Katharina’s Nourishing Lotion

Perfect for rough, dry skin on cold winter days, or hard-working hands anytime. The essential oils used have been chosen to nourish the skin and for their aromatherapy qualities to uplift the spirits.

Ingredients: Distilled water, FaspaFarm herbal hydrosol, German chamomile (from the garden) hydrosol, emulsifying wax, sweet almond oil, glycerin, olive oil, aloe vera juice, canola oil, shea butter, cetyl alcohol, essential oils (geranium, orange, lavender, cedarwood, lime, parsley, petitgrain), preservative

Our great-great-grandma Katharina had a hard life. She was born in 1868 in Reinfeld, Yazykovo, Ukraine (then southern Russia). She gave birth to 12 children starting when she was 19 years old. She moved 3 times in Russia; her first husband, father of all her children, died around 1912 (we think) most likely of typhoid fever, when he was only 48 years old. She moved back to Ukraine as the Russian civil war was in full swing where she was living. She remarried and then her second husband was murdered when bandits were terrorising the countryside throughout eastern Ukraine. She managed to immigrate to Canada in 1926 and lived with her daughter Elisabeth (my great-grandma) for awhile.  She eventually married and moved to Saskatchewan where she died alone with an abusive husband in 1934 at the age of 66.

Her story haunts me. I know this lotion would not have made her life better, but hopefully the uplifting scent, specially made to soothe the skin and energize the spirits can honour her memory and the hardships she endured.