Anima Mundi Herbals – a modern herbal apothecary with roots in the rainforest

Anyone discovering Anima Mundi for the first time enters a world all its own. Schisandra and reishi stand alongside rose petals, moringa, and pau d’arco. There are tinctures and teas, plant powders, essential oils, body oils, and handmade brass tea strainers.

Behind it is not a classic supplement brand, but the idea of a modern herbal apothecary. It was founded by Adriana Ayales, an herbalist from Costa Rica who wanted to present traditional plant knowledge in a form that also works in everyday life.

Anima Mundi achieves this in a way that we still find quite unique.

Adriana Ayales grew up in Costa Rica. Plants and traditional herbal practices were part of her life from an early age; later, she explored herbalism, botany, and various healing systems in greater depth. She learned from herbalists and Indigenous teachers in Central and South America and studied, among other things, Western herbalism and Chinese plant medicine.

The fact that Anima Mundi ultimately came into being in Brooklyn was largely unplanned. Adriana came to New York for one summer and ended up staying.

She began making herbal extracts in her apartment and worked with personalized plant formulations. Her rooms filled with herbs from the rainforest, while friends helped with bottling and packaging.

Individual formulations became recurring blends. The apartment became a rented kitchen, and the kitchen became an herbal laboratory.

This origin story remains remarkably fitting for Anima Mundi to this day.

The brand thinks less in terms of individual trending ingredients and more in terms of plants, formulations, and preparation methods. Some products are very simple, while others are complex. Some seem familiar, while others introduce plants you have probably never heard of before.

Adriana describes her work as connecting “ancient remedies” with the modern world.

That may sound a little lofty at first. In everyday life, the idea is much more straightforward.

A plant does not necessarily have to disappear into a capsule at Anima Mundi. Moringa goes into smoothies. Schisandra can be added to water or matcha. Reishi is stirred into cocoa. Rose petals are ground into powder. Herbs are brewed as loose-leaf tea.

In interviews, Adriana herself often talks about preferring to incorporate plants into food and drinks rather than taking a large number of supplements side by side.

Herbalism becomes somewhat less theoretical as a result. You smell the plant, taste it, learn its particular qualities, and eventually decide what actually fits into your own daily life.

At Anima Mundi Herbals, this ranges from highly accessible products such as rose powder or moringa to more complex herbal and mushroom formulations.

Anima Mundi’s roots clearly lie in Central and South America. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to reduce the brand to rainforest plants.

Over the course of her training, Adriana became familiar with various plant traditions and now brings them together. That is why Anima Mundi often features South American botanicals, Ayurveda, Chinese Daoist plant knowledge, and Western herbalism in the same range.

Suma and Pau d’Arco meet Reishi and Schisandra. Ashwagandha stands alongside nettle, lemon balm, and chamomile.

This could quickly seem arbitrary. At Anima Mundi, it works because the individual plants retain their identity. Schisandra does not need to be reinterpreted as the next superfood. Reishi is allowed to be Reishi. And sometimes a rose can simply be interesting because of its taste, fragrance, and centuries-old cultural significance.

Anyone who reads through the products also notices how much knowledge is contained in seemingly minor differences.

A mushroom is not simply “a medicinal mushroom.” Fruiting bodies, mycelium, and extracts are different things. An essential oil tells a different story about origin and distillation than a hydrosol does. And wild-harvested does not automatically mean the same thing as organically certified.

Anima Mundi inspires us to take a closer look.

One of the terms that genuinely says something about the brand at Anima Mundi is Farm to Pharmacy.

Adriana places great value on direct relationships with small farms, wildcrafters, and producers. Some of the raw materials are organically certified, while others are wild-harvested or sustainably cultivated.

That is an important difference.

A plant from a remote area of the Amazon does not necessarily have an organic certification. Anima Mundi openly explains that small producers or wild harvesters sometimes have neither the financial means nor the organizational access to obtain such certifications.

That is why the brand also considers origin, cultivation, harvesting, and collaboration with the people on the ground.

That does not mean certifications are unimportant. Rather, it means that quality in plants requires more questions than just one. Where does the plant grow? Who harvests it? Which part is used? How is it dried? How is it subsequently extracted?

This attention to detail is also evident in the manufacturing process. Many formulas are developed and produced in the company’s own laboratory in New York. Depending on the formula, liquid herbal extracts may steep for weeks or months; ingredients used include water, vegetable glycerin, organic sugarcane alcohol, and oils.

We originally came to know Anima Mundi primarily through tonics, adaptogens, and plant powders. In the meantime, we have found another part of the brand almost equally interesting: the connection between herbalism and external care.

For example, ROOT REVIVAL Hair Oil combines moringa and jojoba with nettle, horsetail, and rosemary. ROSE Body Oil uses rose petals, plant oils, and herbal extracts. Rose water becomes a facial toner, while arnica and calendula become a rich balm.

Essential oils have also become an integral part of the brand.

In 2023, Anima Mundi acquired Floracopeia, the essential-oil brand co-founded by David Crow. Over the course of decades, Crow built relationships with small distilleries, farms, and ecological projects and became deeply involved in quality, adulteration, and the sustainable extraction of essential oils.

Today, Anima Mundi continues this work; David Crow supports the brand as Chief Aromatic Officer.

That explains why, with oils such as Palo Santo, Tulsi, or Rose Geranium, it is not just the scent that is interesting, but also the plant, origin, and method of distillation. You can find our selection under Essential Oils.

Of course, they are also part of Anima Mundi.

Reishi, Schisandra, Maca, Ashwagandha, and other plants and fungi are often grouped under the term Adaptogens. Put simply, this refers to the idea of plants traditionally used primarily during periods of increased physical or mental strain.

We find their individual stories more interesting than the buzzword itself.

Maca is a root from the Andes and has long been a food there. Schisandra is a small berry from Chinese herbal tradition, known for its unusual combination of different flavors. Reishi, known as Ling Zhi, has a centuries-old history in East Asia.

Anyone who categorizes everything simply as “Adaptogens” misses a significant part of the story.

That is why, in our product descriptions, we prefer to explain where a plant comes from, the role it has traditionally played, and what the formulation actually contains.

The American brand sometimes speaks very openly of Healing, Detox, Hormone Balance, Brain Tonics, or Immune Support. European food law places significantly stricter limits on health-related claims.

And regardless of legal requirements, we also consider this distinction important in terms of content:

Traditional use, modern research, and proven efficacy are not always the same thing.

A plant can have a fascinating centuries-old history without every traditional use being scientifically proven. Conversely, a promising laboratory study does not turn an herbal tea into a medicine.

Unusual international botanicals raise another issue: not every plant or extract form offered in the United States is automatically permitted for sale as a food in Europe.

That is why we continually review formulations and product information at Blanda and do not necessarily carry every product available in the American Anima Mundi range.

For us, this care does not conflict with our enthusiasm for traditional herbal knowledge. It is part of it.

After all these years with Anima Mundi, it isn’t the big promises that interest us about the brand.

It’s more this blend of curiosity, plant knowledge, and a certain nonconformity.

Anima Mundi may inspire you to try schisandra for the first time. To learn why palo santo develops its characteristic scent only after years of natural aging. To understand the difference between rose hydrosol and essential oil. Or to find a cup of loose-leaf herbal tea more interesting again than the next functional drink in a can.

You don’t need all of them. Not every plant is right for everyone.

But many things spark curiosity.

Anima Mundi doesn’t simply sell high-quality products. It opens a door to a world of plants, of which we previously knew only a small part.

Discover Anima Mundi Herbals at Blanda Beauty