Glory Be Herbals

President's Day

2012-02-18T06:49:00.000-05:00

I'm up early and working hard already. Now, I actually slept until 9 AM last Saturday-really. Me. I did. I may have actually slept longer but my husband got me up. It was freaky. He was up at 7 and I slept in. Of course last Friday night i was up until midnight and last night i was so tired I went to bed by 10. That's ok-I have orders and truly Bluegrass needs Herbal Healing Balms so I am getting some work done.

I am also working on some perfumes again. I had gotten some Mimosa Floral wax a couple months ago and decided to extract it pure grain to see if I could get a good extract and i strained it this morning. It turned out really nice. I'm adding it to a perfume I made a couple weeks ago-Yuzu with a touch of Jasmine. If you've never experienced Yuzu then you simply have to get some. It's Japanese grapefruit and this perfume smells delicious-so vibrant and lively. Hands down the greatest citrus oil I've ever used-yup, even better than Bergamot. I want to do perfume blends for each of the 4 seasons and this will be my Summer blend. Here's what I'm thinking on the rest...........

SPRING-Cassie absolute and Lavender absolute for sure. Probably Oakmoss as the base note. This will have a soft green floral aroma and a green color.

FALL-I want to go deep earthy on this one. Patchouli, Vetiver, Amber maybe with a touch of sweet or bitter orange.

WINTER-I want this to be a resin based meditative blend to honor the winter holidays. Frankincense, Myrrh and Balsam Tolu. This will also give a sweet spicy scent reminiscent of Chrism.

I also have some balsam Tolu resin being extracted in oil and some being extracted in alcohol.

I'll be on a listing frenzy for the weekend too. I may even get some listings up in my aromatics store, which I have neglected. I have 3 new fragrance oils to list there. Nearly Nude-I am madly in love with this one. It's a soft, powdery musk and makes a beautiful, clear cologne. Misltetoe Kiss-this is meant to be a Christmas scent but I think it makes a nice masculine year round scent. A friend of mine at work bought a bottle of this in a foaming hand soap for the bathroom and I'm still using it. It's nice and green. Monkey Farts-I made some hand soap from a sample of this I got and my daughter and her friends have gone insane over it. It has a fruity scent-bananas, pineapple, etc.

I have found a secret way to make soap quickly too which I will keep to myself. But I will also be listing some soaps-African Black Soap, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE and some goats milk soap.

Happy Groundhog Day!

2012-02-02T07:34:00.001-05:00

Six more weeks of this winter? I can live with that! I need to find out what Bubba said...........

UPDATE........Bubba saw his shadow. Six more weeks of this or March ice storms? Guess we'll have to see.

Where Have I been!

2012-01-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

I just realized I haven't posted in forever! I have been very busy and spent my long weekend last week sick.

I have been working on a big order for a consignor lately (a little at a time), a few online orders here and there and just plain working my ass off at the day job. An etsy friend told me about an online Wal-Mart contest so I will be posting a product there so I will be ask y'all to vote for me. I could get a chance to get one of my products in Wal-Mart stores or on Walmart.com. A contract with Wally World would be super cool. Might could quit the day job.............Hey, I can dream.

Have a meeting at Joseph Beth cafe today with Etsy Lex members. Yup, Lexington members are the only active members so we are breaking off on our own. Now Kelley and I can rule the world! Aromatherapy and glitter eyeshadows for all our loyal subjects, of course-everyone will look and smell fabulous.

I have one item to list later. A vapor rub stick-got that idea last weekend. I am also going to conduct some experiments concerning a shampoo/conditioner. Let you know how it goes......

SCORE!

2011-12-31T13:07:00.002-05:00

Got my blackeyed peas! Now all is right with the universe.......

Is this a bad omen?

2011-12-31T06:54:00.000-05:00

Last night I went out to pick up things we need for tonight and for our New Year's dinner and I can't find blackeyed peas! I have my parents checking their Wal-Mart before they come over today but in the meantime I'm flipping out! I have to have my traditional Southern New Years Day dinner-Ham, Blackeyed Peas, Collard Greens and Cornbread. It's bad luck if I don't. I suppose I could do the Kentucky thing and do pinto beans-no I can't. And the Krogers here never have them, not even in the can. I don't understand this at all. I know this isn't deep South but it is still the South dammit! How can you not have blackeyed peas? I'm obviously not the only person who wants them or Wal-Mart's shelves wouldn't have been empty.

