Urban Hippie by Jen Lahey is published every second Tuesday at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Jen on Twitter @Jen_Lahey.
The Herb and Spice grocery store at 375 Bank St. has long been a reliable spot to hit for those once-hard-to-find healthy (now so-called super-food) items such as the de-rigor goji berries, spirulina, flax seeds, maca, and raw cacao powders; tons of gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly goodies; and a consistently reliable and fresh selection of organic fruits, vegetables, and dairy.
But the keen-eyed shopper will note that the beauty section, which featured all the good-smelling stuff such as body and face lotions, shampoos, homemade soaps, additive-free lip balms, and the like, had always been, well, a little bit cramped. (The same savvy customer will also have noticed that the section has moved around within the store over the past several years, in what one can only guess has been an attempt to make it easier for customers to browse and access product.)