Evidence-based. Hands-on. Things you will actually use.

Watch and learn how hydrolats and essential oils are produced in real-time with demonstrations from our alembic distiller. We'll be producing botanical hydrolats throughout the day. Or grab a seat in one of our complimentary mini-workshops, where you can produce your own botanical salt scrub, therapeutic lotion, or roll-on blend. Every item you make in our workshops is rooted in the scientific literature, most of which comes from our own clinical trials. We'll also have Dr. Cavanaugh on-site for an all day meet-and-greet. You can grab a copy of her latest book, Evidence Based Handmade Apothecary, sign up to join one of our ongoing natural product studies, or just hang out, read some of our scientific findings, and indulge in some pampering treats and mocktails. All mini-labs are free, but space is limited. Registration reserves your spot and is strongly suggested.  OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE: 10AM | ROSEMARY LEMON DISTILLATION: We'll be warming up the distiller with a rosemary-lemon co-distillation. This blend provides skin soothing benefits, cognitive awakening aromas, and is a great room spray. A limited number of bottles will be available for sale after each distillation or enjoy a complimentary bottle if you're a founding member of The Inner Circle. 10:30AM | SKIN MINI LAB: Your skin is host to trillions of microorganisms that regulate barrier function, inflammation, and how your skin responds to stress. Most skincare works against this ecosystem without knowing it. In this 20-minute lab, Dr. Cavanaugh breaks down the skin microbiome research and what it means for what you put on your body, then you make a 2-oz botanically-based moisturizing body scrub with essential oils you blend yourself, and label it to take home.  11:30AM | STRESS MINI LAB: Stress is an underlying condition that is directly related to nearly every major cause of illness in the modern world, yet most management approaches barely scratch the surface. This 20-minute mini-lab borrows from Dr. Cavanaugh's latest release The Female Stress Protocol to cover the basics of HPA axis function and what the clinical evidence shows about aromatherapy and stress physiology. You'll formulate a science-backed 1-ounce massage blend and go home with the knowledge to actually put it to work. 12:30 PM | PEDIATRICS MINI LAB: When it comes to kids and natural health safety, NRI is leading the pack. We've conducted multiple clinical trials on essential oils and children and the only epidemiological study to  evaluate essential oils and endocrine disruption. This 20-minute mini-lab covers NRI's pediatric research in plain English, what the clinical trials actually showed, which oils are appropriate for children and why, and how to use them effectively. Then you make a kid-safe roll-on. Something useful to take home, and the science to back it up. 1PM | GRAPEFRUIT BASIL DISTILLATION: After bottling our rosemary-lemon co-distillation, we'll change things up with a grapefruit basil blend. This one is energizing, with bright aromas and astringent actions for the skin. A limited number of bottles will be available for sale after each distillation or enjoy a complimentary bottle if you're a founding member of The Inner Circle. 1:30PM | SLEEP MINI LAB:  The relationship between cortisol rhythm and sleep architecture is well-documented, but largely ignored in most sleep advice. This 20-minute mini-lab opens with a brief discussion on the clinical research connecting HPA axis function to sleep quality, then gets practical. You'll make a 2oz therapeutic lotion using a blend built from the same evidence base behind one of NRI's most cited studies. 2:30PM | SKIN MINI LAB: If you missed the morning lab, here's a second chance: Your skin is host to trillions of microorganisms that regulate barrier function, inflammation, and how your skin responds to stress. Most skincare works against this ecosystem without knowing it. In this 20-minute lab, Dr. Cavanaugh breaks down the skin microbiome research and what it means for what you put on your body, then you make a 2-oz botanically-based moisturizing body scrub with essential oils you blend yourself, and label it to take home.  3:30PM | STRESS MINI LAB: If you missed the morning lab, here's a second chance: Stress is an underlying condition that is directly related to nearly every major cause of illness in the modern world, yet most management approaches barely scratch the surface. This 20-minute mini-lab borrows from Dr. Cavanaugh's latest release The Female Stress Protocol to cover the basics of HPA axis function and what the clinical evidence shows about aromatherapy and stress physiology. You'll formulate a science-backed 1-ounce massage blend and go home with the knowledge to actually put it to work.

You've tried the bath bombs, the melatonin gummies, the magnesium. You're still wired at 10pm, exhausted by noon, and running on a stress cycle that won't quit. You're not doing it wrong. You just haven't had the right information. Your stress response is governed by cortisol, a hormone with a precise daily rhythm that modern life is very good at disrupting. NRI has spent years studying botanical compounds that interact with the HPA axis, the system that controls that rhythm, and published the findings. We know what the evidence shows works and what doesn't. In this class you'll understand your own stress biology for the first time, and make two products built directly from that research. You'll leave with a cortisol support roller and a wind-down blend, and the confidence of someone who finally knows what she's actually dealing with.

