Farmington Herbals: A Soap Redesign + Curated Gift Sets!

by Sara ParkerMay 03, 20180 comments

Here's a project I've been working on that I'm so excited to share! A label redesign for my friend Lisa Pickett; soap maker, natural gardener, and herbal enthusiast extraordinaire!

Farmington Herbals, Lisa's hand-crafted herbal soaps and botanical skin care line, is truly amazing. Her products are our go-to for bath soap and body lotion and I've recently been using her Tulsi Rose Face Cream, and it, too, is wonderful.

I love that she uses as many natural and organic ingredients as possible. And in every product she makes, there's an herb or flower from her Certified Naturally Grown garden. And of course everything feels and smells wonderful, too.

I really wanted to showcase the natural ingredients Lisa is known for using in her line. I decided to illustrate a flower or herb that was used in each product. We then added a band of muted color for emphasis. When the soaps are displayed together, they almost look like their own little garden, with wispy bees and wasps flying about.

About Lisa

Lisa grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, with no gardening background. After college she volunteered at the Gardening Project in Kentucky, where she traveled to rural farms to visit local gardeners. This sparked the gardening bug! During this time she met her husband, potter Geoff Pickett, and they moved to an old homestead outside of Farmington, Georgia. On the fertile site of an abandoned chicken coop, Lisa started her own garden, growing mostly lavender and rosemary.

Lisa has been making soap for over 15 years. Learning from books, then trial and error. In every product she makes, she includes an herbal oil or hydrosol that she makes from her Certified Naturally Grown garden. This means no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or GMO contaminants.

Some of the plants Lisa uses in her products include comfrey, mountain mint, plantain, crimson clover, heirloom roses, white yarrow, lemon balm, clary sage, burdock, lavender, and tulsi basil.

Lisa and Geoff are professional upcyclers, reusing and rebuilding parts from discarded objects to fit Lisa's needs. Like this soap mixer made from an abandoned Xerox machine motor:

or this soap curing shelf Geoff welded from scrap materials:

and a soap cutter made from a piece of exercise equipment and guitar stings:

Look how Lisa uses up old cardboard as mulch between rows of calendula and lemon balm:

Lisa uses a discarded hydrator to store her lotions:

Small crops of holy basil growing in the cold frame:

To celebrate our collaboration, I've picked out my favorite soaps and combined them with a coordinating tea towel and letterpress card from our collection!

There are six curated options to choose from. The options are:

Pomegranate, Orange & Carrot Soap + Parsley Tea Towel + Strawberry Card