Welcome, Welcome!!

So, I’m Sure You Are Wondering A Little Bit About Who The Handcrafter Behind Nature’s Preserve Is & How The Inspiration Behind The Brand Came To Be, Right? Of Course You Are!

This Is The Premise Of How My Love For Nature & The Earth Really Took Root & How Unbeknownst To Me, Eventually Would Lead Me Down A Path Of Creating All Natural, Handcrafted Bath & Body Products Later On In My Adulthood.

So, Here We Go!

There Was A Time When My Mother & I Briefly Lived With My Grandparents In Puerto Rico & I Remember The Narrow, Unpaved & Windy Road That Lead To The Top Of The Hill In Which My Grandparents’ House Sat. I Believe I Was 2 Or 3 Years Of Age When My Mother & I Moved In With Them Till Around The Age Of 5 Or 6 Before My Mother Remarried.

During Those Short Years, & As Little As I Was, I Remember Roaming Around On My Own & They Would Just Let Me!! But They Knew I Would Come Back When I Was Hungry. I’d Eat & Then I’d Be Off Again On My Imaginative Adventures (This Was Pretty Much My Daily Routine)!

My Grandfather Owned Land & Raised Farm Animals & Had All Sorts Of Vegetation & Fruit Trees Growing, As Not Only Did We Live Off Of The Land, But Also My Grandfather Ran A Farming Business From It As Well.  

One Of The Best Parts About Living With My Grandparents, Was Also Growing Up With All Of My Aunts, Uncles & Cousins Living In The Same House, Or In The Surrounding Area, Just A Short Walking Distance From One Another, Literally!  Needless To Say With My Curious & Inquisitive Behind, I Kept Them All Very Busy. Being One Of The Youngest & Being The Youngest Girl At That! Man Was I Always Up To Something! My Grandfather Used To Call Me A Little Goat Or Hillbilly (Cabra In Spanish) Because I Was Constantly Climbing The Fruit Bearing Trees. (I STILL Have Scars On My Knees From Those Days).

 But I Do Have To Say, My ABSOLUTE Favorite Part Of My Grandparents House Was My Grandmother’s Tall Garden (Or What It Felt Like A Tall Garden Because I Was So Small) That Wrapped Around The Side Of The House.

After All Those Hours Of “Exploration In The Wild” I Always Found Myself Making My Way Back To The House, Heading Toward Her “Magical Garden”.  All You Saw Was The Top Of The Foliage Moving Around, Like When A Squirrel Is Running Through The Bushes. That Was Me. I Remember Pretending To “Cook” & Make “Potions” And All Sorts Of Weird Concoctions That Only A 4yr Or 5yr Old Can Do With Some Creative Imagination, Flower Petals, Plant Matter, Sticks & A Whole Lot Of Mud And Dirt, Oh! & I Am Sure Small Bugs & Creepy, Crawly Insects Lives Were Also Sacrificed In The Process, For The Sake Of These “Concoctions”. But Man, That Garden Was My Absolute Favorite! I Spent Most Of My Days Playing In There. My Family Has All Sorts Of Stories With Me & That Garden!

Fast Forward A Bit, Throughout My Youth I Was Always So Fascinated With Skin Care & Make Up. Largely Due To The Fact That I, Unfortunately Began Suffering From Severe Acne From A Very Young Age, (Which Lasted Well Into My Adulthood, But No Longer Suffer From It. Thank God!!). Fast Forward A Bit More To High School, I Decide To Attend A Trade School & Take Up Cosmetology. Thinking It Was Based On Skin Care & Makeup (Ignorant Me) There, I Quickly Discovered & Realized How Much I Just Abhorred Hair & Anything That Had To Do With Hair. I Learned, However, After Speaking With My Cosmo Teacher That What I Wanted To Become Was An Esthetician. So, That Is What I Did, I Became An Esthetician In My Early 20’s, But Not Only Did I Become An Esthetician, I Was The First Student Ever To Have Initiated A Scholarship Program In The Particular School That I Attended, Even Though The School Had Been Open & Operating Years Before I Became A Student.

You See, I Did Not Qualify For A Loan Or Financial Aide, But Because I So Desperately Wanted To Attend This School, I Decided To Pay Out Of Pocket For As Long As I Could. That, Unfortunately Lasted About Several Months As I Could No Longer Pay For School While Also Having A Small Baby At Home During That Time & Only Making Minimum Wage.

 The Owners Of The School Saw The Potential In Me And Could Not Bare To See Me Go, As I Was So Studious & I Ate All Of The Lessons & Teachings Right Up, That Even Other Students Sought My Knowledge & Insight. Let Me Tell You, I Have Never Enjoyed School & Was Always A (C) Average Student, But In The Subject Of Skin? What?! I Was A Legitimate (A) Student. I Mean, I Just Relished In All Of The Information & Excelled!  Due To My Hunger For The Subject, But The Fact I Had No Actual Financial Resources To Keep Going, I Became The First Student Ever, In The History Of The School That Was Granted The First Scholarship. From That Moment On, Other Students That Found Themselves In Similar Hardships Or Situations, Could Also Be Provided With A Possible Life Changing Opportunity As Well. I Am Forever Grateful For That Opportunity, As The School Unfortunately, No Longer Exists Today.

Several Years Later I Then Became A Makeup Artist For MAC Cosmetics. 2 Of The Things I Wanted To Accomplish In Life During That Time Was To Become A Licensed Esthetician & To Work For The Most Coveted Makeup Line Around. I Was Gifted Both.

Funny Thing Is, I Never Foresaw Myself Making My Own Products. It Wasn’t Until I Became A Stay At Home Mother Of 2, In My Mid To Late 20’s & No Longer A Practicing Esthetician & Doing Very Light Freelance Makeup Artistry & No Longer Working For MAC, That I Had The Idea Of Creating My Own Products.

This Is What Happened,

 I Went Into The Shower On Regular Afternoon One Day, I Happened To Look Over & Read The Ingredients List Of A Face Cleanser That I Had Recently Purchased (I Had Read The Ingredients On That Bottle Many Times Before, Nothing New!) But I Felt A Shift In That Moment. I Noticed The Ingredients Were All Pronounceable, Natural & Earthy. I Was A HUGE Nerd When It Came To Cosmetic Ingredients, & In That Very Moment I Received An Entire Vision. “I Can Do THIS”. “I Can Actually Make Something Like This”, & Just Like That, I Walked Out Of The Shower With An Entire Business & Name, Color Scheme, What I Wanted To Offer, Etc.

This Has Been A Dream Of Mine For Many, Many Years. A LOT Has Transpired Since That Seed Was Planted Within Me. I Finally Decided To Hone In & Perfect My Recipes After So Many Years Of Research, Mixing & Blending & Took It More Seriously Around 2018. I Have Given Away SO Much Product Over The Years, It’s Not Even Funny! I Would Make Tons Of Product & Just Give It All Away! This Is Actually How I Started, & How I Gained People’s Trust In The Products I Create.  

So, Now You Know The Story Of How Nature’s Preserve Came To Be An Actual Thing.

Here We Are Today.  Really, A Dream, Finally Come True.

Jazz…