- About NHCO -
I'm Nicole Hawthorne, owner and creator of NHCO (pronounced "NH-co") Botanical Bodycare.
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE ECONOMY
In 2010, I graduated from Baylor University with my BA in Interior Design, but the architectural job I was guaranteed fell through. The housing market had busted, and no one was building. Or hiring.
Applying for any decent paying job in any field I thought I could muster proved unsuccessful.
I worked as a cashier in college, and ended up still there a full year after graduating. During that time, I considered selling handmade candles as a side hustle, and to help satisfy my itch for creativity.
I came across soap-making on Google while searching for candle-making. While working a full time job, I ran my micro-business on the side, improving my product and brand. At that time, my main products were handcrafted soaps. Sweet Texas Olive was featured on Dallas Tidbits and Culture Map Dallas, to name a few sites.
FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES...
My husband and I already knew my PCOS had made it difficult to conceive, but treatment was an option. After 6 years of marriage, and failing fertility treatments, we finally conceived on our own!
Time passed, and during a routine sonogram, we found out that our baby passed away, and that it had already been two weeks. We didn't even get to say our goodbyes. Read the full story here.
Nothing mattered anymore. Depression consumed me, and I quit NHCO. All of my equipment, materials, and ingredients were thrown into the dumpster.
An entire year had almost passed. My heart was slowly healing, and I realized that I had to get up and do something. Otherwise, I would waste away in that state. I decided that instead of feeding depression, I would feed creativity and wellness.
We never found out why our baby died. Only that I have PCOS, and that the sac had too much fluid. PCOS is one of the primary causes of infertility, and increases the chances of miscarriage and/or stillbirth.
With PCOS, a woman's hormones are compromised, and it's detrimental to eat foods that encourage further pandemonium. This is why women with PCOS tend to eliminate processed foods from their diets, avoid dairy (more hormones!), and choose pesticide-free foods (organic). These things can affect anyone, but is magnified exponentially when you have a syndrome like PCOS that makes you more sensitive.
So why continue creating products that are silent enemies to our health?
Things we put on our skin have the potential to work their way into our systems (that's why topical medicines exist), and I had to change that. Synthetic ingredients aren't always guaranteed to affect our bodies, but what if they do?
So, they were all eliminated from NHCO products. I set out to create a pure line of skincare products that:
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Promote the power of plants
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Nourishes the skin without creating or worsening conditions
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Doesn't contain synthetic ingredients that may adversely affect the endocrine system
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Doesn't have a long list of complex ingredients listed on the back
We understand that some natural ingredients can also affect the hormones, and we keep those concentrations at safe levels (or don't use them at all).
NHCO has evolved from a small-time hobby to an effective plant-based bodycare line. Skincare products shouldn't be silent enemies, whether they are for men or women, and our products are for everyone.
