Female Icons; Holly Borich - Pharmakeute

Wait so how do we pronounce the name? (Far- mah-koo-tay), its a bit of a tongue twister!

The word Pharmakeute itself is derived from the ancient Greek word pharmakis, and has cultural roots in ancient folk medicine; meaning those with an intimate knowledge of herbs, pharmakeute refers to the Cunning folk, folk healers of our past.

How did you first become interested in herbs and western herbal medicines? I’ve grown up surrounded by alternative medicine thanks to my family, but my actual desire to learn more actually stemmed from a whole lot of esoteric reading I was doing. I essentially stumbled across a whole lot of books about plant history and energetics and fell in love! I also have had a history of chronic illness myself and became really interested in preventative treatment. What was your inspiration behind creating pharmakeute?

I must say I love how medieval the vibe is.

My inspiration for the whole aesthetic has definitely come from history!

I do feel that herbalism is the sister art to alchemy so I feel very drawn to the surreal nature of hermetic and alchemical artwork, along with images that champion nature while feeling mystic and secretive. I think that the plants themselves have that whole hidden nature, often we don’t even realise what herbs have to offer us, it's literally like a whole other world when you start to look!

How do you spend your time when you aren’t working on pharmakeute?

I am a crazy gardener, most of my income goes on plants, to be honest! If I’m not in the garden I’ll be

in a botanical garden somewhere, doing yoga or going for a skate!

What is a misconception about western herbal medicine you’d like to squash?

The idea that it doesn’t work haha! It’s fascinating how many people don’t realise that most of our modern medicine comes from plants.

Also, the idea that alternative and clinical medicine can’t work together, is completely false!

What is your perfect self-care act?

Baths are my jam, I don’t have one at the moment, unfortunately, but a bath, face mask, candles, and a good book is the ultimate self-care act for me. What is your favourite herbal tincture from the line?

I like Calm down, I usually put my daily dose in my drink bottle and sip it throughout the day.

I like how subtly it affects me by taking it this way and it's also is an incentive to drink more water. I love how [Calm down] sends me to sleep. Often I go into overthinking and overdrive

mode right before bed but Calm Down just helps to soothe my nervous system so I can drift off faster.

Where do you see pharmakeute going?

I am hoping that Pharmakeute pushes upwards and onwards, I’m working on releasing some more products which are exciting! I would love to keep a focus on herbal education, delving into a bit of gardening with these herbs as well. I’m planning on jumping into a horticulture degree soon so I would love to bring a bit of medicinal horticulture to Pharmakeute and see how they blend!

Follow Holly on @pharmakeute