About Wendy
Wendy Griffin Mazzuca is the founder and owner of Cedar Ridge Botanicals. She is a nurse, herbalist, yoga teacher and massage therapist. She has a background in Thai massage, Chi Nei Tsang (abdominal therapy), Ayurveda and aromatherapy. She tends 35 acres of land in SW Colorado where she grows many of the medicinal plants that she uses in her medicines. This land also serves as a sanctuary for many species of animals. What she can’t grow, she wild harvests or trades with other herbalists across the United States. Growing up near the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, she learned much about the animal and plant world from her grandfather. She studied herbalism at the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in the mountains of North Carolina, as well as the Elderberry School in Portland, Oregon. Over the years, she has had the opportunity to study with amazing plant medicine teachers. Her mentors include Camilla Blossom, Juliet Blakenspoor, Asia Suler and Rosemary Gladstar. In addition to being passionate about growing medicinal plants and creating healing concoctions, her other passions include yoga and animals. As a certified yoga instructor, she guides students through restorative and yin classes at several studios in Southwest Colorado. Wendy is also one of the co-founders of 3 Sisters Equine Rescue in Bend, Oregon, which saves horses bound for slaughter and re-homes them. She lives on the farm with her husband, horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, dogs, cats and chickens in Mancos, Colorado – a small mountain town with lots of charm and a very strong sense of community. Wendy loves to teach and is currently offering plant meditations, native plant walks and other medicine making classes in SW Colorado and online.
Our Story
The creation of Mountain Girl Herbals stemmed from Wendy’s desire to offer quality products for the skin and body using plants grown and harvested in an ethical way, organic carrier oils and therapeutic essential oils. All ingredients are carefully chosen for their healing properties for the body, mind and spirit. The potions are created in ceremony by honoring the ancestors of the land where the plants are grown and harvested and infusing them with reiki (healing energy) before sealing the containers. The first product Wendy developed, an ultra-rich face cream, was born of necessity - living in Colorado’s very dry climate made it hard for her to keep her face hydrated. She would apply cream to her face, but within an hour she would have to reapply. Determined to create a more nourishing cream, she began experimenting with different blends of infused oils and essential oils and arrived at a perfect recipe. She started sending it to family and friends across the country to get feedback, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Soon requests for refills came in, including offers to buy the cream, and Wendy realized she was onto something very special. She started selling face cream, as well as lip balms, healing salves and balms, and an all-natural insect repellent (that been tested against mosquitoes in the Pacific Northwest and against the aggressive biting flies and gnats in Southwest Colorado). She is now also distilling hydrosols from plants grown by her or wild harvested locally and offering all sorts of other healing potions.
With this, Cedar Ridge Botanicals was born.