Journal
The Journal is where we follow the questions that interest us, from aromatherapy, herbalism and botanical ingredients to skincare, formulation, movement and everyday wellbeing. Along the way, we explore history and tradition, look closely at the science, consider how ingredients are grown and sourced, and share what we are learning as Botanicals & Company develops.
Thoughtful, evidence-led writing about the things we use, the practices we follow and the ideas worth understanding more deeply.
David Sinclair is the most publicly visible ageing researcher alive, and one of the most contested within his own field. His actual research properly referenced back to the primary papers, the serious scientific pushback it has received, his own reported daily practice, and where to hear him explain it himself.
Read the articleRosemary’s memory reputation is centuries old; the neuroscience behind it is barely two decades deep. What the aroma studies actually measured, the proposed acetylcholine mechanism, and an honest answer on whether any of it helps perimenopausal brain fog.
Read the articleSwedish, deep tissue, sports, hot stone, Thai, shiatsu, reflexology, manual lymphatic drainage and more, each with a fully referenced look at what the trial evidence actually shows, good and bad, plus links to our own in-depth guides on the techniques you can do at home.
Read the articleMyofascial release promises to physically loosen restricted fascia with pressure alone. The mechanics do not really support that claim, but the technique is still worth doing, once you understand what it is actually achieving instead.
Read the articleA full professional session reaches places you cannot reach alone, but a genuinely worthwhile amount of Indian head massage technique, the scalp, temples, jaw and neck, translates well into a five-minute self-massage. The technique, step by step, and what the evidence actually supports.
Read the articleEvery Sunday evening, before the week has a chance to properly start, I lay out a bolster, two blankets and a wall for forty minutes of doing almost nothing. The history of restorative yoga, and what the evidence specifically says about practising it in the evening rather than at any other time.
Read the articleYin yoga is frequently confused with restorative yoga and marketed on fascia and meridian claims that outrun the evidence. Its actual history, from Paulie Zink to Paul Grilley, what genuinely distinguishes it from every other style, and what the research actually supports.
Read the articleI still boulder and climb at fifty, and Callanetics has become part of why my body still lets me. What the research actually supports on balance, core strength and coordination, and honestly, what it feels like from the inside.
Read the articleCallanetics is usually taught as a fast, mechanical route to muscle tone. I light incense, play a slow soundtrack, and move into each position deliberately instead, closer to a yoga practice than a workout, and here is why the difference matters.
Read the articleI am training to become a Callanetics instructor, three sessions a day, and wanted to know honestly what the evidence actually supports, separated from the testimonials the method is usually sold on.
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