The New Age of Skin: How HerbArium and Ethnobotany Are Redefining Beauty

Beauty

You’ve heard of dermatology. You’ve read about biohacking. You may have even explored psychodermatology. But what if the next revolution in skincare wasn’t born in a lab, but grown in the soil?

Deep in the Apulian countryside, among ancient olive groves and sun-bleached stone, lies Masseria Montenapoleone, one of Italy’s oldest farm estates and now home to a new philosophy of skin and self-care. It’s here that HerbArium, a brand rooted in ethnobotany, is quietly rewriting the future of beauty.

Ethnobotany is the study of how cultures use native plants, not just for healing but for nourishment, ritual, and renewal. It’s skincare stripped of excess, grounded in science, and deeply connected to nature’s intelligence.

Alessandra’s Return to the Land

HerbArium was born from the vision of founder Alessandra Recchia, who spent years working as a screenwriter and filmmaker in Rome before returning to her roots in Puglia.

In the city, nature felt distant. She recalls long walks along the Tevere river just to feel connected to water and a wider sky.

 Everything changed when she moved to the masseria.

“Masseria Montenapoleone is surrounded by 100 acres of organic agricultural production,” she explains. “Thousand-year-old olive trees, vineyards, citrus gardens, ancient almond groves… I began choosing specific areas of the land to heal my body and soul. At first, it was instinct, then I learned I was feeling the energy side of nature.”

This awakening led her to study the energetic properties of plants and the way humans interact with them. “The idea of HerbArium came like a breakthrough,” she says. “A rural life offering a new world.”

The Foundation of HerbArium

The brand crystallised when Alessandra watched how the land shaped its own resilience.

“Masseria Montenapoleone is a heaven of biodiversity because it was abandoned for more than sixty years,” she says. This abandonment protected ancient varieties of plants, later preserved and cultivated by her husband, Giuliano Monteneve.

She realised that the botanical richness surrounding her wasn’t just beautiful, it had the potential to heal.

“I understood I could help people embrace a healthier skincare ritual when I realised we feel better when we are close to natural elements familiar to our genetic roots.”

Her treatments begin with a “herbal baptism,” a grounding ritual connecting the body to the land. Latin names honour the philosophy: a future rooted in ancestral wisdom.

Guided by Ethnobotany

For Alessandra, ethnobotany is not a trend; it is the centre of everything.

“Ethnobotany is at the heart of my project,” she explains. “Respecting biodiversity and preserving the ecosystem makes our plants stronger and richer, achieving greater effectiveness in their extracts. HerbArium exists to create harmony between the human being and the environment.”

The ingredients are selected with the help of a phytotherapist, from lemons and prickly pears to rosemary, calendula, mallow, lavender, and the estate’s own ancient olive oil.

One ingredient stands at the soul of HerbArium: olive oil from thousand-year-old trees, revered for its ability to soothe, brighten, nourish, and restore.

The Products of a Living Landscape

Every product feels like a distillation of the Puglian earth itself:

• Rosemary & Sage Hand Wash – antibacterial, aromatic, uplifting

• Voluptas Hand Cream (Vanilla Lemon) – soft, addictive, mood-enhancing

• Urva Ursina Bearberry Intimate Wash – balancing and gentle

• Prickly Pear Shampoo & Conditioner – omega-rich and restorative

• Voluptas Body Oil – hydrating and ideal post-sun

• Olive & Mallow Body Cream – the hero; a natural alternative to retinol and adapalene

• Olive & Mallow Body Wash – soothing and protective

• Elisir di Puglia Lemon Fragrance – grounding, clarifying, meditative

• Vanilla & Lemon Lip Balms – subtle, nourishing, and joyful

An Accidental Discovery

During a stay at the Masseria, the Olive & Mallow Body Cream became an unexpected breakthrough. When a moisturiser was forgotten at home, the cream was applied to the face, a spontaneous decision after arriving from the Maldives with sunburn, hyperpigmentation, and cystic acne.

What happened next felt transformative.

Enriched with olive oil pressed from trees over a thousand years old and soothing mallow, it calmed inflammation, evened skin tone, softened texture, and restored hydration within 24 hours.

By the end of the stay, skin felt balanced, and makeup became unnecessary, a quiet, powerful reset.

Why We Think These Products Worked

Makeup suddenly felt redundant. After more than a decade of relying on concealer and foundation, seeing skin bare, balanced and unfiltered was a revelation.

This wasn’t the result of harsh actives or intensive routines. It was the effect of products that weren’t fighting the skin; they were speaking its language.

1. Heritage and Skin Physiology

With Caribbean and Lebanese heritage, the skin naturally has higher melanin levels and greater sensitivity to inflammation. Many modern formulas can aggravate this balance.

The Olive & Mallow Cream contains squalene and oleic acid, lipids nearly identical to the skin’s own, allowing deep nourishment with zero irritation.

2. Fewer Ingredients, Less Irritation

Modern routines overwhelm. Multiple actives compete, compromising the microbiome.

HerbArium’s formulas simplify.

Mallow soothes and strengthens.

Thousand-year-old olive oil repairs UV damage and calms inflammation.

By reducing product overload, the skin finally had space to reset.

3. Ethnobotanical Balance

Mediterranean plants have evolved to survive intense sun, dryness, and stress, the same pressures human skin endures.

Their polyphenols, omegas, and flavonoids protect their own cells and ours.

This is skincare aligned with geography, biology, and ancestry.

HerbArium recognises that nature and the human body were never meant to be in conflict, but in conversation. It is ancient knowledge meeting contemporary science.

A Philosophy Rooted in Literature

The name HerbArium is a tribute to Emily Dickinson, whose own herbarium helped her understand the world and herself. Alessandra sees this connection clearly.

“If we stay pure and authentic, if we feel part of nature, we collect the best memories and stay forever young in mind and body. They call it longevity.”

In a beauty industry dominated by synthetics and aggressive actives, HerbArium feels like a return to clarity, an invitation to slow down, restore balance, and remember that the future of skincare may be found in the oldest trees and the quietest rituals.

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Words by Jheanelle Feanny