On May 3rd, 2016, more than 80,000 people fled the Fort McMurray area including myself and my husband. After fleeing the fire, my husband and I settled into the nearest city – a short 5 hour drive away – and waited to hear news. It took a week before we learned our house was still standing. It took months to determine what was salvageable and move home again. Everything was damaged. “The Beast” as the fire became known had seemingly stolen everything.

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“The Beast" did not truly win but the stress did have a major effect on my skin. Combined with the effects of weather and age, I did not like what I saw in the mirror.

 

After a time I regrouped and educated myself more about how the fire likely came to be. I watched as the forest and town came back to life. I came to realize how resilient our backyard is. I was curious and began experimenting. I looked for and tried ingredients from the forest in skincare making.

 

My thinking was that resilient skin comes from ingredients in a place of resilience  - like a 100-mile diet for our skin. It worked and I feel better looking in the mirror. It inspired me to create Taiga (tay-gah) Beauty. I make skincare inspired by the Boreal Forest (Taiga) . It’s resilient and helps skin become resilient as well. Taiga Beauty™ is Inspired Beauty from Canada and its Boreal Forest.