Other than that............I'm up at this ungodly hour to get some orders done a roll some more cheese balls so my parents can take one home. My cheese balls are in high demand. They are taking it to my sister and since we are loaded up with her potato salad and deviled eggs I certainly owe her a cheese ball. My sister's potato salad is so good that it's the only stuff we can eat-anything from the store tastes like shit compared to hers. I have a coworker who makes some good tater salad too.

Our normal plans fell through so we are going to have a nice calm celebration tonight-which is fine by me. Except we still have to go buy the ham and we have to go to the liquor store again. My husband told me we had plenty of Jack Daniels when I went out last night but this morning I discovered that we in fact have plenty of Jim Beam. I can't put Bourbon in my Bailey's!

A couple weeks ago I bought a capsule machine from Mountain Rose Herbs and played with it a little bit. Man, that thing is awesome! You can make your own herbal capsules a LOT cheaper than buying them. I'm thinking if i have time today I should make something for Liver support-and some detox bath salts. I should be fine in the morning because I will NOT be doing the champagne at midnight. I will be doing a Bailey's/Jack Daniels toast. Don't ask me why but the last 2 or 3 years I have been drinking Bailey's (coffee) and Jack Daniels (Baileys is expensive so you gotta stretch it :) and I have actually been feeling better the next day. I love wine but the sulphates get to me if I drink too much, and since I have started drinking in the middle of the afternoon on Dec 31st-well, you know. You'd think I'm some big drunkard but i actually don't drink much or even very often most of the year.

I hope all of my readers and customers have a wonderful and SAFE night tonight and all the blessings they deserve in the New Year. I am so lucky that all the people I deal with on Etsy are just the most wonderful people. I talk to a lot of ebayers and even fellow etsians who get some doozies! I know how blessed I am with the people who buy from me. All of you are truly awesome and I am always honored to serve you!

Back to Reality

2011-12-27T21:23:00.000-05:00

It was so hard to go back to work today. I actually did not leave the house yesterday. All 3 of us spent the entire day yesterday relaxing and playing with our new gadgets-even my husband. We didn't even cook-sandwiches for lunch and Papa John's for dinner. It was nice and we all needed a real day of doing nothing-well at least not working. The bad part is that I already had 5 orders waiting for after the holidays to get done and I got a new, quite large order tonight. I'm not complaining-just trying not to freak out. I have had no time tonight and I'm really tired so I will be working my little finger to the bone the next few days.

I've really been like a kid with my new I-pod. Seriously-was almost late for work today because I was playing with it. Not good but fun anyway.

I Hope Everyone is Having a Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

We have officially begun our celebrations and all is still good, as I stated in an earlier post. Even our litle Christmas potluck and gift exchange at work was the best in years-or maybe even ever. We had my family get together at Mom's last night-anyone in the state related to me by blood was there and it was wonderful! I have gotten more of the true Christmas Spirit feeling from most people this year. Most people have just decided to have joy this year-I can't explain it. I don't think it's optimism with the economy, for sure. And everyone definitely has less money to spend. I think it's an actual consious choice people have made-including myself. All I know is, last night we just enjoyed each others' company and were so grateful to have everyone together. It doesn't get any better than that and I am so happy and at peace. i can't remember the last time I felt this way at Christmas! I hope this is a sign of how our next year will be, because the last few years have been quite rough for my family

Tonight we'll have some friends over to exchange gifts and visit, then when they leave we'll open our gifts. Not many surprises under the tree-we all bought our own "big" gifts, including our daughter and left it up to the others to wrap. She is truly becoming an adult. But that's okay. The most fun these days is watching our poodle-she is more excited about Christmas presents than any child!

It's almost over......

2011-12-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

I'm on my lunch break at work, which is the Post Office BTW. I'm so glad this is almost over so I can actually enjoy myself for a few days.

Procrastinators suck....................

Happy Holidays

2011-12-11T07:11:00.000-05:00

I was just writing an email to one of my customers about how my Christmas season is going and thought I'd share with everyone. I'm a postal worker by day so as you can imagine work SUCKS more than ever, especially since they expect us to do the work of 5 people without going into overtime (yeah, right).

However, my Holiday season with my family is the best ever since we've been grown and out of our parents' house. My sister lives down in the mountains but has had to stay with my parents in Georgetown for a while. So we have actually been able to gather the whole family in one place for a change. It's always been hard to get everyone together because of work schedules or weather. My sister usually likes to have dinner at her house but it tends to snow and ice over in the mountains this time of year and it's 2 hours away. So it worked out well for Thanksgiving-we all had it at Mom's the Tuesday before and I just drove straight up there right after work. And we'll all be there together Friday after next for Christmas-every relative I have in the state-well blood relatives.

