Hemp Hemp Hooray! Skin care

“When I walk into a shop with my product and explain that it’s made from hemp oil and the owner says, ‘Can I get high from it?’, I know there’s still work to be done on hemp’s image in the marketplace,” says Teresa McDowell.

Founder of hemp hemp hooray!, Teresa, is passionate about hemp and educating people about the wonderful qualities and benefits of this humble yet amazing plant. At 42 she is feeling, “fully alive and committed to her business and helping the hemp industry flourish and grow.”

“The first thing I explain is that industrial hemp is a cousin of marijuana. But you’d have to smoke a field of hemp for it to have any effect and it would make you very sick first.  As soon as I describe hemp’s therapeutic and nutritional qualities, I can see their eyes light up with interest.”

Hemp is the only vegetable oil that mirrors the oils in our body.  “That’s why I chose hemp as the basic ingredient in all my products,” says Teresa.  “It is made up of the essential fatty acids Omega’s 3, 6 and 9 which is the perfect balance that our bodies need.
Taken as a supplement like fish oil it has a nutty flavour and can be added to fruit smoothies to give a creamy texture.”

Teresa’s journey started at age 14 when she lived in Port Augusta with her parents and three brothers.  Teresa has always had a close relationship with her mum who has been a strong advocate of Teresa’s products.

“I think my first inspiration came from a woman who ran a hemp shop near where I lived,” Teresa remembers.  “She sold hemp clothing and I loved learning from her about hemp and its incredible environmental benefits.”

As well as being a strong, resilient fibre used in rope making, hemp is also used to make  clothing, bags and linen. “The cloth is much gentler on your skin, especially babies’ tender skin, because it is usually grown without pesticides because hemp has a natural resilience to pests.  The crop is also drought tolerant so it can grow with little water, making it perfect for Australian conditions,” Teresa enthuses.

“When I left school I worked in Thwaites Mens Wear store in Port Augusta and one day in walked this gorgeous guy,” says Teresa smiling.  “I thought, ‘Wow’. He was tall, well-built with a cheeky smile and green eyes.”

Teresa and Simon married in 1992 and when Teresa was 29, they decked out a bus and set off with their son Ethan, two, to travel round Australia. They ended up in Kalgoorlie, WA, where they lived for nine years.

“During that time I completed my diploma in aromatherapy and massage, and started to experiment with essential oil blends. Then I opened my first shop called, Aroma Cottage offering therapeutic massage using the oils.  Doing this hands-on work showed me how powerful the essential oils are in healing.”

The shop also retailed hemp clothing and skin care products using hemp oil. “I knew the products contained some artificial ingredients like chemical preservatives, and so I started to experiment on the stove at home to see if I could make a completely natural skin care product without chemicals,” says Teresa.  “I played with ideas and then the name ‘hemp hemp hooray’ came to me as a way of celebrating this beautiful plant.”

With two more children in the family, Simon and Teresa decided it was time to consider their education, so they packed up and in 2004 headed for Mt Barker in SA so that Ethan, Ashleigh and Faith could go to the Mt Barker Waldorf School.

“Once we settled in to our new life, Simon had a full-time job and the kids were at school so I had time to work out some recipes for my new skin care range.  By 2006 I had eight products which I call my basic range – skin soothe, body lotion, soothing lip salve, special body blend, daily moisturizer, night cream, lush lime cleansing cream and pure organic hemp seed oil.”

In the same year, hemp hemp hooray skin care was launched onto the market.  “I decided to use the personal touch so I visited each retail outlet in the Adelaide hills and told them about the products and my story. I found that worked much better than trying to drum up interest over the phone, because retailers liked the fact that I was local and my products were 100% natural.”

Teresa says that hemp’s image as a hippy crop is fading with education about the outstanding benefits to be gained from using hemp and this is borne out by the change in policy in Australia.  Some state governments are now allowing growers a licence to put in hemp crops, although it’s still illegal for hemp oil to be labeled for internal consumption.

“I couldn’t have got this far without Simon’s support both financially and emotionally,” says Teresa. “He’s putting out a monthly e-newsletter which helps to educate people about hemp, as well as showcasing our products.  We hope that by purchasing our skin care, people will become more aware of hemp’s therapeutic benefits; its usefulness, versatility, and ecological benefits to both industry and the environment.”

Teresa McDowell
Founder of hemp hemp hooray!
For more information go to www.hemphemphooray.com.au