Rooted in an island,
born from a life.
FRO Skincare was born in St. Croix — not in a lab, but in a life spent close to the land, the cattle, and the people who tend them both.
The Beginning
St. Croix didn’t inspire this story.
It is the story.
I was born and raised here. Not as a farmer — but farming was always around me. My grandparents (Pai Candido Garcia and Mami Benita Calderon) worked alongside the Nelthropp family, one of the island’s great dairy legacies. My sons (Ramon Luis, Diego and Pablo) helped out at the dairy. My husband Jonathan Hitesman has spent years in cattle raising, working closely with the Lawaetz family — whose roots on this island go back generations, to a proud Danish heritage woven into the very landscape of St. Croix. He is now owner of JBH Farms, a Senepol and N’Dama breed cattle ranch and apiary.
I grew up knowing where food came from. Knowing animals by farm, not by package. That intimacy with the land is not something I learned — it’s something I simply always had.
Our tallow comes from a small circle of working cattle farms here on St. Croix — never more than five. JBH Farms raises Senepol and mixed-breed cattle on island pastures, along with other local cattle farmers. Each farm is known to us. Each animal, grass-fed on Caribbean land.
For a couple of years now, I’ve looked at my skincare shelf and felt exhausted. Twelve products. Two routines. A different serum for every concern. I wasn’t looking to reverse aging — at 60, that’s not the point. I was looking for something on par with where I am in life. Something simple, organic, and honest. One product that could replenish and moisturize and soothe my face — something I could massage into my skin and find therapeutic at the same time. I wanted to know exactly what was in it and where it came from. So I made it.
Where It’s Made
The formulation studio.
Where the rainforest meets the Caribbean Sea.
North Star Villa · Cane Bay, St. Croix USVI
“The same hands that rebuilt this property now render tallow, macerate botanicals, and fill every jar by hand.”
Every batch of Restorative Face Balm is hand-crafted at North Star Villa — a boutique oceanfront property on Cane Bay that Barby and Jonathan discovered abandoned, purchased, and restored from the ground up over ten years. It is not a clinical space. It is a Caribbean kitchen with a view of the sea — and the rainforest behind it.
Visit North Star Villa →The Maker
Made by hand.
Certified with intention.
Barby Hitesman
Founder · Certified Organic Skincare Formulator, Formula Botanica · St. Croix Native
Born and raised in St. Croix. Every batch of Restorative Face Balm is hand-crafted by Barby under Four Roots Organics — with tallow sourced from island farms. Certified organic skincare formulator through Formula Botanica. And every now and then Jonathan’s beekeeper helper. Grandmother of four. Named for them.
The four roots
E
Esmeralda Rose
S
Sophie Antonia
J
Javier Dean
K
Kai Hollis