The Kindred Journal

Sensitive skin tends to respond best to simplicity. A number of ingredients, while common across the skincare industry, are worth approaching with caution on delicate or reactive skin, particularly for children or anyone prone to irritation. Synthetic Fragrance Listed on labels as "parfum," synthetic fragrance is one of the most common causes of irritation in skincare. A single fragrance blend can contain dozens of individual compounds, none of which are required to be disclosed, making it difficult to identify the specific trigger when a reaction occurs. Sulphates Ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium laureth sulphate are widely used to create foam in cleansers and washes. In doing so, they can strip away the skin's natural oils, leaving it dry, tight, and more vulnerable to further irritation. Drying Alcohols Alcohol denat. and similar ingredients are often included for their fast-drying, lightweight feel, but they can disrupt the skin barrier with frequent use, particularly on skin that is already under strain. Harsh Preservatives Preservatives are a necessary part of any water-based formula, but certain types can cause sensitivity in delicate skin, especially at higher concentrations or when combined with other potentially irritating ingredients. Strong Exfoliating Acids Exfoliation has a place in most skincare routines, but aggressive acids can overwhelm sensitive skin, impairing rather than supporting its ability to repair itself. Artificial Colours and Dyes These offer no functional benefit to skin. Their only role is visual, and they carry a real risk of increasing irritation, particularly for young or reactive skin. Choosing a Shorter List A shorter, more considered ingredient list tends to place less unnecessary stress on skin. This is the reasoning behind how we formulate: prioritising barrier support and genuine hydration, so skin can function as it is designed to, calm, balanced, and without interruption. This information is general in nature. For guidance specific to a diagnosed skin condition, we recommend speaking with a qualified healthcare professional.

INGREDIENTS: 1 pound (450g) salmon fillets ¼ cup maple syrup 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated ¼ teaspoon garlic salt salt and pepper to taste Optional garnish: Fresh chopped coriander and sesame seeds METHOD: Prepare The Marinade: 1. In a bowl, combine maple syrup, soy sauce, minced garlic, grated ginger, garlic salt, and black pepper. Place salmon in a dish or resealable bag, pour marinade over, ensuring even coverage. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 12 hours For Baking: 1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).2. Place salmon skin-side down on a lined baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork. For Pan-Searing 1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with a bit of oil.2. Place salmon skin-side down, sear for 4-5 minutes until skin is crispy. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Serve with your preferred greens or sides.  Credit: @Thesaltedmint.com

Skincare is often drawn toward the ingredient of the moment, the latest botanical extract or newly isolated compound promising to change everything. Glycerin has never needed that kind of attention. Naturally derived from plant sources, it has remained one of the most trusted and enduring ingredients in skincare for a straightforward reason: it works, consistently, and without complication. What a Humectant Actually Does Glycerin belongs to a category of ingredients known as humectants. Rather than sitting on the skin's surface, it draws water toward it, pulling moisture from the deeper layers of skin and from the surrounding air into the outermost layer, the stratum corneum. For skin that struggles to hold onto moisture on its own, whether from dryness, sensitivity, or a compromised barrier, this function matters more than it might first appear. Skin that cannot retain water tends to feel tight and look dull, prone to flaking at the first sign of strain. Glycerin addresses this directly, replenishing what the skin cannot hold on its own, supporting suppleness over time, and reinforcing the barrier's ability to manage everything it is asked to withstand. Why It Suits a Family Unlike heavier, oil-based ingredients that can feel occlusive or sit uncomfortably on the skin, glycerin offers weightless hydration. This is part of why it is so broadly well tolerated, from the delicate skin of a toddler to the more weathered hands of a grandparent. It works without announcing itself, asking nothing of the skin beyond what it is already built to receive. A Case for Restraint When skin is reactive or its barrier compromised, the instinct is often to reach for something stronger. Glycerin argues for the opposite. It offers genuine performance with very little risk of irritation, which is precisely why it remains a foundational ingredient in our hand and body creams, doing quiet, essential work rather than competing for attention. Skincare, at its best, is rarely complicated. Glycerin is a fair example of why.