You've heard retinol is the gold standard for anti-aging skincare. You've also experienced what it actually feels like: the burning, the peeling, the six-week adjustment period where your skin looks worse before it looks better, the strict sun avoidance, and the hard stop if you're pregnant or trying to be. You've accepted these as the trade-off for something that actually works, because nothing else had the clinical evidence to back it up. Until 2019, that was true. That year, a botanical extract went head-to-head against retinol in a published randomized controlled trial and produced equivalent results for fine lines, texture, and pigmentation with none of the consequences. Bakuchiol, extracted from the Psoralea corylifolia plant, activates the same retinoic acid receptor pathways that make retinol effective, which is why the outcomes match, without triggering the keratinocyte disruption that makes retinol intolerable for so many people. No irritation as a mechanism of action. No contraindications. No sun sensitivity. The trial results were not close on comfort measures and were statistically equivalent on every efficacy measure. This class is built around that research, and by the time you start making things you will understand exactly what you are making and why it works. In this class you'll make three preparations that work together as a complete evidence-based routine. The Bakuchiul Facial Serum is the anchor, formulated to the exact concentration used in the clinical trial in a rosehip seed, sea buckthorn, and squalane base chosen for their own documented skin-barrier and photoprotective activity. The Caffeine and Gotu Kola Body Firming Oil brings the same evidence-forward approach from your face to everything else, built on caffeine's documented phosphodiesterase inhibition for visible firming and centella asiatica's direct stimulation of collagen synthesis in connective tissue. The Green Tea and Ferulic Acid Antioxidant Toner completes the system, formulated around ferulic acid's documented ability to stabilize vitamin C and double its photoprotective efficacy at the skin surface. You'll leave with all three, a layering guide, and the particular confidence that comes from finally understanding what you're actually putting on your skin and why it earns its place there.

You're exhausted all day and wide awake the moment your head hits the pillow. You've tried melatonin. Maybe it helped a little. Maybe it didn't. Either way, you're still waking up at 3am staring at the ceiling wondering why your brain won't cooperate. Poor sleep is rarely a melatonin deficiency. It's usually a cortisol problem, specifically cortisol that didn't drop when it was supposed to because your nervous system never got the signal to downshift. Understanding that distinction changes everything about how you approach sleep support. In this class you'll learn what's actually happening in your body and why, then make two products calibrated to the real mechanism: one for the hour before bed and one for the middle of the night wake-up. You'll leave knowing exactly what to reach for and why it works.

You have a to-do list that won't quit and a brain that keeps sliding off task. You've tried caffeine, you've tried cutting caffeine, you've tried every productivity hack and supplement that showed up in your feed. Some days it works. Most days it doesn't. Cognitive performance and sustained concentration are well-studied in botanical research. Compounds like rosemary, peppermint, and adaptogens including ashwagandha and bacopa have peer-reviewed trials behind them showing measurable effects on focus, working memory, and mental fatigue. The problem is most products combine them randomly, at doses that don't reflect the research. In this class you'll learn what the evidence actually shows, skip everything that doesn't hold up, and make two products built from what does: one for your desk and one for your bag. You'll leave sharper than you came in and with tools that work on demand.

You have a medicine cabinet full of things you're not sure about. Ibuprofen for everything. Antacids that work until they don't. Muscle creams that smell like a locker room and wear off in an hour. You know there has to be something better, but the wellness industry has made it nearly impossible to know what's actually evidence-based and what's just expensive packaging with a plant on the label. The home apothecary tradition is older than modern medicine, and the best formulas from that tradition have now been validated in peer-reviewed clinical trials. Compounds like allantoin and calendula have published wound-healing data. Ginger's effect on nausea has been studied in everything from chemotherapy patients to pregnant women, with consistent findings across populations. Peppermint's analgesic mechanism has been directly compared to acetaminophen in a randomized controlled trial. Botanical anti-inflammatories like arnica's helenalin compounds and menthol's cold receptor activation have documented mechanisms of action that explain exactly why they work, in language that holds up in a research context. These are not folk remedies dressed up as science. They are the science. In this class you'll make four products that cover the situations you reach for something most often. A wound-healing balm built from botanicals with documented tissue repair activity, for every scrape, cut, and minor skin injury that happens in a household. A ginger chew formulated to the evidence base for nausea, motion sickness, and digestive upset, the one you'll actually want to eat. A tension headache roller built around the same botanical compound studied against acetaminophen, small enough for your purse and effective enough to become your first reach instead of your last resort. And a muscle and joint salve that works the way the drugstore version claims to, through cooling, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic botanicals with clinical evidence behind each one, without the synthetic ingredients or the smell that clears a room. You'll make all four, understand the research behind every formula, and leave with a home kit that finally makes sense.

Every fall you watch cold and flu season coming and wish you had something real to reach for. Not a supplement with a vague label and a celebrity endorsement. Something with actual research behind it, made for your family, that you trust because you understand it. NRI has published two respiratory trials. A pediatric chest rub RCT examining botanical compounds for upper respiratory symptom relief. A throat spray study in which all symptoms resolved by day three. These are not marketing claims. They are peer-reviewed published findings. In this class you'll hear what we found and why the formulas work the way they do, then make both products yourself. You'll head into cold and flu season with two evidence-based tools, made by hand, that you'll actually know how to use.