There are fewer gifts under the tree than usual but the ones under there are nice and we've actually had FUN this year shopping and wrapping.............I haven't enjoyed Christmas this much in years. I know I have a REALLY hard week ahead of me this week and a few REALLY REALLY bad days the beginning of next week. Since my husband is now home we have been able to split up a lot of the shopping duties and next weekend and next week I'll be able to make candy and cheese balls. We got a lot of shopping and wrapping done yesterday. I am really excited about Christmas this year because I've been enjoying my Family. The work stress doesn't matter so much. I don't let it bother me anymore because I know there's nothing I can do to save my job or to save the Post Office so I am just doing the best I can and leaving the rest in the Lord's hands.

What I've Been Up To

2011-12-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

The last few days I've been pretty much strung out on pain meds. I got rear-ended waiting to make a right turn at a red light on Tuesday on my way home from work. I was surprisingly calm even after I got out and saw my car. By Wednesday I was in so much pain I decided to get medical attention. I have whiplash and they said the pain would be much worse the 2nd and 3rd day. They weren't kidding. Thank God I know what I know because I have probably saved myself a lot more pain.

I already had a bottle of massage oil made up with some leftover fractionated coconut oil, with rosalina, fragonia and english lavender, that I was using in small amounts before bed. I added some arnica and st. john's oils to the bottle and some Australian Blue Cypress essential oil. My daughter and husband have been massaging my sore back, neck and shoulders and I think it has really helped to break up the inflammation. I'm still stiff and hurting a little.

I have today to rest and then I go back to work tomorrow. This should be good and painful this time of year. Even if I just work the window it's going to be painful.

December Sales Incentive

2011-12-02T15:27:00.000-05:00

Rather than having a normal sale I have decided to do a lottery of sorts for the month of December. On the 31st I will draw names from everyone who has placed an order between Nov 30th through Dec 30th. The lucky winner will have the cost of their order refunded back to them via paypal.

Also, I am nearing 500 sales so I will have an extra special gift for my 500th customer!

And here's a special coupon code for my blog readers. GBHBLOG for 20% off your orders until December 23rd. This coupon will be good in all of my stores.

Cyber Monday Sale

2011-11-28T05:56:00.000-05:00

I have extended my sale through today-use Coupon code TURKEY to get 20% off in all of my stores!

Thanksgiving Special

2011-11-23T07:40:00.000-05:00

Today through Sunday use coupon code TURKEY to get 20% off in all my stores!

Flower Waters

2011-11-20T08:40:00.000-05:00

I am trying very hard to get some work done today since I will have absolutely no time again until next Sunday. I have orders to work on-one of which is a surprise package. I love doing these because I can get really creative and throw in some products not offered in my store and get feedback. If I listed everything I think of I would be bankrupt from listing fees!

I haven't offered flower waters for a while and I have gotten some awesome new essential oils since then so I will be listing a few. My flower waters are not to be confused with hydrosols-I dissolve essential oils in pure grain alcohol to make an essence then add the essence to distilled water. This gives you the benefits of the essential oil in a more diluted form plus the alcohol acts as a preservative so there's no need to refrigerate them. It's also a lot more economical! I love making these because I can carry them in my purse, or leave a bottle in my locker or keep a bottle in my nightstand to use as a pillow spray and they won't spoil. Plus since I can do this with just about any oil I have so I can make any water or blend that I like. I felt inspired to do this when I received the order for the surprise package so she is getting a bottle of Rosalina flower water. I also made essences from Fragonia and cermonial White Sage today. I have been thinking about doing a kit with essential oils for meditation with 10% dilutions of Holy Basil, Sandalwood, Frankincense and Myrrh so the sage spray would be a nice edition for clearing sacred space.

I'm also getting ready to make anointing ointments based on the Temple blend of Exodus. Some people get nervous about duplicating this blend because of the stern warnings in the Bible. But it is supposed to be formulated by a perfumer (aromatherapist?) for use by the priesthood. Under the New Covenant we are all members of the common priesthood. Besides, it is extremely unlikely that I am duplicating the exact formula for a number of reasons: 1) We can't be 100% certain that the translation is correct 2) Even if it is correct which Myrrh is it referring to? 3) They wouldn't have been using essential oils but infused oils and 4) I have no clue what a HIN is.

