Cole Herbals Blog Articles

From customer to caretaker of Dr. Cole’s legacy, Linda Langenbacher never planned to own an herbal remedies company. Coleherbals entered her life the same way it enters many people’s lives—quietly, through a product that simply worked. 

She first discovered Dr. Janell Cole’s remedies in 2006 while living in Idyllwild, California, when truly clean, chemical-free products were difficult to find. Her husband Alfred played a big role in that search.

“My husband is a label reader. He is extremely precise about what kind of ingredients he puts in his body and on his body.”

Only one small nearby store met their standards, and it carried Dr. Cole’s handcrafted remedies. The shop owner had done extensive research and, when she found that Dr. Cole’s was so effective, she committed to it—stocking the products in her store almost exclusively. Linda became a loyal customer long before she ever became an owner.

A Customer First—Always

One product stood out in particular: Dr. Cole’s rich, herbal body butter. Linda loved it so much that she began experimenting at home, blending it with Double-Helix Water™—a specially structured water Dr. Cole worked with to create a lighter face cream for her mother and close friends.

The response was immediate. Everyone loved it, but Linda knew that what she was doing at home wasn’t professional—and that Dr. Cole herself could do it better.

That realization led to an introduction, a conversation, and eventually a collaboration. Dr. Cole worked closely with Linda on a properly formulated facial moisturizer, refining it over time until it felt just right. Linda launched it quietly on Amazon in 2015, never imagining it would become anything more than a small project.

A Life of Creativity—and an Unexpected Turn

Before Coleherbals, Linda had already lived an entire creative career. She spent decades as a freelance illustration artist and designer for LA advertising agencies and eventually was invited to work at Mattel, helping to design Barbie dolls. Eventually, Linda promoted to manage a design department full of creatives working on toys for brands from films produced by such entertainment companies as Disney, Pixar, and Warner Brothers. She later started her own online creative services company, Artistic Solutions and Production, that provided a wide range of freelance services to those same companies, using many of the talented senior artists Linda had worked with in the past.

Sixteen years later, that business began to change. International competition and lower-cost overseas creative work made it harder to sustain the model she’d built, and a friend encouraged her to explore selling online on Amazon. The first product that she chose to sell there was formulated by Dr. Janell Cole. After seeing the minor success of that product, Dr. Cole reached out and asked a simple question: would Linda help bring her remedies to Amazon?

What followed wasn’t a corporate expansion or a factory rollout—it was careful, intentional continuation of something that already mattered deeply to the people using the products.

When Stewardship Replaced Ownership

Linda and Dr. Cole worked as partners—Dr. Cole as the formulator, Linda as the marketer and organizer. When Dr. Cole passed away, Linda was faced with a decision: walk away, or protect what had been built so the remedies could continue to reach people who depended on them.

She chose to protect it.

Finding someone who could carry on Dr. Cole’s formulations with the same care was essential. That person turned out to be Linda Hammer, a longtime colleague and friend of Dr. Cole’s and now Coleherbals’ Chief Formulator. Her life has been devoted to herbal formulation work and preserving traditional remedies.

Linda clearly remembers the moment that she first visited Linda Hammer’s personal lab:

“When you see a whole wall full of tinctures and formulations neatly organized in a person’s private lab, you realize you’ve found the right person.”

Together, they ensured Dr. Cole’s original work continued—carefully, faithfully, and without shortcuts—reformulating where needed from Dr. Cole’s notes and maintaining the same commitment to topical, herbal, non-toxic support.

Why Coleherbals Is Still Different

Linda is quick to explain what sets the brand apart, and it has nothing to do with trends or mass production.

These products are not made in a factory. They’re handcrafted, very special, all organic and wildcrafted remedies, created by a naturopath who tested them extensively on willing friends and customers.

That philosophy still guides the company today.

Ingredients are chosen deliberately, with a focus on organic and wildcrafted herbs whenever possible.

Formulas are kept intact and refined only to improve stability, consistency, or performance—never to cut corners.

Customers are treated like people, not order numbers; Linda still answers the phone herself and hears their stories firsthand.

"What keeps me going is when I pick up the phone and talk to customers."

Those conversations matter to her—especially with people who can’t tolerate harsh ingredients or conventional products and are searching for something gentler—without compromising effectiveness.

A Personal Belief, Lived Daily

Linda doesn’t just oversee Coleherbals. She uses the products every day.

She credits nearly two decades of consistent use as part of why people compliment her on her skin. Her routine is simple: washing her face with nothing but warm water in the morning, applying Dr. Cole’s Rejuvenating Moisturizer to keep her skin moist during the day, and repeating the process before bed at night, using either Dr. Cole’s Nighttime Moisturizer or Dr. Cole’s Skin Repair balm or cream.

“I happen to be 74, and a lot of people comment on how my skin looks. That’s because I’ve been using Dr. Cole’s products since 2006.

"When I want a special treatment for my skin, I apply Dr. Cole’s Skin Repair Balm after washing my face with warm water at night and wake up with the softest baby skin ever the next morning. I do that about once a week especially in winter when my face can get dry from the dry indoor heat."

For Linda, belief in the products isn’t theoretical. “It’s stuff that I personally love. That’s the main thing.”

Looking Forward, Grounded in Care

Coleherbals today isn’t about chasing trends or scaling at all costs. It’s about continuity—honoring Dr. Cole’s work, respecting customers’ needs, and staying true to the values that brought the brand here in the first place.

Linda puts it simply, “Once someone becomes a customer, they usually come back. Over 50% of our customers repurchase our products and 99.9% of our customers purchase our products for one reason: the simple organic and wildcrafted ingredients that they are formulated with.”

That trust—earned through care, consistency, and listening—is what continues to guide Coleherbals forward, one handcrafted remedy at a time.

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