INGREDIENTS: For the Croutons 4 cups cubed crusty bread Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling Sea salt, for sprinkling Caesar Salad Dressing 1 cup mayonnaise ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 garlic clove, grated 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce* Pinch sea salt Freshly ground black pepper ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese* For the Salad 1 pound romaine lettuce, about 2 medium heads, chopped or torn into bite-size pieces ½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese* Freshly ground black pepper METHOD: Make the croutons: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the bread cubes on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toss to coat. Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 10 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Make the dressing: In a large liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and several grinds of pepper until smooth. Stir in the cheese and season to taste. If the dressing is too thick, stir in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency. Assemble the salad: Place the lettuce in a large bowl. Add half the dressing, half the croutons, and half the cheese and toss to coat. Add more dressing as desired, tossing until the salad is coated to your liking. Season to taste and top with the remaining croutons, remaining cheese, and several grinds of pepper. Credit: @Loveandlemons.com

Fragrance is often the first thing noticed in a skincare product, and for many people, a familiar scent turns a daily routine into something to look forward to. For those with sensitive or reactive skin, that same scent can lead to redness, itching, or irritation instead. "Natural" should not automatically mean heavily scented. Understanding how the skin barrier works is a useful starting point for choosing the right care for a family, particularly where that skin is still developing or already under strain. How a Compromised Barrier Changes the Equation A healthy skin barrier locks in moisture and keeps irritants out. For babies, and for skin already under strain, that barrier often has small gaps in its usual defences. When the barrier is compromised, fragrance, even from high-quality essential oils, can penetrate more deeply than intended. This can bring on reactive, itchy skin, a stinging or burning sensation on application, or a kind of ongoing irritation that makes it harder for the barrier to settle and repair itself. None of these outcomes reflect a flaw in the essential oil itself. They reflect a mismatch between an active ingredient and skin that, for the moment, needs less asked of it. Natural Does Not Mean Neutral A common assumption is that natural essential oils are inherently safe for sensitive skin. While oils such as lavender offer genuine benefits, they remain biologically active ingredients, and biologically active ingredients are not automatically suited to every kind of skin. For a newborn, or for skin in the middle of a significant flare-up, less tends to help more. A period with as few active ingredients as possible gives the barrier room to rebuild without added interference. What Unscented Actually Means Here When a Kindred Apothecary product is labelled fragrance-free, that is meant in the fullest sense. Many commercial brands rely on masking agents, synthetic compounds used to disguise the natural smell of raw ingredients, even in products marketed as unscented. Ours do not. Our fragrance-free range contains no added fragrance and no masking chemicals. What is left is simply the clean, unmasked character of ingredients like aloe vera, shea butter, and camellia oil, nothing added to cover it. Less Fragrance, Not Less Care Choosing less fragrance does not mean choosing less care. Often, it means paying closer attention to what skin actually needs: balance, genuine nourishment, and room to settle without further interruption. We offer both a lightly scented range, for those who want a moment of calm from real essential oils, and a fragrance-free range, for skin that needs heightened care. Whichever is chosen, every formula is built to the same standard, suited to the whole family.

