I've been avoiding writing about this for a while, but it's one of the main drivers for why I want to make products. A few years ago I came down with herpes HSV1 genital. Having HSV1 herpes oral aka cold sores is something that does not have the same negative social stigma, but being labeled with the downstairs version of that felt like really bad news. Getting real honest here, I waited to have sex until marriage because the Bible says so, but also because I got a healthy dose of fear of STDs from our junior high health class. I didn't want to have an STD, it was probably one of my biggest fears in life. My husband's family has cold sores, and I'll let you fill in the blanks but a few years into marriage I got really, really sick and turns out I got the cold sores down there. There are so many bigger and badder things that can happen in life, but I definitely felt pretty broken and embarrassed and honestly like a leper hearing that news from the doctor. I think God is good all the time, and I think God is good even though one of my biggest fears came true.
Having something that is not curable and contagious made me hyper aware of how often herpes and STDs in general are used as the butt of jokes or 'at least I don't have' statements. I honestly put a lot of effort out to not have this happen, and it still did. I remember seeing a new beauty brand launching about eczema (which another story for another day, but I am currently working through a one year old baby with eczema and have a soft spot for this skin sensitivity too) and the founder stated 'at least it's not contagious' as one of their informative points and I felt so lousy knowing what I had was contagious. I have so much respect for that founder and that brand, but that statement really hit me. Right now writing this if feels like I am the only one with herpes. The doctors I've met with and google (lol, I try not to ever ask 'doctor google') say 'Herpes infections are very common. Fifty to 80 percent of American adults have oral herpes (HSV-1), which causes cold sores or fever blisters in or around the mouth. Genital herpes, caused by HSV-1 or HSV-2, affects one out of every six people in the U.S. age 14 to 49.' (Quote via John Hopkins Medicine). But I can tell you it sure doesn't feel that way.
After finding this out, I looked into what types of body washes and lotions would be non-irritating. I love shopping at Sephora and Nordstrom for personal care products, and after searching I still cannot find one item relating to this at any of my favorite places to shop. I've had a dream of creating a beauty brand since I was in college, without any true 'why' behind it, and honestly it feels like right now this is my 'why.' Propolis was one of the main natural remedies mentioned for herpes, and just like beeswax and our 100% Pure Beeswax Candles, this is a bee by product. I've also been looking into Zinc and Vitamin D a lot for my son's eczema, as well as Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) and am dreaming about a combination of those in a body wash and body lotion. Something that is good for everyone, but also includes people with herpes, eczema, psoriasis and other skin sensitivities. Dreaming of something that someone with or without these would want to use, something that could live on a luxury beauty shelf and not just in a drugstore.
My mission statement for Otho Cosmetics is to make good products that share the Good News. I'm inspired by In-N-Out's Bible verses on the bottoms of their packaging, and have a deep desire to have Bible verses in Sephora. I've been dreaming about this for a while now, and feel like the very thing I never wanted to happen might be the one thing someone else might need to hear too. God loves you no matter what your body looks like, has in it or on it. God loves you no matter what your mind thinks or has in it or worries about. Jesus touched the leper. I pray that someday if this desire comes to fruition that God will get the glory, and that my heart's desires will be good in following through with this dream. I pray that God will help me put Bible verses on the shelves of Sephora, and that those words will touch someone's heart who needed to hear it. I pray not my will, but His will be done.
Here's to more dreaming and more praying and trusting God with the outcome.
xx
Aubree