‘IN PURE WE TRUST’
Pura Botanicals keeps it real
“In pure we trust” reads the custom neon sign situated in the Pura Botanicals headquarters on 124 Street, just north of Jasper Avenue.
The welcoming, gold-accented space houses the vision of Lane Edwards, a local businesswoman who founded Pura Botanicals a year ago with the ethos of providing women with an all-natural beauty ritual free of synthetic ingredients and toxins.
“I really think that nature and the earth provides us with all these incredible, nourishing ingredients that help to accentuate a woman’s natural beauty,” Edwards says. “You don’t have to have any of those chemicals.”
Edwards’s proclivity toward natural therapies and products began as a child, and she recalls concocting potions on the steps outside her family’s house. She credits her mother for sparking this early interest.
“My mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 30, so she was always on this mission to heal her body through nutrition and natural therapies because the medical world couldn’t offer anything to help her, really,” Edwards recalls. “I really learned from her that part of medicine and how powerful it can be.”
At 18, Edwards, originally from Sherwood Park, visited the Fragonard perfume factory in France, her first introduction to perfumery and the secrecy behind the craft. She returned to Edmonton to obtain her bachelor of communications degree at MacEwan University before relocating to Australia to work for Lululemon. It was there that she began studying aromatherapy and bush flower essences.
The impetus for Pura Botanicals came while she was pregnant with her first child. She became sensitive to commercial beauty products and decided to create a solution.
“When we’re pregnant our senses get so elevated, so all of the things I was using, all I could smell were the synthetic and chemical ingredients. I thought to myself: As a woman, as a new mother, as someone who’s carrying a child, it doesn’t make any sense to me to be using these beauty products to elevate our sense of confidence. Really what we’re doing is compromising our health.”
After spending three years mixing concoctions like a “mad scientist,” Pura became a reality. The company now offers a custom perfume service in addition to 25 skin care products, including an Overnight Watermelon Mask, Lolita Face Drops, Countess Cleansing Nectar, and Neroli Eye Drops. Prices range from $24 for a Honey & Ginger Deoderant to $120 for Mother-Floral Water Eau de Parfum.
Each one is made in-house with natural ingredients sourced from around the world, though Edwards notes they also use Canadiangrown cocoa absolute, neroli, aloe vera and rosewood.
Edwards operates her business with an emphasis on transparency. The production space is clearly visible when you enter the front door, and all of the ingredients are on display, in addition to being listed on the packaging. And rather than operate with a one-size-fits-all approach, she focuses on tailoring skin care rituals to individual customers.
“I think in order to see results from the products you’re using you have to be consistent with them. When you’re using a product that
It smells beautiful, it feels amazing on your skin, so even being able to take that time to take those steps in order to look after yourself is so important.
is handcrafted, that is made with very high-quality organic or wild-harvested or natural ingredients, you enjoy it so much more.
“It smells beautiful, it feels amazing on your skin, so even being able to take that time to take those steps in order to look after yourself is so important.”
She opens the doors of the production studio (No. 204-10132 124 St.) to the public on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. She sells mainly through her website purabotanicals.com, although her products are in other retail locations in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
Edwards, who has five employees, has expanded the business further with the newly launched Pura Baby + Mama line, which consists of 12 items ranging from bubble bath to hair and body wash to an alcohol-free mother/daughter perfume duo and Aromatic Playdough Nectar. Inspired by her own three children, Edwards created the line using natural, vegan, cruelty-free ingredients that go beyond the standard offerings for babies.
“It’s a tricky line to create because different ingredients are safe for different ages of children, so whether a baby’s zero to three months or eight to 12 months, they’re able to use different ingredients. We had to make sure they were safe across the line.”