INGREDIENTS: TOFU 300 g / 10.5 oz firm tofu*, pressed 15 ml / 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari (if GF) 1 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch (optional) 15 ml / 1 tbsp high smoke point oil (I used rice bran oil) SPRING ONION OIL (optional) 30 ml / 2 tbsp high smoke point oil 4 spring onions/scallions REMAINING INGREDIENTS 150 g / 5.3 oz tenderstem broccoli 150 g / 5.3 oz spring greens / collard greens 100 g / ¾ cup defrosted edamame or green peas 360 g / 3 cups leftover rice*, I used brown rice 20 ml / 1½ tbsp soy sauce or tamari (if GF), more to taste 10 ml / 2 tsp dark soy sauce, for colour (optional) 2.5 ml / ½ tsp sugar (optional) a good pinch of white pepper METHOD: TOFU Cut pressed tofu into 1.25 cm / 0.5″ cubes, place in a shallow dish and season with soy sauce. Mix it well and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Use a small sieve to dust the tofu with cornflour/cornstarch as you heat up a skillet/pan to fry the tofu in (I used a well seasoned cast iron skillet). Add the oil to the preheated skillet, swivel the pan to coat and arrange tofu cubes on top. Allow them to pan fry undisturbed for a couple of minutes, then gently turn to the other side. Continue pan-frying and turning until browned on all sides. SPRING ONION OIL (optional) Wash and dry (otherwise they will splatter) spring onions. Cut white and white-green parts into 2 cm / 0.75″ segments, leave the green tops for garnish. Pour the oil to the bottom of the wok and heat up on low-medium heat, add spring onions. Allow them to cook gently in the shimmering oil for about 7 minutes. Make sure the heat is low so that the spring onions cook without turning brown (a little golden is fine). Using a flexible spatula, remove the spring onions and the oil from the wok and set aside. FRIED RICE Cut broccoli into even, bite-size pieces, remove the stems from the spring greens and slice them thinly across, then bunch up spring greens’ leaves and chop them into 0.5 cm / 0.2″ ribbons and then chop them the other way a couple of times. Heat up a wok until it starts smoking, then add 2 tsp of oil (leave spring onions behind if using spring onion infused oil) and swivel it around the wok. Add broccoli and str-fry for about 1 minute, add sliced stems and stir-fry for another minute and finally spring green leaves and edamame/green peas (if not making spring onion oil, add white and white-green parts of spring onion at this point) and stir-fry for another minute or so. Add a tablespoon of water to the wok and carry on stir frying until all of the moisture evaporates and spring greens are fully cooked. Remove everything from the wok and set aside. Wipe the work with a paper towel if needed and heat it up again. Add the rest of the spring onion oil and spring onions. Once hot, add cold rice. Toss it in the hot oil quickly, then spread on the bottom of the wok with the spatula. Allow it to cook for about 30 seconds then toss again, allow it to cook for another 30 seconds then toss once more. Mix the last four ingredients in a small bowl then use it to season the rice. Return vegetables and tofu to the wok. Toss a few times to combine and to heat up fully, taste and season more to taste if needed. Serve immediately. Credit: @lazycatkitchen.com

Skincare, for us, starts with a simple principle: what goes onto skin matters, and for some people, gentleness isn't optional. That principle shapes every decision we make about what goes into a formula, and what stays out of it. Why Certification Matters We wanted "natural" to mean something specific, not just a word on a label. Our formulas are built around plant-based ingredients that are ECOCERT or COSMOS approved, global standards confirming ingredients are ethically sourced, biodegradable, and free from synthetic additives. We choose ingredients for what they do for skin, not for how well they trend. Every Ingredient Has a Role Nothing in a Kindred Apothecary product is there as a filler. Aloe vera provides a soothing, hydrating base. Shea butter offers rich, protective moisture. Vitamin E, an antioxidant, helps defend skin against everyday environmental stress. Camellia oil, light and fast-absorbing, allows our creams to sink in properly rather than sit heavily on the surface. For anyone who wants more detail, our Ingredients Glossary sets out the origin, benefit, and safety profile of everything we use. Scent, Where It's Wanted Fragrance is a personal preference. For some, it adds to the experience of a product. For others, it causes irritation. We formulate for both. Where we do include scent, it comes from genuine essential oils, such as lavender, mandarin, and vanilla, rather than synthetic fragrance. Where scent isn't wanted, our fragrance-free range is formulated specifically for skin that needs extra care, whether from sensitivity or simple preference. Leaving out synthetic fragrance and unnecessary additives means these products are suited to the whole family, from young children through to adults. A Reflection of How We Work Every ingredient decision reflects the same standard: does it genuinely support skin, and does it hold up to scrutiny. That approach is what shapes a Kindred Apothecary formula, from the first ingredient to the last.

