Herbal Holiday Gift Guide

As the holiday season approaches, it's the perfect moment to celebrate the magic of small herbal businesses. Beyond the glittering lights and busy crowds, these businesses offer handcrafted remedies and aromatic treasures, each infused with intention and care.

Shopping small means discovering unique, personalized products while supporting businesses that prioritize sustainability, ethical sourcing, and community connection. Many small herbal companies also tread lightly on the planet, making them a thoughtful choice for both gift-giving and the environment.

This holiday gift guide showcases artisanal herbal delights – from incense kits and aromatic arts supplies to handmade topicals, teas, tinctures, essential oils, hydrosols, perfumes, mushroom extracts, and more. Many of the small businesses included this year were directly impacted by Hurricane Helene, and your support helps them rebuild and thrive. (indicated with an asterisk*)

Be sure to put your orders in soon to get your gifts before the holidays. Let’s dive into this collection of heartfelt, beautiful botanicals gifts that make a difference! Click the blue link to explore each small business website.

Our company Higher Mind Incense carries a variety of natural and sustainable loose incense, rope incense, resins and gums, and single botanicals. We also offer many options for materials and tools for the incense crafter, such as incense cone molds, incense crafting kits, and more. You can also find beautiful incense burners and natural incense charcoal. Not sure what scents your loved one will like? No worries, we've got you covered with gift cards between $10 - $200.

All of the products at Higher Mind Incense are ethically and sustainably sourced, fair trade, and grown naturally. If you know an incense connoisseur or someone who has taken our incense crafting course at the Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine, any of our products would make a great addition to their aromatic arts practice.

Phoenix Rising Perfumery offers natural fragrances that are free from parabens and phthalates and makes a variety of traditional Oud oils and Artisan attar products. Whether you're looking for rare and unique perfumes, or if your loved one is interested in perfumery and making their own formulas, this shop features many different unique perfumes, essential oils, oil blends, and perfumery materials – everything you need to take your fragrance artistry to the next level! This small shop is owned by our natural perfumery instructor JK DeLapp.

Based in Leicester, North Carolina, Daughters of the Red Sunset is owned by Maria Muscarella, a Nurse, Midwife, Clinical Herbalist, and Women’s Herbal Educator. Here you can find herbal hot chocolates, teas, bitters, roll-on perfumes, tinctures, elixirs, and oils, as well as beautiful naturally dyed fabrics, scarves, pillow cases, pottery, art, and note cards. 

Heilbron Herbs is 100% femme owned and all of their products are made by hand by their small team in Western North Carolina. They work directly with small regenerative farms, wildcrafters and producers to ensure that ingredients have a positive impact on people and planet. Their offerings include a wide range of tinctures, teas, face oils, deodorant, hydrosols, and more. 

Firetree Organics is a craft regenerative hemp and cannabis brand rooted in the greater Western North Carolina region. Their mission is to harness the wisdom of nature to create high-quality, affordable plant medicine that supports your health and well-being. Their offerings include internal and topical full-spectrum CBD products.

Learning Herbs offers multiple resources for learning about medicinal plants. The store carries a herbal remedy kit, which includes a herbal starter course, so you can have everything you need to begin using herbs. As well, there is a beginners guide to learning about herbal medicine that features a cookbook and a hands-on learning course for kids called Herb Fairies. These could be perfect gift options to get your loved ones into herbalism.

Learning Herbs also sells a fun board game, Wildcraft, which is a great way to learn about edible and medicinal plants while bringing the family together during the holidays. During the game, players use teamwork to gather huckleberries for grandma’s home-made huckleberry pie. Players climb a mountain and collect other medicinal plants used by grandma along the way.

The adventure game is perfect for children of all ages and covers 27 different plants. Some plants included are Echinacea, Burdock, Huckleberry, Calendula, Chickweed, Comfrey, Dandelion, Chamomile, Elder, Field Mint, Cottonwood, Jewelweed, Lemon Balm, and more.

Strictly Medicinal Seeds is an incredible resource for those who enjoy growing medicinal plants at home. The company sells seeds, live roots, and potted plants of medicinal herbs, aromatic plants, vegetables, shrubs, trees, and succulents, as well as many exotic and rare aromatic and herbal species (like White Sage, Copal, and Guggul).

The potential to grow an amazing apothecary of plant medicine at home can be accessed through this company! You can also find tools for making herbal tinctures, as well as books on herbal medicine and gardening. The choice of seeds and plants are vast through their website, and if you're not sure what to choose, they offer gift cards, too.

Blossom + Thorn is a woman owned herbal apothecary based in Bend, Oregon.  All products are formulated and handmade by a trained clinical herbalist that has been working for almost a decade in the field of herbalism. This small business focuses on offering sustainable herbal products with high-quality ingredients, ethically wild crafted plants or herbs from local organic farms.

The apothecary offers all-natural herbal-infused products including lip balms, face oil, healing skin balms, hair oil, and herbal oil blends. A little something for everyone!