Helichrysum Essential Oil

2011-11-12T07:48:00.000-05:00

I wanted to write about this oil this morning because I have been working with it today (and ran out) and because it's one of my favorites, as well as one of my most useful oils. It is one of the pricier essential oils, but worth every penny. Thank goodness I ordered some more last night because after my work this morning I don't have a single drop left!

The scent is a dry floral, tea with honey smell. It's gentle enough to be used neat on the skin and, actually, that's my preferred method of using it on bruises. It's THE best essential oil for healing bruises and one of my projects this morning was making a bruise healing oil with Arnica infused oil and Helichrysum essential oil. Since we still have yard work to do this weekend we'll be using it for pain and we always seem to end up bruised, especially my husband since he's on blood thinners.

Helichrysum is also commonly used in facial oils to prevent wrinkles, as a wound healer (it also prevents scarring) and for trauma.

I also made an under eye oil for my daughter using this oil blended with avocado oil to help clear up her dark circles. I ran out at that point so for my eye oil I used my scar treatment blend (which contains Helichrysum and other goodies for middle-aged ladies) and I threw in some Neroli to smooth out the lines around my eyes.

This is one of my "must have" essential oils for youthful skin along with Lavender, Neroli, and Rose.

I bought some plants this year, hoping to be able to infuse the flowers and save some money, bu they never produced flowers :( I am hoping they survive the winter in Kentucky. Not likely unless we have a long-overdue mild winter.

Veteran's Day Special

2011-11-11T05:27:00.000-05:00

November 11th, 12th and 13th use coupon code 11NOV11 to get 11% off your order. This coupon code is good in all of my stores!

Time Change

2011-11-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness for the extra hour! I got several orders (which is great) but had to make a lot of creams which are more time consuming. I also had to make up a bunch of my essential oil blends. Again, ime consuming but it will save tons of time later when I have even less time to do anything!

I have Coriander Seed CO2 in my ultrasonic nebulizer in the kitchen while I work and it really smells good. It's so hard to believe that it comes from the seeds of the cilantro plant. Just goes to show how different each part of one plant can be-like valerian. The roots stink but flowers smell really nice.

Next is sleep balms. I finally made a bottle of that essentia oil blend too so that will be much easier. If I have time later today I want to bruise some fresh leaves from my stevia plant and infuse them into my lip balm base so it will be naturally sweetened. IF I have time!

We are going to visit the new baby again this afternoon-he's so cute!

I will be putting up a coupon code for Veteran's Day too so watch for it. Maybe it will be for the whole weekend-haven't decided yet.

More Floral Waxes

2011-11-05T11:10:00.000-04:00

I also ordered some other floral waxes from another supplier and they arrived yesterday-Mimosa and Damask Rose. They smell absolutely yummy and will make wonderful bases for somesolid perfumes.

Monday my Rose centifolia, Tuberose and Jasmine wil be here. Along with some monoi butter, I'll be able to keep myself smelling of tropical flowers through the winter. In Kentucky the winters have started to arrive early and been really brutal the last couple of years. The mimosa will be really nice since it has a warm sunny scent and is said to be good for Seasonal Affective Disorder. I think we all have some degree of SAD in the Fall and Wnter just becasue there's less sunlight. For those of us who love our gardens and getting our hands dirty, it's a double whammy to have no sunshine and have all our plants hybernating :(

Big Team Bluegrass Giveaway

2011-11-01T18:34:00.000-04:00

Follow the link for a big giveaway just in time for the holidays.............

http://bluegrassetsy.blogspot.com/2011/11/november-giveaway.html

Floral waxes

2011-11-01T05:19:00.000-04:00

I ordered some floral waxes this morning. As soon as I get them I will make some solid perfumes with them-I ordered Tuberose, Jasmine and Rose (centifolia).

Floral waxes are a by product from the production of absolutes and they can lend a beautiful fragrance and moisturizing properties to balms, creams and lotions. I had rose wax before and used it to make lip balm which smelled heavenly. I also ordered some monoi butter-yum. This will be a nice winter moisturizer, with the floral, tropical scent maybe I'll forget about the brutal winter that's no doubt on the way.

Hopefully I'll have it by the weekend but more likely it will be here early next week-probably Monday when I'm too tired to play after work :(

HerbalCandy

2011-10-30T08:01:00.000-04:00

I made my first batch of herbal candy yesterday-elderberry. I really can't believe I never thought of this before. I think I thought it would be more complicated than it really is, but I am going to keep doing this. I made the elderberry with my Dad in mind. I usually keep him stocked up with elderberry extract because he loves it. It is pretty tasty and it protects you againt flu viruses, but it also helps heart health and strengthens blood vessels-like all berries. I used a 2 cup sugar recipe so it was just sticky enough that I dusted the candies with powdered sugar to keep them from sticking together. We have all sampled it (and some of my daughters friends) and everyone loves them.