INGREDIENTS: SCALLION OIL 8 small scallions / spring onions 120 ml / ½ cup neutral, high smoke oil (I used grapeseed) 1-2 tbsp chilli flakes* 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds SALAD 30-45 ml / 2-3 tbsp scallion oil (or shop-bought – SEE NOTES*) 20-30 ml / 1½-2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari if GF) 15 ml / 1 tbsp Chinkiang Black Rice Vinegar* 125 g / 4.4 oz dry ramen noodles (or flat rice noodles if GF) 1 small cucumber or 2-3 baby cucumbers 100 g / 3.5 oz sugar snap peas 100 g / 3.5 oz cooked edamame 1 avocado 10 radishes a handful of mint and/or coriander METHOD: SCALLION OIL Clean and trim your spring onions/scallions. Cut dark green parts off your spring onions/scallions – save them for garnish. Cut white and light green parts into 1.5 cm / 0.5″ segments. Place chilli flakes and toasted sesame seeds in a deep bowl. Stir a teaspoon of cold oil through them. Place the segments and the rest of the oil in a small pot and set it on a whisper of a heat. Allow the spring onions/scallions to cook in the oil to infuse it with flavour until beautifully caramelised. You can push it quite far, as long as you don’t burn them as it will make your oil taste acrid. As soon as you are done, carefully pour the oil into the bowl with chillies and sesame seeds. It’s going to bubble quite a bit so be sure there are no cats or kids running around. SALAD Combine 2 tbsp of the oil you prepared earlier (or shop-bought chilli oil/rayu) with vinegar and one and a half tablespoon of soy sauce in a small bowl, set aside. Cook noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Taste a little earlier to make sure you don’t overcook them – packet timings are often too generous. As soon as noodles are done cooking, rinse them under the cold tap, drain well and toss in the dressing. I used baby cucumbers. If using a regular cucumber, core it first. Slice the cucumber and radishes thinly, cut sugar snap peas on the diagonal, chop your herbs finely and dice your avocado. Combine cucumber, radishes, sugar snap peas, edamame and chopped herbs with dressed noodles. Divide between 2 (or 4) bowls and top with cubes of avocado. Drizzle with a little more scallion oil and soy sauce if needed. Credit: @Lazycatkitchen.com

Kindred Apothecary is not only a story about skincare. It is a story about a lineage of care, shaped by family tradition and a way of living that has always prioritised intention, nature, and the knowledge passed down through generations. Lessons from the Kitchen and Garden My foundation in this way of thinking was not found in a department store, but in the gardens and kitchens of my mother and grandmother. I watched them prepare simple, purposeful remedies from oils, herbs, and botanicals, chosen with real understanding of what each could do for the skin, long before I understood any of it myself. Those practices taught a lesson that has stayed with me since: skincare does not need to be complicated to be effective. Begin with ingredients of genuine quality, and much of the rest follows. Inspired by the European Apothecary That way of thinking found further shape while travelling through Europe. In the French countryside, I found myself drawn to the quiet character of traditional apothecaries, spaces where heritage, community, and craftsmanship met without any need to announce themselves. Those apothecaries reflected the same values I had grown up with, simply in a different setting. They were a reminder that skincare can be both functional and considered, that a product is rarely only the sum of what is in the bottle, but also the ritual and the care behind how it came to be made. Where Tradition Meets Modern Formulation Kindred Apothecary sits at the meeting point of these two influences: the warmth of family tradition, and the discipline of old-world apothecary craft, brought forward into formulations that meet modern standards for safety and consistency. Family tradition provides the intention behind every blend. Apothecary craftsmanship shapes our commitment to small-batch, considered production. And a modern approach to safety, reflected in our use of ECOCERT and COSMOS approved ingredients, ensures every bottle is genuinely suited to the whole family. The result is a range built to feel timeless while performing for modern life, each product a small continuation of where this all began.

