New Business Came to Her Naturally
Donáh Olilla prepares and sells herbal creams, oils and lotions

BY LEIGH DYERH

To some people, dandelions and red clover are just weeds. To Donáh (pronounced Dah-NAY) Olilla, they have healing powers.

Olilla collects herbal ingredients wherever she goes -- in the woods near her home, in parks, in pots on her front porch and on land a friend owns near the S.C. line. She turns them into creams, infused oils and lotions from the kitchen of her south Charlotte townhome. And her 2-year-old company, Donáh's Passions, sells them in area stores. (Prices range from $12.50 to $23).

She's tapping into a growing trend in the body care industry, said Carlisa Sanders, who manages the body care and vitamin section at Talley's Green Grocery, one of six local retailers who carry Olilla's products. Herbal products have been around awhile, but consumers are showing increasing interest in products formulated to have more "herbal energy," or spirituality, she said.

Olilla's products are distinguished by their handpicked ingredients -- many makers mail-order all of their herbs in dried form, Sanders said, and it's unusual to have such a high proportion of fresh content. Olilla also uses a more time-consuming process to make them compared with other product lines. She steeps them on her stove and incorporates crystals and prayer that Olilla said boosts their benefits.

"It's not mass-produced," said Sanders. "It's not just a plain old wrinkle cream. It's a healing cream."

Olilla, a 37-year-old mother of two, got interested in herbs when her first daughter, now 13, was born with a rare disease that caused multiple health problems, allergies and surgeries. She studied herbs and alternative medicine and discovered that natural remedies could help her daughter become healthy, Olilla said.

A few years ago, Olilla, then working as a graphic designer, had a dream about a store with jars on the shelves filled with herbs. After awaking, she went to her kitchen and began experimenting. Soon, her product line was born, and it's now her full-time job.

Products including "Fusion Massage and Body Oil," "Floral Shea Body Butter" and "Elemental Seaweed Body Scrub" are now available on her Web site, www.donahspassions.com, and at retailers listed there.

Olilla doesn't see her work as something trendy. She traces it back to the traditions of wise women and medicine men throughout the ages. "What I'm doing is an ancient practice," she said. "This is not something new."