WHEN JACQUELENE MCHORSE became a new mother, she and her husband, Angelo, often found themselves frustrated in the pharmacy aisle. “In Taos, there aren’t a ton of options for buying stuff,” she says. The products they did find had too many ingredients, too many chemicals, and too many unidentifiable fragrances. “Once I learned what kind of chemicals were in those products…” Angelo says, shuddering. “That’s when we founded Bison Star Naturals,” adds Jacquelene.
It was 2018. “We started at the farmers’ market level,” says Angelo, who is a member of the Red Willow People of Taos Pueblo. Bison Star has since grown to include a brick-and-mortar in El Prado; a thriving online retail business; and distribution at retailers throughout New Mexico, a dozen other states, and Canada. They’ve expanded from bar soaps to offering a full suite of organic hair and body products.
“We take all of our scents from nature,” Jacquelene says. “Our products represent our hometown.” Bison Star uses a combination of moisturizing oils (coconut, jojoba, caster, and argan) and essential oils to create its smooth, cleansing, and evocative products. The pine cedar smells “just like Taos,” she says, “from the rolling seas of sage to the peaks up in the ski valley.”
Although the hours can sometimes be long, the McHorses are excited to grow Bison Star Naturals. “Our tagline is ‘bring the adventure home,’ ” Jacquelene explains. “You can be at your desk in the city, and then you open the lotion and suddenly you’re back smelling the pines.”
Read more: A fun and funky Albuquerque shop takes the fear out of gift giving.
Shop Bison Star Naturals in El Prado, at one of its retail outlets, or online at bisonstarnaturals.com.