INGREDIENTS: 2 small zucchinis 1 corn on the cob 400 g / 14 oz white beans (cannellini), drained 200 g / 7 oz cherry tomatoes, quartered 3 celery stalks, finely sliced 12 large green pitted olives, chopped DRESSING 30 ml / 2 tbsp lemon juice + zest of 1 small lemon 1 garlic clove, grated finely 15 g / 0.5 oz fresh basil, leaves only 45 ml / 3 tbsp olive oil, more for brushing salt & pepper, to taste METHOD: Preheat a griddle pan. Cut zucchini into 0.5 cm / 0.2″ thick slices on the diagonal. Brush corn and zucchini slices with olive oil and arrange on the preheated pan. Allow them to cook undisturbed until charred on all sides – turning the corn every 3 minutes or so. Cut zucchini slices into pieces and shave corn kernels off the cob. Combine charred vegetables with drained beans, tomatoes, celery stalks and pitted olives in a bowl. Stir the dressing (or dressing and chopped basil) through the salad. DRESSING Combine grated garlic clove and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside – lemon juice will take the harshness out of the garlic. Place basil leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and lemon zest in a mini chopper. Blitz well and season to taste. Alternatively, chop basil leaves really finely and combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Credit: @Lazycatkitchen.com

In skincare, fragrance is often treated as shorthand for luxury, as though a scent is what defines the experience of a product. For some, though, fragrance is not a luxury at all. It is a trigger. My own sensitivity to fragranced skincare, alongside caring for a son with particularly reactive skin, led to a frustrating discovery: even within natural skincare, genuinely gentle, scent-free options were harder to find than expected. That gap is a large part of why Kindred Apothecary exists. Why Natural Does Not Always Mean Gentle There is a common assumption that if a scent comes from a plant, it must be inherently safe. Essential oils, however, are biologically active compounds, and their benefits do not make them universally suited to every kind of skin. Skin that is dry, cracked, or otherwise compromised can allow aromatic compounds to penetrate more deeply than intended. Babies and young children, whose skin is still developing, tend to be more prone to irritation from fragrance than adults. And for anyone managing a chronic skin condition, fragrance is frequently among the first things recommended to remove from a routine altogether. Fragrance-Free as a Starting Point, Not a Compromise Our fragrance-free products were not built by simply removing scent from an existing formula. They were formulated from the outset around what skin actually needs to recover its balance: plant-based emollients such as camellia oil and shea butter to replenish lipids, and gentle humectants to draw moisture in. There is also a distinction worth making clear. Many commercial products labelled "unscented" still rely on synthetic masking agents to disguise the natural smell of their raw ingredients. Ours do not. What you notice in a fragrance-free Kindred Apothecary product is simply the clean, unmasked character of the botanicals themselves, nothing added to cover it. A Question of Comfort Choosing fragrance-free skincare is not about removing pleasure from a daily routine. It is about replacing irritation with comfort, so that every member of a family can feel at ease in their own skin, regardless of how reactive it might be. Offering genuinely effective, fragrance-free formulas means no one has to choose between quality and comfort simply because their skin asks for a little more care.