Feral Fungi is the perfect place to get your fix of medicinal mushroom medicine. The company offers both single-mushroom and blended alchemically made spagyric tinctures, mushroom essences, as well as some mushroom edible treats. They are based in Estacada, Oregon, and collaborate closely with local farmers and harvesters for the best US-grown organic fungi. Their extraction process, rooted in alchemical traditions, results in potent, holistic extracts aimed at harmonizing body, mind, and spirit, emphasizing purity, potency, and local sourcing.

Blue Ridge Chaga Connection is based in Asheville, North Carolina and offers locally foraged Chaga, Reishi, Lions Mane, Maitake, Turkey Tail and other edible/medicinal mushrooms, using 100% sustainable methods of foraging, processing and packaging. Here you will find freshly dried mushrooms, or mushroom products in the form of soups, salts, teas, and tinctures.

Oshala Farm is an organic regenerative farm in Southern Oregon. On their website you can find their organically grown and hand-harvested dried herbs and spices, as well as other botanical products made using their organic herbs, including infused oils, salves, tea blends, and some great options for bath and body products.

They also offer a variety of gift sets, including a new mama’s collection, tea lover’s set, self-care sets, a food lover's spice collection, and more.

Apothepurity is an apothecary and body care company located just outside of Asheville, NC. All products are expertly formulated and crafted by a certified aromatherapist and herbalist with a background in aesthetics, and a graduate of the NW School of Aromatic Medicine.

Their offerings are handmade in small batches with the finest organic and wild harvested ingredients available, many of which are grown by them on their 3 acre homestead nestled in a magical forest. You'll find essential oil blends, oil rollers, mists, beautiful beeswax candles, bath salts, body butters, dry shampoo, and seasonal items like a candy cane body scrub. 

Twin Flower Botanicals is a small herbal business currently based in Western North Carolina that offers a wide variety of aromatic plant-infused oils, including Calendula, Lavender, Chamomile, Mugwort, and more. You can even build your own body oil and make a custom order! There are also many different types of body care items, such as body butters, magnesium lotions, salves, and tallow products. If you can't decide what to get, they also offer handmade herbal gift boxes and gift certificates. 

Iris Folk Medicinals is a small business owned by a trained herbalist based in Asheville, North Carolina. All of their products are conjured in the beautiful blue ridge mountains of NC. Each piece is handcrafted and made with as many homegrown or locally sourced herbs as possible. Here you will find a mix of oxymels, mocktails, bitters, teas, tinctures, facial products, lip balms, oils, and more. 

Wise Earth Way is a small business based in Asheville, North Carolina, owned by a Certified Clinical Herbalist, trained in the methodologies of Scientific Herbalism, Vitalism, Folk Traditions, and the Wise Women tradition of nourishing the mind, body, and soul. They offer a wide range of topical and internal herbal preparations, including holiday bundles and gift baskets if you can't decide on one item!

Strawflower Craft is a small herbal business based in Brevard, North Carolina. Most products are created with garden grown herbs, plants ethically and sustainably wild harvested from Western North Carolina, or organic nearby farms. Here you'll find beautifully made hydrosols, teas, cordials, tinctures, topicals, and more.

Handcrafted artisan herbal extracts from the pristine mountains of Western North Carolina: Reverence Botanicals is a small family business making herbal extractions in micro batches with herbs they organically and biodynamically grow or ethically wildcraft. All extractions are lovingly made with freshly harvested plants. They offer a wide range of herbal tinctures, salves, and several CBD products.

Spiral Roots Sanctuary is a small business owned by herbalist Ashae Summers
based in Marshall, North Carolina who has been practicing herbalism in the Appalachian mountains since 2013. All herbal products use 100% sustainably harvested and grown herbs, never with any chemicals. Find beautifully crafted candles, salves, essential oil sprays, elixirs, teas, bath salts, and more.

Aurum Apotheca is a small businesses owned by an herbalist with over 20 years of experience based in Asheville, NC. Their products contains plants they have grown or sourced from local farms they have personal connection to. Their formulas contain fresh mountain spring water that is collected from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC. From soil to bottle, their hands have touched every part of the process. All products have been crafted using practices that are natural, environmentally mindful, cruelty free, and biodynamically grown. Shop face tonics, serums, hydrosols, skin balms, and more.

Looking Glass Botanicals is a small business owned by a budding herbalist based out of the magical Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, crafting small batch botanical skincare. Shop facial butter, serums, toners, under eye serum, cleansing oils, lotion bars, soaking salts, lip balm, solid perfume, and body balms.

The Herb Rally Store carries herbal minded t-shirts, hoodies, and apparel – including a an amazing retro shirt that reads, "Eat Your Weeds." They also sell mugs, hats, and accessories adorned with plant designs. Along with merchandise, the store also features plant photography and a few different online courses on frugal nutrition and herbal medicine. All potential great gifts for the budding herbalist!

Hopefully with the help of this guide, you can find the perfect offerings to share with those you care for, all while supporting sustainable & ethical small businesses.

Happy holidays from all of us at The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine!