Our Favorite All Natural Mosquito Repellent Recipe for Natural Mosquito Repellent 20 drops Patchouli 15 drops Cedarwood 15 drops Lemongrass 10 drops Geranium 15 drops Peppermint 2 ounces of Spring or Distilled water How to make: Combine all ingredients in a 2 ounce spritzer bottle (either glass or aluminum). Shake well. It is now ready for use! How to Use: Shake before using. For natural mosquito repellents, you need to spray liberally all over. Just be sure to close your eyes when spraying hair and/or neck. You can reapply as needed, approx. every 2-4 hours READ MORE
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5 Essential Oils, Many Blends
I was blessed to receive 5 essential oils from a new company recently. As I opened the package and began reviewing (experiencing) these new essential oils, I was first struck by the energetic clarity and vibrancy of these essential oils. They have a presence that is quite beautiful. I know the company can supply GC/MS reports on each of these oils yet most important to me was their energetic vibration, so to speak. The chemistry can come later. The five essential oils I received include: Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Frankincense READ MORE
Spring Plantain Herbal Infusion
It's finally spring and all around there are cleavers, violet flowers, chickweed, plantain and a few other early spring medicinal plants in the area around us. I am sure if you look around your yard or in a field yet to be touched by modern day 'weed killers' you will stumble upon plantain. Today we (my son and I) harvested plantain. We will use this infused oil for a variety of summertime salves. Plantain is a wonderful herb to infuse and use in salves for insect bites, wound healing and inflamed skin conditions. Plantain Plantago lanceolata, P. major, or P. media Other READ MORE
Cottonwood Herbal Oil
Cottonwood Populus balsamifera This is one of my all time favorite resin buds to infuse. The infused oil smells incredible and is highly beneficial in salves, gels, or massage oils for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Can be used at a 10 - 25% dilution with other carrier oils such as jojoba or other herbal oils such as arnica or St. John's wort. Other common names: Balsam poplar Botanical family: Salicaceae Botanical description: Cottonwood/Balsam poplar is a tree that can grow up to 30-100 feet tall. The tree has deep grey and yellow-grey, furrowed bark, and READ MORE
Undiluted Application of Essential Oils
Undiluted or “neat” application is the use of essential oils applied directly to the skin without a carrier or base oil. In general, undiluted application is only applied in a specific localized area, most commonly for acute conditions, treatment work, or for reflex/acupressure work. The undiluted application of essential oils is a highly controversial topic within the aromatherapy industry. Leading authors and educators all differ in their opinions and usually can be found in one of two camps—those who believe the undiluted application of essential oils is extremely beneficial and indeed READ MORE
How to make Aromatic Play Dough
With wintery weather upon us, it is a good time to make some aromatic play dough! Ingredients: 3 cups flour 1.5 cups salt (we used sea salt) 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar (important!) 3 Tbsp. of cooking oil (we used organic canola oil but you could use jojoba, sesame, or other oil) 3 cups boiling water Coloring (we used concentrated water colors for coloring play dough) This is a recipe I got from Arts Together last year. How to make: 1. Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. 2. Bring water to a boil. Combine hot water and oil. 3. Pour hot mixture READ MORE
How to make a Salve: Carrot Rosehip Skin Salve
This winter I have been using a Carrot-Rosehip skin salve on my face and body to prevent and/or 'treat' dryness. This has been a really great addition to sugar scrubs. Recipe: Ingredient Amt %tage Herbal/Vegetable oils Calendula herbal oil 61.42g 47% Carrot infused oil 26.14g 20% (Learn how to make here) Rosehip seed oil 26.14g 20% Wax Beeswax 14.37g 11% Antioxidant Vit E 1.31g 1% Essential oils READ MORE
About Eucalyptus globulus and 1,8 cineole
Eucalyptus, Blue Gum Eucalyptus globulus Labill. We often think of Australia as the place where most of our Eucalyptus oils come from, however, the cost of producing eucalyptus oil in Australia increased so much that it could not compete with overseas oil markets, and thus lost its leading position in the world market. Currently, the leading producers are China, Portugal, Spain and Southern Africa. (FOA, 1995) Taxonomy Botanical Family: Myrtaceae Common names: Blue gum Eucalyptus, Australian fever tree leaf, fever tree leaf, Tasmanian blue gum leaf Botany and Historical READ MORE
Make your own lip balm
Vanilla Lip Balm Yummy, delicious, and simple yet incredibly effective! My son, Soren, (like his mother) has a tendency towards vata excess or in non-Ayurvedic terms: dryness, particularly during this time of year when winter sets in and the heating is on and the cold wind is blowing. What we are left to deal with (besides the increase in kapha/mucus) is: Dry lips and dry skin. Enter: Vanilla lip! My girlfriend, Teshan, used to make this as part of her product line and I swore it was the bestest lip balm ever. And indeed, over the years it has been hard, if not impossible, to find a READ MORE
Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub
Sharing some gifts with friends today so made a fresh pumpkin spice sugar scrub this morning. This needs to be used within 5-7 days. Refrigeration is good! Large Batch Ingredients: Makes 3 4oz jars plus some extra for you! (**all ingredients are certified organic unless otherwise noted) 1 and 1/2 cup raw cane sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg and also some cinnamon (can combine both to make up 1/8 tsp) 1 cup freshly baked sugar pumpkin 1/4 to 1/2 cup (or more, for desired texture) of vanilla infused jojoba Essential oils of: 25 drops Ginger eo 30 READ MORE