Kindred Apothecary did not begin in a boardroom, or a laboratory. It began at home, out of necessity rather than ambition, and out of a search for skin that simply felt comfortable. A Search for Gentleness The search began when our founder's son developed eczema linked to food sensitivities. Products that had once been reached for without a second thought suddenly felt too harsh, too complicated, or simply ineffective. At the same time, she was navigating her own sensitivity to fragranced skincare, discovering that even products marketed as natural were often built around essential oils or synthetic scent that left her skin reactive rather than calm. What she was looking for seemed straightforward enough: something genuinely gentle for a child's delicate skin, free from unnecessary fragrance and synthetic filler, simple enough for the whole family to use without a second thought. Finding all three in one product proved surprisingly difficult. Even within natural skincare, complex formulations and heavy scent were closer to the norm than the exception. Turning to Nature When nothing on the shelf met what the family actually needed, she turned to the basics instead, crafting simple, plant-based formulas in small batches at home and stripping away everything unnecessary to focus on what actually calms, nourishes, and protects the skin barrier. These early blends were built with real intention, around high-quality botanicals like camellia oil and aloe vera, and always with a fragrance-free option kept close at hand, for the days when skin needed nothing more than pure, uncomplicated care. From Personal Solution to Kindred Apothecary What began as a kitchen-counter solution soon reached further than home. Family and friends, particularly those managing their own sensitivities, began asking for the formulas made for our own family. It became clear there was a wider community looking for the same thing: natural skincare that did not come at the cost of irritation. Kindred Apothecary has since grown into a small-batch brand made in Melbourne, though the philosophy behind it has not changed. Every product still begins with a real family need. Everything is still made in Melbourne, in small batches, to the same standard we held ourselves to at the start. And every formula is still built to be shared across generations, as suited to a toddler as to a grandparent. An Invitation, Not a Pitch Kindred Apothecary was never meant to be more than a considered answer to a real problem. It remains that today, offered to anyone looking for the same thing our own family was: care, in its most straightforward form.

Every brand begins somewhere. Ours began in a bathroom cabinet, working out which of the products lined up on the shelf were actually safe to use on our son's skin, and which were quietly making things worse. His skin has always been reactive, prone to redness and irritation that seemed to worsen rather than improve with most of what was marketed as gentle or suitable for sensitive skin. Around the same time, our founder noticed her own skin responding poorly to fragrance, a sensitivity she had not previously paid much attention to, but one that became harder to ignore once she started reading ingredient lists more closely rather than trusting the front of the packaging. A Return to What Already Worked Her mother and grandmother both kept a small collection of remedies, simple mixtures made from what was on hand rather than what was on trend. Shea butter for dry patches. A calendula-infused oil for anything irritated. Nothing elaborate, and nothing that needed explaining, because the ingredients spoke for themselves. Revisiting those remedies while trying to solve a genuine problem at home was less a creative decision than a practical one. The products that had worked for the family, in one form or another, for two generations before, seemed a reasonable place to start looking for something that might work again. Formulating with Intention What began as a handful of small batches made at home, tested first within the family before anyone else, slowly became something more considered. Ingredients were chosen not for how they read on a label, but for what they were established to do. Fragrance was included only where it served a purpose, and left out entirely where it did not. This is still, at its core, how Kindred Apothecary is made. Every formula is produced in small batches in our Melbourne studio, using ECOCERT and COSMOS approved ingredients, free from synthetic fragrance, parabens, and the additives that so often complicate a product without improving it. Where a product carries scent, it comes from genuine essential oils rather than a synthetic substitute. Where a product does not, that absence is deliberate rather than incidental. Why Kindred The name reflects what the brand has always been about: something made for family, in the broadest sense of the word. Kindred, in its oldest use, describes a shared nature or a common origin, and that is closer to what this collection has become than any single product within it. Every formula exists because a real need at home called for it, tested and adjusted until it earned a place on the shelf. A portion of what the brand earns each year, ten percent of net profits, goes toward supporting women, children, and families facing hardship, a commitment that feels less like an addition to the business and more like an extension of why it exists in the first place. Where This Leaves Us Kindred Apothecary was never meant to be a large undertaking. It began as an attempt to solve a specific, personal problem, and it has stayed close to that origin even as it has grown. Every jar and bottle that leaves our Melbourne studio carries the same intention the earliest batches did: something gentle enough for the people who matter most, made by people who understand exactly why that matters.