Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
EL PRADO, New Mexico — The heady scents of the New Mexico countryside after a warm rain greet customers to the small storefront tucked into a plaza just outside the Taos city limits.
Sage-pine soap has the quick hit of pine trees and the musky scent of sage. The lavender lotion offers a lush floral scent with no cloying sweetness. The cedar lotion sounds unusual, but with one whiff, the warm, earthy aroma wins you over.
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The soaps and lotions and other skin-care products that line the display shelves at the Indigenous-owned Bison Star Naturals are made from wild-harvested herbs and flowers without animal products, dyes or perfumes, hand-crafted by husband-and-wife team, Angelo McHorse, Taos Pueblo, and his wife, Jacquelene.
With attractive packaging, clever marketing and luxurious quality, the brand is a hit after just five years in business. The products are now carried just about everywhere, from the Albuquerque Airport and major museums to four-star hotels and farmers markets.
A bustling back room filled with boxes and packaging keeps shipments going out to the growing customer base, even as walk-in visitors step inside the mom-and-pop store to buy lotions or gift sets and see what’s new.
The company logo features the outline of a bison with a black star on its rump, and the soaps are made in bars with the bison imprint or as small cobs of corn in various colors.
“I can attribute the founding of the business to Jacqueline’s high standards,” Angelo told ICT. “She was always looking for body care products that were natural, clean, they didn’t have any synthetic chemicals or colors in them. … It’s just nice to have a high-quality product. I’m proud of her for wanting something that didn’t exist yet in our area.”
The company, which opened in 2018, started with soaps and lotions and has now branched out to include plum lip balm, Mountain Spring bath salts, a new hair care line with essential oils, and gift sets. A new Hydro lotion has no scent at all for those sensitive to fragrance.
Going natural
The idea for Bison Star Naturals began in 2013, when Angelo first brought Jacquelene home to introduce her to his family at the Taos Pueblo.
“This is Jacquelene Brisson-Stahl,” he said, using her then-maiden name. “One of the kids looked up and said, ‘Did you say Jacquelene Bison Star?’”
Everyone laughed, but the name stuck and was later chosen for the company name.
They met in 2007 in Durango, Colorado, when they were both freshmen at Fort Lewis College.
“It was love at first sight,” Angelo told ICT. “We met on the first day. We got together before school started, the weekend of dorm move, and even before classes started. So right off the bat, I found my soulmate.”
They both liked the outdoors for skiing, hiking, camping and learning about nature. They settled in Angelo’s hometown of Taos when they graduated.
Before opening their company, Angelo managed a local farm and served as a wilderness ranger. Jacquelene worked various jobs as the couple traveled the world together before settling down.
The arrival of children brought new demands for special products, he said.
“After starting our family, we wanted more natural products, beginning with personal care items,” Angelo said. “We had some soap recipes from hobby-making, so we decided to try out making a business with products we intended to use in our own household. We wild-harvested the plants within our bar soaps, and nothing contains animal products, dyes, or perfumes.”
A grant from the Native American Adventure Acceleration Fund from the Regional Development Corporation of New Mexico helped kickstart the company, and it opened officially in 2018.
‘Entrepreneurial endeavor’
Each bar of soap is hand-poured into a custom mold at an off-site facility, where the products are made and allowed to age, if necessary. Minimal packaging is used.
They began offering liquid soap in refillable bottles after customers told them the bar soap was “too pretty to use and it just sits in the dish.”
The silky lotions are light and moisturizing, in colored bottles. And plans for more products are already underway.
“We’re looking to come out with a full line of body wash next, after the shampoo and conditioner,” Angelo said. “We’re now in several states and sell online and over the phone.”
It’s a traditional hands-on business, they said.
“We’re involved with the entire process, from going out to harvest the herbs and flowers that we incorporate into our soaps, all the way to making them in our production space and shipping out of the back of the store,” Jacquelene told ICT.
“It’s a 100-percent entrepreneurial endeavor,” she continued. “We are here from start to finish. It takes longer for certain lotions. It takes a certain amount of time for soaps, because they have to cure and they have to dry. The lotions are pretty straightforward. Once they’re done, they’re done.”
They don’t cut the soaps into bars, as many soapmakers do, and allow them to age. The shapes of the mold are also significant.
“We make them in shapes that represent towns and the American Southwest to us,” Jacquelene said. “It takes extra time and extra work, but it’s really fun and it’s worth it. And it allows us to express our artistic creativity, too, which is really fun.”
An added touch are the scenic, fun postcards they tuck into every order with images of bison, landscapes and even a cartoon.
“This is a nice way to feel I’m doing something,” Jacquelene said. “This is being good for the community. … It’s just a wonderful feeling to do work with your hands and seeing something from start to play, from gathering the herbs and then seeing this product.”
More info
Bison Star Naturals, an Indigenous-owned business that produces soaps, lotions and other skin-care products, is located at 1029 Paseo del Pueblo Norte #2, in El Prado, New Mexico, near Taos. The store is open Wednesday through Saturday or by appointment. For more information, visit the website or call (575) 776-7007.
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