Arcadian Hill Handmade

   It began in 2012 with a deodorant recipe from a friend. Not the business (which began in 2022), but my eyes being opened to the wonderful world of natural skin care. I thought, Hey, my kids can grow up using good clean skin care and avoid the "aluminum this, and hormone-disrupting that. I'm in." With my children all teens and adults now, my homeschooling responsibilities are less time consuming and I wanted to go into business for myself. Arcadian Hill is where we live, just down the road from Quincy Mine near Hancock, Michigan, in the gorgeous Upper Peninsula. So, that's the "AH", and you guessed it, everything is handmade by me. 

   Early on, I decided to make all my products as pure and clean as could be afforded by my friends and family. And I wanted the word "natural" to really mean something when it came to Arcadian Hill Handmade products. The only ingredients I use that I can't call natural are sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. These are both "lye", or caustic soda, which was made naturally by our ancestors, but is now made in a laboratory. Lye is essential to the making of true soap, both bar soap and liquid soap. But one beauty of the ancient chemistry of soap making is that no lye remains in the final product (if made right).

I learned in the first few months of business that buying from reputable suppliers was far more important that getting a good deal, and made the decision to use only pure essential oils and nature-found colorants from clay, fruit, plants, seeds, and roots. No fragrance oils, no mica powders (all chemically altered) or oxides, just truly natural ingredients creating fantastic products that I felt happy letting my precious kids slather on. 

   I believe that pure, natural skin care doesn't have to be boring or ugly. Creating beautiful works of art is what enhances my enjoyment of this business and your enjoyment of using the products. I'm always in R+D mode and love making new things, in fact over 40 different products are in my line, I just don't have them on the website. You can email me for a pdf of the current products, which change seasonally.

   My community has embraced Arcadian Hill Handmade and as my wholesale business with local stores keeps growing, I feel the love. If you ever venture to the Historic Copper Mining area I call home, you can pick up my products in almost a dozen stores. For you who are too far away, you have the chance now to try them, too. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Heather Comstock