| By Gudrun Will |
| Staff Writer |
EIGHT YEARS AGO while
doing spring cleaning in his barber shop, Helmut Gollner found a chunk of rough soap encased in a silver foil soapbox. The remaining turn-of-the-century label said it contained “tree tar,” and that it had been recommended by doctors since 1869 to relieve minor skin and scalp troubles.
The discovery led Gollner to research Pacific North-west tree essences (tree sap or juice) and incorporate them into skin and hair products. He learned to formulate his own products from his mentor during a traditional apprenticeship in Germany.
Gollner used clients at his Pender and Granville shop as guinea pigs, sometimes with dramatic results. The creams and shampoos alleviated complaints ranging from dry skin to eczema, psoriasis, acne rosacea, dandruff and cradle cap within days, said his son Anthony. Gollner had discovered the skin-care ingredient he'd been seeking. Father and son now go on sap-collecting field trips throughout B.C. to gather the raw material for their Botanical Therapeutic Hair & Skin Care Products line. From early spring to late summer, trees produce excess sap that leaks through holes, knots or folds in the bark. |
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The Gollners collect these hardened coagulations, refine them into a rich, golden essence, and mix them with plant extracts and oils. Through his research, Gollner learned that West Coast Natives have long treated skin and other complaints with tree essences.
They used sap from birch, cedar, Douglas fir and spruce to make poultices, teas and body wraps. Some of the Gollners' Native customers confirmed these practices, but not all were willing to share family lore, said Anthony. The Gollners have added hemlock, alder and pine to the range of traditionally used tree saps. All have anti-bacterial and disinfectant qualities, as well as healing and soothing therapeutic qualities; after all, sap is what trees use to heal their own skins. “We found if we used a compilation of essences, the therapeutic rate would rise and control the skin problems much quicker,” Anthony said. He estimated six out of 10 people have some kind of skin condition, even if it's only dry skin, and that they're often related to stress and sometimes to diet. The incidence of eczema, for example, is estimated to have risen 300 per cent in the last 20 years. These kinds of chronic skin disorders cannot be cured, |
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| Helmut Gollner and son Anthony blend refined resin with plant extracts and oils to create an organic skin care line in Native tradition. |
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only relieved, and standard medicine generally offers treatment that carries side effects. Commonly prescribed cortisone creams thin the skin and can weaken the immune system with prolonged use. Gollner said that Botanical Therapeutic products use only natural, organic ingre-dients, and the vitamins found in the oils can improve skin health. Finlandia Pharmacy presi-dent and herbalist Don Summerfield said he knows of many patients who have found relief from the Goll-ners' products. Tree sap, or resin, is a highly concentrated substance like essential oils from plants, he said. Such |
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substances, he added, have natural antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antimicrobial powers.
While skin conditions are rarely cured from the outside, the products give sympto-matic relief to some people, said Summerfield. Several years ago, West End resident Marcel Wolkorte developed Seborrhea, an itchy red rash on his face. Tar soaps and expensive creams didn't work, and cortisone cream left his skin like sandpaper. The Gollners' cream, however, cleared up the condition, he wrote in a testimonial letter. Surrey mom Julie Lane wrote that the cream relieved
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her son's two-year cradle cap problem, and that the cream and shampoo helped her eczema. Shepherd Wolf, a manager of Caper's on Fourth, stated that most customers, especially those with eczema, have had good results from Botanical. He also said it's a good moisturizer and aftershave lotion.
Botanical Therapeutic pro-ducts can be found at health food stores and pharmacies that carry naturopathic products. |
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