Plant-led skincare, read slowly.
We cover skincare through the plants, places and practices behind it: what a formula is made from, where it comes from, how it is used, and why a founder chose the harder ingredient.
Ten issues, plant by plant.
Rooting Moss began in the spring of 2024 as the botanical title of VOL Collective, the independent editorial studio in New York. The first issue carried twelve interviews with founders who grow or source their own plants.
A plant extract interests us because of what it does, not because it is a plant. We name the species and the part used, say where it was grown, and keep what a plant has traditionally been used for apart from what studies have shown. We are warm toward founders and honest about tradeoffs.
Today 38,000 people read Rooting Moss each month, most of them in the US, and 9,400 open The Weekly Forage. In our reader survey, 64 percent describe their skin as sensitive or reactive, which is why we flag irritants when they matter and why we take our time.
The people behind Rooting Moss
Daniel Mercer
Publisher & Editorial Director
Natalie Hayes
Editor-in-Chief
Vivian Hart
Executive Editor
Ramin Vandi
Director of Features & PartnershipsNoah Atkins
Managing EditorApril Lambert
Deputy EditorAngela Harper
Commissioning EditorChristina Dawson
Beauty EditorAmelia Walsh
Science EditorDominic Nolan
Research EditorDiana Fleming
Fact-checkerJulian Farrell
Photo EditorBrooke Tanaka
Contributing PhotographerConnor Bailey
Art DirectorEvelyn Gallagher
Social EditorJulia Fallon
Newsletter EditorShannon Brekke
Features EditorErin Dunleavy
Features EditorCarrie Ellsworth
Features EditorRooting Moss, year by year
- 2023
VOL Collective begins
VOL Collective publishes its first interview in New York. The founders who talk longest about their farms and their suppliers become the list that later turns into this magazine.
- 2024
Issue 01
Rooting Moss launches in the spring with twelve interviews, each with a founder who grows or sources their own plants.
- 2025
The Weekly Forage
The newsletter passes 5,000 subscribers, and our first reader survey finds that 64 percent of readers describe their skin as sensitive or reactive.
- 2026
Issue 10 and the first sourcing trip
The field guides launch in July, with the skin barrier guide following in September. With 38,000 readers a month, we make our first sourcing trip, to Wyoming and Napa, with the brands featured in this issue.
