies. Oh, get your minds out of the gutter, we’re talking about milkweed, a plant that’s native to this country and grows wild in all 48 states. Native Americans used it to encourage lactation, and early settlers used its juice as glue, but only Herb Knudsen realized its true potential. Don’t know Herb? More than 20 years ago, he blended milkweed floss with Hungarian white goose down to create the first hypoallergenic down. His family-owned Ogallala Escapes company in Ogallala, Nebraska (population 5,000) is the only company to develop products using milkweed, and supplies specialty bedding to hotels and stores worldwide.
Which brings us back to the weed. In creating said products, Herb (or actually, his daughter-in-law, Shawna), saw another avenue for greatness in the Syriaca Oil that the milkweed plant produces. Rich in Vitamin E and a special fatty acid only found in young skin, Syriaca Oil became the central ingredient to a unique body care line that’s made in small batches, with no artificial ingredients, colors or animal testing, featuring the most fantastic blends of essentials oils as scent. But does it work? Oh yes, Virginia, the combination of the Salt Scrub followed by the Body Butter sloughed off our end-of-winter dry skin like nobody’s business. But it’s the uber-hydrating Sojourn Body Lotion that we’re just plain addicted to—especially as its instructions read “apply liberally before facing the indignity of clothing.” Ha!
P.S. Since milkweed is the treasured Monarch caterpillar’s only food, and finding the stuff dictates the success of their annual trek from Mexico, through the U.S., up to Canada and back again, it makes sense that Ogallala Escapes would also support the planting of monarch habitat throughout the U.S. and Canada. Yay!
