History & Mission

Evan’s Garden History & Mission

Hello! Welcome to Evan’s Garden! I’m so happy you’re here! Before I dive in to history and my mission, it’s important that you know that you may contact me with any questions you might have. Perfectly okay.

As an overview, to better introduce Evan’s Garden, here is some history.
Before I thought, “I’ll make a company,“ in 1999 and 2000, I created some products I needed but could not find. First, faced with a verdict of $3500 in dental surgery, I needed something to fix my teeth and gums. Fortunately, I was familiar enough with herbal healing (primarily from in-depth study of Master Herbalists Dr. John Christopher and his student, Dr. Richard Schulze) to know what key ingredients to look for. The search frustrated and amazed me – neither the internet nor brick and mortar health food stores had what was needed. So I studied up more, herbal, aromatherapy and natural medical references galore (I love books!), found ingredients and concocted a dental powder. It saved me from that surgery – never have needed it.

Next, I wanted to unbend an elbow that had not, despite all medications applied, unbent in ages. Just as a hurricane was about to start, I headed for my daughter’s house to check on that family with baby twin girls, driving a British sports car famous for the failure of its electrical. Busy street, my left arm was the signal to turn into her driveway and whoooosh! Hurricane winds! Got hyper-extension of the left elbow (bent back further than its anatomy ought to allow). It ached right away. Next morning and for nearly a year and a half, elbow no unbend! To try to bend or loosen it up hurt like the beejeebers. I felt like a mannequin whose hand is always placed at the waist. By this time, I had bought every essential oil under the sun and moon and other highly nutritious stuff. I threw myself into books and created an ointment that worked overnight to unbend my elbow. That is All Better, Honey™. (“Are you all better, honey?“)

Next, I thought of my mug. In my early 50’s then, I did not want to get old-looking, in spite of vast respect in general for the elderly. So again I studied – dug in deeply to the physiology of skin, the action of various plants, what essential oils are safe in what quantities for what purpose – and also consulted my own gut feelings (which I always have checked against medical aromatherapy data) and created The Perfect Rose™ Refining Facial Serum – named this for how smooth, alive and soft the complexion feels and looks after this treatment. Nothing as breathtaking to me as a fresh petal on a living rose.

Then, beaming with admitted pride and joy over that, I wanted a moisturizing cream. I eagerly concocted La Crème de la Crème™  (a French expression which could translate to “the best of the best”). I intended to address with essential oils each layer of the skin, to feed the skin abundantly with whole-plant, organic and highly bio-available food, encourage it to take in all that nourishment cellularly and to do other tasks the ideal face cream ought to perform. The guiding idea I hold dear as a natural products formulator is that our bodies are “eager,“ if you will, to renew according to our own natural, built-in blueprint when fed fully and allowed to regenerate – without the interruption of unrecognized chemicals . In truth, I’m sure that this is fact. 

Then DreamSoap™ and, boy! was my mug happy!

By now, I’m thinking, I am mighty good at this and living in a world where no company that I can find is making amazing-quality, totally natural products. So-so fully natural is widely available. And so-called natural, tainted with garbage I’d not want on my skin or in my mouth, was becoming ever more ubiquitous (as awareness and demand were growing for natural products). I realized, I have a purpose and a niche! The world needs what I have to offer. I can help.

Plus, I was getting comments on my complexion from astonished and awed people. Me, the unabashed big mouth – I couldn’t help but blab excitedly about these products to my best friends. Family and friends were trying them and after seeing them freak out (in a good way) over results, I assumed that people would prefer all-natural products, formulated to work – vastly prefer them to either cheaper, skimpier natural ones (which don’t create astounding effects) or fancier, spendier ones which contain questionable ingredients permitted in cosmetics (in the U.S., especially). So I started a company!

My Mission

The original intention was to provide such effective and uncompromised offerings that people would discover the power of nature and therefore, shun dangerous products. I intended to make products that gave them results they may have only dreamt of.

Importantly, I wanted people, as a result of exposure to fully natural personal care, to be healthier and feel more beautiful and more fully alive. There was the intention to help free people of the grip of unnatural and toxic chemicals. This could be done by demonstrating unmistakably the astonishing and happy effects of natural essences. Behind that was a growing awareness that our bodies respond to nature from millenia and more of living as part of nature. I felt that our bodies are baffled and thrown off by what they have not been long familiar with, something now known to be the case. If we want not only excellent but comfortable and safe results, grasping all we can of nature is a good place to start.

As far as skin care and personal care go, many people now are aware of the following: what we apply to the skin penetrates it and then may enter the bloodstream for distribution throughout the body. What may not be known is that, applied to the surface of the skin, all this happens without the benefit of filtration that our kidneys and liver do for us when we ingest. Thus, applying bad stuff to the skin may be even more dangerous than eating it. Toxic ingredients or even ones unfamiliar to our bodies may cause or worsen ill-health.

Here is the beating heart of my mission. It is my belief that an ill body sucks up such attention that we are left mentally reduced, less vibrantly alive, emotionally robbed and depressed and with our energies siphoned off. This is what I wanted most to affect for the better.

The name, Organic Beauty, struck me as perfect, I incorporated and began to promote and produce products, to formulate more and…I got a bevy of happy customers and remarkable word of mouth.

Soon, a couple, blown away by a product’s results and well-heeled, offered a sizeable investment. With a facility located, rent paid and build-out done, the man’s feet got cold and they renegged. We had spent all of the first installment on the property. At that point,  there were inadequate funds for marketing and a debt. So what did we do? Our gosh-darned best! The company is still here, which says something. :o) And that experience was, after all is said and done, a great blessing, as we got the company established and running.

In 2005, an Arizona group stole the name of Organic Beauty and threatened to sue for its use. We’d been shipping all over the country and world so had the legal stance to claim the name but to fight this in court, costs were prohibitive, so…we chose a new name, Evan’s Garden. I added the tag line, “totally natural products that work.” It may not be ideal but it feels sweet and personal, doesn’t it? and it has been working just fine.

Now you know the basic history, the story. But what has not been told is what my customers have contributed and what they mean to me. Truth be, some of them are my very best friends. It’s been over twenty-two years now. Never being one for canned, formulaic customer service, I have ended up being so blessed as to make friendships with my customers that have lasted and grown deeper over the years. They’ve pulled me through when times have been tight. They’ve made suggestions for improvement that were pivotal. They’ve been there for me in a myriad of ways, as I have been for them. This is for me the true gold of Evan’s Garden.

I would love to hear from you!

Evan