From the Ashes: The Story Behind Phoenix Muscle Recovery Oil

Phoenix wasn't born from the fire. But somewhere in the ashes, it found its name.

For a long time, I'd been quietly working on something new for Hemp Skin Australia.

A botanical body oil for the days when your body has done a lot of training, working, travelling, lifting, standing, moving, or simply carrying you through a long day.

The formula was there. The botanicals had been chosen.

But for some reason, I kept sitting on it.

Then life changed.

From the Ashes.

Earlier this year, a major fire tore through the storage facility where a significant part of Hemp Skin Australia was kept.

Eventually, independent experts confirmed what I'd been dreading: the contents of our unit had been destroyed by heat, ash and water.

Containers. Labels. Suction cups. Coconut bowls. Packaging. Expo equipment. Stock thousands of dollars' worth of the things I'd slowly accumulated while building this self-funded little business.

And with the Brisbane Ekka approaching, there wasn't much time to process it.

We had to rebuild.

There were some really hard days, but there were also orders, messages, comments, shares and people checking in. Even those who couldn't order found ways to support us.

There were plenty of tears but surprisingly, many of them were tears of gratitude.

And somewhere amongst all of that, I came back to the oil I'd been developing.

Suddenly, I knew its name.

Phoenix.

The formula existed before the fire, but the experience changed what this product meant to me.

It felt like it had been waiting for its moment.

For Bodies That Do a Lot

The rebuild reminded me just how much we ask of our bodies.

They lift the boxes. Stand at the expos. Do the workouts. Carry the children. Work the long shifts. Garden, walk, run, clean, build and keep going.

Yet so much of our self-care focuses on our skin.

Phoenix is about giving something back to the rest of you.

A ritual for the body that carries you through life.

Hemp Is Where Phoenix Begins

It wouldn't be Hemp Skin Australia without hemp at the heart of the formula.

Phoenix begins with full-spectrum hemp in hemp seed oil combining the nourishing fatty-acid profile of hemp seed oil with a broader spectrum of naturally occurring compounds from the hemp plant.

I've always been fascinated by the whole plant, rather than focusing on one fashionable compound. Research continues to explore hemp's naturally occurring compounds and their potential roles in areas including inflammation, discomfort and recovery.

It’s the reason this extraordinary plant continues to inspire me.

We then slowly infuse our full-spectrum hemp in hemp seed oil with Arnica and St John's Wort, two botanicals traditionally loved in body and massage rituals.

That infusion is blended with fractionated coconut oil, olive squalane, jojoba, castor oil and natural vitamin E, before adding Kunzea, Wintergreen, Peppermint and Rosemary to create Phoenix's distinctive warming-cooling sensory experience.

Arnica and Wintergreen might grab your attention.

But hemp is where Phoenix begins.

Rise. Recover. Restore.

Phoenix is made for those moments when your body is asking for attention.

Massage it into tired shoulders after a day at your desk. Your legs after training. Your feet after being on them all day. Or simply take five minutes at the end of the day to slow down.

Breathe.

Massage.

And instead of asking your body to do one more thing for you, thank it for everything it already has.

We're Not Rebuilding the Same

Perhaps the biggest lesson from the fire has been that rebuilding doesn't have to mean recreating everything exactly as it was.

A phoenix doesn't rise from the ashes to become exactly what it was before.

It rises changed.

And I think Hemp Skin Australia is changing too.

There are some big decisions being made behind the scenes about where we create, how we operate and what the next chapter of Hemp Skin Australia looks like.

I'm not quite ready to share those yet.

But for the first time in a while, I'm not looking backwards at what we've lost.

I'm looking forward at what we get to build next.

I don't have to rebuild the old Hemp Skin Australia.

I get to build the next one.

And I can't think of a more meaningful product to carry us into that chapter.

Meet Phoenix Muscle Recovery Oil 🔥

For bodies that do a lot.

Full-spectrum hemp. Slow-infused botanicals. Nourishing plant oils. One intentional body ritual.

Phoenix Muscle Recovery Oil is available to pre-order now at the introductory launch price of $89.

Rise. Recover. Restore.

With love and gratitude,
Kirsty x
Founder, Hemp Skin Australia