The Lavender Mile: Finding My Way Back to Soap Making

Journal Entry #2: The story before Healing on Wheels Apothecary 

I thought my soap-making days were behind me.

Then, on the first day of a drive to Seattle to visit my daughter, I passed lavender fields along Highway 46 outside Bakersfield.

And a thought came to me so naturally:

I should make soap again.

To explain why that moment meant so much, I need to take you back to 2013—to a little business called Herban Seduction, and the life my daughter and I were living then.

Where it all began

By the time I started Herban Seduction, I had been a nurse for ten years. Working as a school nurse, I often saw children with irritated, sensitive skin. Those experiences made me curious about the products families used every day and inspired me to learn more about soap making and thoughtful formulation.

My first soap was called Sleepy Baby, made with a Castile soap base, lavender, and chamomile. It became one of my most popular products, and conversations with the families who bought it encouraged me to keep creating.

One soap became two. Then five. Eventually, I was making shampoo bars, shave bars, lotion bars, lip balms, body butters, and more.

Along the way, I learned about herbs, essential oils, ingredients, and the care that goes into developing a recipe. Each product taught me something.

A business that grew alongside us

At the time, I was going through a divorce. Our household had gone from two incomes to one, and I had two children to support.

I wanted to help provide for my family while making things I believed in. I also wanted it to be fun.

Even the name had a story. Herban combined herbs with urban—the idea of bringing herbal living into everyday life. Seduction was my playful way of saying I wanted people to fall in love with the products and keep coming back.

With names like Hempy Hippie and Morning Wood, there was usually a little laughter at my booth.

Most weekends, I was packing up for a farmers market, craft fair, or community event. People told their friends, and orders began coming from around the country. Much of that growth happened through word of mouth and Facebook.

Between nursing, raising my children, and making products, life was full. And there was one person who helped make it all possible: my daughter.

Something we built together

She was in high school then, and she learned nearly every part of the business.

She helped set up and take down our booth, knew the products inside and out, and was wonderful with customers. Behind the scenes, she followed recipes, made products, and helped manage inventory.

Herban Seduction became something we shared.

Looking back, those ordinary weekends meant more than I could have known at the time. While we were working side by side, she was gaining experience that she later carried into business school, her role as president of her college’s business club, and the career she loves today.

I’m so proud of her. And I’m grateful we had those years together.

When that chapter quietly closed

Around her senior year of high school, my health began getting worse.

I live with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic connective tissue condition. As my symptoms became harder to manage, keeping up with the demands of the business became more difficult.

Then my daughter left for college.

So much of Herban Seduction had been woven into our time together. With her beginning a new chapter and my health changing, the business gradually wound down. About a year later, it quietly closed.

Life kept moving. Chronic illness required more of my attention. Eventually, the van became home, and soap making began to feel like something from another lifetime.

Until those lavender fields.

The Lavender Mile

I was driving to see the very person who had helped me build that first business when the idea of making soap returned.

That connection still means so much to me.

I think of that moment as the Lavender Mile—a stretch of road that reminded me how much I still loved creating.

But returning to soap making meant finding a way to do it within the life I have now.

Living with chronic illness had taught me to pay closer attention to my body. Time beside a river, beneath the trees, or watching a sunrise from the van had become a source of comfort. I was learning to slow down and make room for small, meaningful rituals.

I wanted the apothecary to grow from that way of living.

An old idea, a new bloom

One of the connections between then and now is First Bloom, inspired by the lavender-and-chamomile combination in my original Sleepy Baby soap.

Today, I hand-mill First Bloom in my mobile apothecary using a coconut milk base, ground chamomile, lavender and chamomile essential oils, and lavender buds on top.

Making it brings back memories of those early days—the recipes, the markets, and working beside my daughter. It also gives me something to create and enjoy in this season of my life.

Some ideas stay with us for years before we find room for them again.

Healing on Wheels Apothecary brings together so many chapters of my story: nursing, motherhood, learning about herbs, living with chronic illness, and finding comfort in nature.

I couldn’t have planned the path that brought me here. But I can see how much of what I loved along the way is still with me.

Something that started with love, closed with love, and came back with love.

Thank you for being here as this chapter unfolds.

With care,
Nurse TLC