Now I have an infusion of Swedish Bitters herbs on the stove and I am trying a recipe with less sugar and corn syrup.

What a great way to take medicine-even kids will take medicine like this, or even picky husbands. I will also make some with Hawthorne berries and some with German Chamomile. Just for fun I may also do Lipton Tea and Dunkin Donuts coffee.

For now I have tons of orders to do and I have to get items together for the big November giveaway from Teambluegrass!

Any other herbal candies you might be interested in? Just leave me a comment below.

Aromatherapy Candies

2011-10-22T12:19:00.000-04:00

I ordered some essential oil candies from another member of the Etsy Natural Healers Guild and they arrived today. Here is what I ordered........

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74801555/mini-bags-best-selling-blends-doterra

I love them so much I ordered this........

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/61247821

I like to order from team members as much as possible during the Holidays and I will definitely be considering some lemon candies for my Dad. Lemon essential oil can help to break down cholesterol and it's just plain yummy-my favorite. I may also consider some Ginger drops for my Mom top help her digestion. Actually my dog would also love these. The dog and I are the only members of the family that like ginger and we frequently share crystalized ginger.

These shipped very quickly and they are amazing! HIGHLY recommended!!!!!

Specials, New Stuff, Perfume Updates

2011-10-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

I have lots of new stuff going on. I ordered pretty new business cards and a few magnets and they arrived this week so my best customers will receive a magnet with their next orders to put on their fridge. i have a limited quantity of these for now but I may order more soon just because they're really cool!

I will also be sending out coupon codes for some of my customers. My top shoppers will be able to get 10% off all their orders for the rest of the year. Second tier shoppers can get 5% and I may promote some of you who shop with me a lot for the Holidays! These discount codes will also be valid on custom orders. I will also be offering special gift bags that you can customize. I have 2 sizes of nice vinyl travel bags so you can customize a gift package for loved ones (or yourself). I will have a listing for the gift bag and you can set up a custom order with me to fill it! Or you can just buy the bag and fill it yourself but what's the fun in that?

I am working on aromatherapy oils in 15ml dropper bottles. These are strong dilutions (10%) of essential oils in fractionated coconut oil. The base oil has an indefinite shelf life and since you won't use much and you will not have to put your fingers in it, they will last for a very long time! I will be replacing my Sleep Easy roll on with this type of oil. I have also been using one myself for hormonal balance with pretty impressive results! I also have a formula for emotional release with some pretty amazing oils from Australia.

I did my perfume blends. One is an amber blend with Rose Absolute, which smells nice but not quite balanced so it needs more work, I think. The other is the Chypre type with cistus, oakmoss, citrus oils, petitgrain, lemon petitgrain and Jasmine. I am really pleased with this one and I am very partial to this perfume type anyway.

A customer placed an order with me for a surprise package last night and we did some emailing back and forth so she is going to be an official tester for these! The listing does say that you can preview new products and I tend to be overly generous....

I have also done a cologne version of my JOY aromatherapy perfume which I will probably just put in my consigned stores. It is still my greatest masterpiece!

New Sales Incentive

2011-10-15T16:37:00.000-04:00

Starting today all orders will receive a free Boo Boo Stick until I hit 450 sales. I will also be sending out coupon codes to my top customers from the past year this weekend to use throughout the Holidays. I have lots of new items planned to stock over the next few weeks, including some opportunities to stock up on some bestsellers. So keep checking back with me to stock up for yourself or for sticking stuffers!

Perfumes

2011-10-03T06:09:00.000-04:00

I did get some work done on my perfumes yesterday. I had ordered some more labdanum absolute, oakmoss absolute, jasmine absolute and rose absolute. Yesterday I made my amber base and chypre base, and I had already made a strong eau-de-cologne base. I am going to start playing with them, probabaly next weekend. This week I have to re-do an order that was lost in the mail-actually not lost but apparently mis-delivered. I am so pissed off at a certain post office but nonetheless, my customer should not have to suffer.

I hope whoever has the order is happy. A crippled woman is suffering for an extra week because of someone's dishonesty.