Your bathroom shelf is full of products that smell incredible and do approximately nothing. You've spent real money on body care that feels luxurious in the moment and makes no measurable difference by morning. The beauty industry has become very good at selling fragrance as function, and most people have no framework for telling the difference. Skin absorption is one of the most well-studied areas in topical pharmacology. Calendula's triterpenoids have documented barrier repair activity. Peppermint and rosemary both have published data on microcirculation stimulation at the skin surface. Sea buckthorn is one of the most researched botanical oils in dermatology, with documented effects on barrier repair and elasticity across multiple trials. And the French botanical oils, including neroli distilled from bitter orange blossom and aromatics sourced directly from producers in the south of France, bring documented skin-conditioning and anxiolytic activity that explains why they've been central to apothecary tradition for centuries. You'll make three products that work as a complete body care routine. A French Botanical Body Butter built on calendula-infused shea with neroli and French-sourced oils, formulated for moisture retention and the kind of skin-as-perfume experience that drugstore body care never quite achieves. A Peppermint and Rosemary Energizing Scrub with a salt and sugar base and both actives at concentrations calibrated to the circulatory research. And a Sea Buckthorn Barrier Oil built for fall skin protection, with a dry-finish base that absorbs rather than sits. You'll leave with all three and a permanent skepticism toward anything that can't explain why its ingredients earned their place.

You get tension headaches. You reach for ibuprofen or acetaminophen and you'd rather not, but you don't know what else actually works. Everything marketed as a natural headache remedy either does nothing or comes with zero explanation of why it should. In 1996 a peer-reviewed clinical trial found topical peppermint oil equivalent to acetaminophen for tension headache relief. The finding has been replicated. The mechanism involves peripheral pain modulation and vasodilation at the application site. It is not widely known outside research circles and we have never understood why. In this class you'll learn the science behind that finding and what it tells us about botanical pain support more broadly, then make two products: a temple roller for acute headache relief and a neck and shoulder tension blend for end-of-day buildup. You'll leave with both, and the next time a headache starts you'll know exactly what to reach for first.

Your skincare routine is thorough. Cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer. And yet your skin still isn't behaving the way you want it to. You've swapped products, simplified, added back, and you're still troubleshooting. Nobody has suggested that your routine itself might be the problem. Your skin hosts a complex microbial ecosystem that regulates barrier function, inflammation, and resilience. Research over the last decade has made clear that many conventional skincare ingredients, including common preservatives, surfactants, and synthetic fragrances, disrupt that ecosystem in ways that create the exact problems they claim to solve. Understanding the microbiome changes how you think about everything on your shelf. In this class you'll learn what the research shows about the skin microbiome and barrier function, then make two products designed to support rather than disrupt. You'll leave with both, and a completely new framework for evaluating everything else in your routine.

Y Your cycle is unpredictable, your mood shifts in ways that feel outside your control, and nobody has given you a satisfying explanation beyond "that's just hormones." You're managing symptoms you don't fully understand with products that may or may not be doing anything, and you're tired of guessing. NRI has published clinical research on PMS, perimenopause, and the female stress response. Botanical compounds including vitex, evening primrose, and specific adaptogenic herbs have been studied for their effects on hormonal regulation, symptom burden, and quality of life across the reproductive lifespan. Women's bodies are not an afterthought in this research. They are the entire focus. In this class you'll get a clear, honest picture of what the evidence shows and what it doesn't, then make two products formulated specifically for women's hormonal health. You'll leave with both, a working understanding of your own biology, and the particular confidence that comes from finally being taken seriously.

The English countryside has been a working pharmacy for a thousand years. The elderflower growing along the Cotswolds lanes. The rosehips covering the Jurassic Coast cliffs in autumn. The meadowsweet blooming in summer meadows that gave nineteenth-century chemists the molecular blueprint for aspirin. Long before clinical trials existed, English cottage herbalism was doing the careful, generational work of figuring out what actually helped. Most of it holds up. Dr. Cavanaugh sourced these botanicals directly on her Cotswolds and Weymouth trip, which means the plants in this class have a provenance most herbalism courses can't offer. We'll spend time on the history, the chemistry, and the published clinical evidence behind five hedgerow botanicals, because understanding where something comes from and why it works are not separate conversations. During World War II, the British government organized a nationwide rosehip harvest when citrus imports were blockaded. That decision was not folklore. It was applied botanical science, and the research behind it still holds up. You'll make three preparations that put that tradition directly in your hands. A classic elderflower cordial, the quintessential hedge-to-glass preparation that has been made along English lanes for centuries and carries documented antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity beneath its fragrance. A rosehip oxymel, honey and apple cider vinegar as a delivery vehicle for one of the most vitamin C-dense botanicals in the hedgerow, in a preparation that keeps for months and tastes like it was made in a farmhouse kitchen. And a meadowsweet salve, built from the plant that gave chemists the compound they turned into aspirin, salicylate-rich, anti-inflammatory, and deeply embedded in English herbal tradition, applied topically as the oldest headache remedy in the hedgerow. You'll leave with all three, the stories behind each one, and a new relationship with a tradition that was evidence-based long before anyone called it that.