Essential Oils for the Holidays

2011-10-03T06:02:00.001-04:00

Here's a link to a post I wrote for the team blog for the Etsy Natural Healers Guild.

http://etsynaturalhealersguild.blogspot.com/2011/09/essential-oils-for-holidays.html

Team Bluegrass Giveaway

2011-10-02T17:54:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to our October giveaway.

http://bluegrassetsy.blogspot.com/2011/10/october-giveaway.html

Perfumes

2011-09-26T08:04:00.000-04:00

Lately I have been on a perfume making frenzy. I am working on an all natural amber because even the so called "natural" ones on the market have some artificial (and irritating) notes that I don't like. So I decided to make my own. Research isn't easy, amber recipes are a closely guarded secret, but I have come up with one that I like. This will be a fabulous base note in other blends and will work as a stand alone fragrance.

I've also been learning about the perfume family called Chypres. A basic blend is bergamot, oakmoss absolute, patchouli and labdanum absolute. There is so much room for variations by adding petitgrain, jasmine, rose, citruses, sandalwood, etc. So actually, I could blend my 3 favorite perfumes (eau de cologne, soft patchouli, and amber), add a little oakmoss and have a perfect perfume. I also have some of my amber blend, mixed with choya loban and a little birch tar essential oil and it is smelling very deep, smoky, and sensual.

I am having fun and I think I have several masterpieces in the works! I'll keep you posted.

Pricing Changes

2011-09-25T20:28:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately I have had to raise my prices. The cost of EVERYTHING is going up especially my essential oils and my shipping costs. I hope my customers understand and won't feel inconvenienced, but this is our new reality. Even lavender oil has been going way up.

Fall is Here

2011-09-24T09:43:00.000-04:00

I know the calender says Fall but it usually is still sweltering hot here in Kentucky. We actually had a very cold Labor Day. Actually we had nearly 100 degrees on the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day weekend then it was in the 60's on Labor Day. On a normal year, we are well in the 80's and 90's through September and it doesn't get very cool until about mid-October. Sometimes you don't even need a jacket on your kids for trick-or-treating. But it is definitely cool already. We are having some warm days but the leaves are turning colors and I haven't seen any of my hummingbirds for 3 or 4 days now. The males have been gone for nearly a month so I'm sure the females have now headed south.

It will soon be time to cut down what's left of my garden. My herbs didn't do really well this year. I think it was actully too wet-we never dried out this year like we normally do. My comfrey has thrived while everything else looks like crap but it likes cool weather and lots of moisture.

I had a really hard week this week and lots of sales, which is good. I actually ran behind on shipping. My customers may not have even noticed but I like to ship within 24 hours if at all possible and no later than 48 hours. Some orders waited 3 or 4 days because I was just swamped and got nothing done last weekend and worked lots of overtime all week.

So today I am going to catch up on the last 2 orders, plus work on a new one, get some more things together to take to Tryly Bluegrass and continue to experiment on the perfume I'm tying to make for them. I have also
been working on some other perfumes like my Amber blend and a Chypre. I should probably spend some time with my husband too, you think?

Arnica Special

2011-09-17T06:12:00.000-04:00

The comfrey samples didn't last long! Now I have some lip balm tubes with Arica Montana ointment and I will give these as your free sample with every order until I'm out.

Arnica is the best herbal remedy for bruises and pain. It should NOT be used on broken skin or it will CAUSE irritation. This is a great seller for me this time of year because we are all sore from yardwork. I don't know how it is for everyone else but it is suddenly unusually cold here in central Kentucky-seriously, it feels like November. So our trees are turning colors and dropping leaves already and it's going to be time to cut everything down. The only things still going strong in my herb garden is the comfrey.

Comfrey Special

2011-09-10T12:04:00.000-04:00

I just finished a special batch of comfrey salve for a friend and I had extra so I will give a free 1/2 tin to my next 6 customers. This is olive oil infused with fresh comfrey leaf, dried lavender buds and loaded with Bulgarian Lavender oil. I use comfrey all the time for my eczema outbreaks, rashes and for wound healing. I have also used it in the past for tendonitis. The docotrs told me I would have it for life but since I starting using comfrey on it, I can't remember the last time I had a problem with it. And my tendonitis was in my wrist and I work with my hands all day.

Comfrey contains allantoin-a known cell regenerator. It speeds healing and strengthens tissues. Comfrey has even been used to speed the healing of broken bones. I also have a client who buys tons of it from me for her psoriasis because it's the only thing that has ever helped her. She is also buying it for her daughter who is starting to develop patches of it.

Comfrey also heals bruises and sore muscles and reduces swelling.

Busy Busy

2011-09-09T12:41:00.001-04:00

My week has gone pretty much as expected except that I have done nothing at night after work. I have just been exhausted! I will get my orders caught up this weekend and I will post a new incentive for my customers. Yup-another cool freebie just for ordering.

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

I am super busy-which is good. I'm really trying hard to get new orders done and I have some other large orders I am going to work on this week. Tomorrow i sew! I have had a skirt cut for my daughter for ages now and it's high time I put it together. I'm working hard today but it's what I love to do so it doesn't feel like work.

This is going to be a horrible week at work............I think I'll have more overtime than I want but so be it. I have told them and they don't seem concerned so I can only do my best! I probably won't do anything after work on Tuesday and Thursday I will work until it's time for Project Runway. Other than that I'd say I'll be working until bedtime all week. And I have a class reunion coming up and I want to do a centerpiece for that to promote my business, then my husband will be going to Virginia for a few days to visit his grandkids, I'm trying to crochet an afghan for the new grandchild that's on the way, working on a perfume for Truly Bluegrass, samples for the spotted box............It's afternoon and I haven't even showered!

This Post Is Pure Revenge

2011-08-28T17:51:00.004-04:00

Anyone who doesn't like to read anything negative about other people should stop reading now. As much as I hate to use my own blog to post a grievance I have nowhere else to go and I will get my pound of flesh.

I was recently part of a sample swap on an etsy street team that I was on. There were 5 of us so we were all supposed to send out 4 sample packs and receive 4 sample packs in return. I received some absolutely beautifully made soaps from Kim at mountainowlsoap and a crochet pothandle cover from KerryLaneCrafts. I have been in communication with both of these very nice ladies and it seems that the 3 of us are the ONLY ONES who sent out samples. Now I sent out big packs with a couple sample sized products and three full sized products. I suppose that AngelasCandles and AzureArts are enjoying my products, the soaps and the hand-crocheted items they received and somehow can sleep at night knowing that they are sleazy con-artists.

I hope they are better when people pay with cash than they are with trades, that AzureArts arranged, by the way. Should either of them decide to respond to an email or do the right thing and send out the samples they owe the 3 of us, then and ONLY then I will remove this post. Until they do, they are called out for what they are.

UPDATE: After involving a 3rd party I have heard from Angelascandles and it appears she has had a lot of personal issues. Which is fine but communication would help. No word yet from the person who arranged this whole thing.

Sales Incentive

2011-08-18T06:08:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned, I am trying to increase sales and , hopefully, have more steady sales. Right now I am up to 379 sales in my etsy shop and I would like to hit 400 or more by Labor Day. So every order until I hit 400 sales will receive a free 4 ml scar treatment. This is my best seller-very popular!

Rose Geranium

2011-08-15T06:24:00.000-04:00

I recently purchased some essential oils from a new supplier including some Rose Geranium (pelargonium roseum) not to be confused with Geranium (pelargonium graveolens). I wanted to give it a try since I'm not a big fan of the scent of Geranium and it's supposed to have a rosier smell. I am really enjoying the Rose Geranium, to the point that I even used it in my bath and in my nebulizer last night. The properties seem to be the same as Geranium but the scent is definitely more floral and it's much more tenacious. I am going to try it in a perfume too, and I have already made a body butter with it. It's a great detoxifier and hormone balancer, cooling, relaxing and can be used on the skin for burns and to balance sebum production.

I am thinking about offering some incentives in my store so I can try to keep my sales up. I'm doing well overall but my sales are all over the place. One month I'll do $200 or $300 dollars then the next I'll do $50 and during the holidays I'm starving! So I will be offering incentives and I would really like all my loyal customers to think of me at Christmas. Share with your loved ones :)

New Listings

2011-08-06T11:57:00.000-04:00

I have been on a listing frenzy today and will probably be adding more items later today and tomorrow. There are different items spread throughout my 4 stores so you can check the links on the right side of the page to check for new items. I have listed some essential oils (coffee, rosalina, nerolina), and perfumes (from fragrance oils) in 5ml, 8ml and 15ml sizes.

Later I will be listing aroma spray concentrates-this is a more eco-friendly and economic way to enjoy aroma sprays. Instead of shipping a bottle with mostly water I will be including 1/2 ounce of concentrate with a one ounce bottle and 4 ounce bottle. This saves money on shipping and allows you to use the bottles for as long as the sprayer works. I decided to include 2 different sized bottles so you can have a larger one for household use and one you can carry in a purse or diaper bag. See my last blog post about how much use I got from my Thieves spray while I was on vacation!

What I Took on Vacation (and What I Actually Used)

2011-08-04T07:21:00.000-04:00

I like to pack as light as possible when going on vacation but I don't want to be without my essential oils either. So I packed the bare necessities-one dram vials of lavender, peppermint, rosemary, tea tree and eucalyptus, my little bottle of whiteflower analgesic balm that I have been refilling with my blend, 2 ounces of almond oil, thieves spray (plus and extra bottle of concentrate) and a whole bottle of aloe vera gel. My daughter and I managed to go through half the almond oil-we used it to take off our makeup, to moisturize our skin and I used it once to make a massage blend for sore muscles. I had actually packed my insect repellent but never used it-I'll get to that.

I had already gotten pretty chewed up by mosquitoes before we left Kentucky so I used the lavender and tea tree on those. What I actually got the most use of was the thieves spray. I used it in the car to freshen the air and to help keep the driver alert, on toilet seats in public bathrooms, to disinfect the air in our bathroom after stinky potty trips, as an insect repellent, and to freshen the carpet in the hotel after it started to smell weird.

I had no problems with mosquitoes the whole time we were in Myrtle Beach but it was a completely different story when we drove to Charleston. They were lying in wait for me when I stepped out of the car and, of course, my insect repellant was 2 hours away in MB. So I grabbed my vial of lavender oil out of my purse and smeared it all over the fresh bites and sprayed myself from head to toe with the Thieves spray. We took a little cruise through Charleston Harbor and spent an hour walking around Ft. Sumter. No more mosquito problems but my daughter and I were both bitten by fire ants so we spent the rest of the week putting lavender oil on those.

So what I actually USED was my Thieves Spray, Lavender oil, Tea Tree oil, and analgesic balm (with a few drops of rosemary). I could have packed even lighter than I did. And thank goodness I packed some more concentrate for my thieves spray because I actually had to mix so much because I used it so heavily.

About the Thieves blend-it contains essential oils of cinnamon bark, clove bud, lemon, eucalyptus radiata and rosemary cineole. These oils are mentally stimulating, deodorizing and disinfecting. I have had tremendous success fighting infections with this blend and I always have a spray bottle of this in my purse and in my locker at work. When you work with the public you get exposed to a lot of germs and when I spray the air with this blend I don't get sick. When I neglect to use it, I get sick. This ended up being the most important thing I packed and I probably could have used it for everything but many of these oils are skin sensitizers. I don't have a problem with them but I don't want to push my luck either because you don't know how many times you can use them before you start to react to them.

I had a fabulous time in South Carolina. I visited with family and learned some details about my family history I never knew. It was good to go home and I really hated to leave but I missed my dog :)

Giveaway Winner

2011-08-02T10:29:00.001-04:00

Kim is the winner of the consultation. Congrats! I look forward to working with you if we can focus on business while Project Runway is running :)

New Perfumes and New Pain

2011-07-17T07:04:00.002-04:00

It's been an interesting week. I have an abcessed tooth which manifested with no tooth pain just a sudden HUGE swollen spot in the roof of my mouth. The peak of my agony came Wednesday night which ended with a trip to the ER. So after several days of antibiotics and overdoses of pain meds I still spiked a fever of 102F yesterday-and I have 1 week to prepare for our vacation. Yippee....... Of course I now have only 4 days to work instead of 5 because Wed I will be getting a root canal started and will no doubt spend at least the afternoon unconcious on hydrocodone.

I have managed to accomplish a little work during my lucid moments this weekend. I added some new fragrances in my aromatics store. You can check out my scents here. I also cleaned the fridge and finally got my orders out that came in on Thursday-that was the day I went to the dentist and stayed unconcious for the day (YUP I am losing 2 full days of my life in 2 weeks-right before vacation).

I hope y'all check it out and order some perfume from me! I will be listing some sample packs so look for it!

Oh and I can do incense too!!!!!

New Giveaway

2011-07-07T20:03:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a giveaway for a while so I decided it's time. I want to give away a big prize to one lucky winner on August 1st so you can celebrate my birthday with me! I am giving away a free consultation (value of $50) that may include herbal, aromatherapy or flower remedy treatment for what ever you need. I'm really excited about this and I want all my readers to be excited so I am making this available worldwide and I'm going to give you tons of chances to enter.

Leave a comment and tell me what you want out of the consultation (1 entry).

Follow my blog (1 entry)-I have lots of other opportunities coming in the near future so you may want to keep up!

Follow me on twitter (1 entry)-the link is to the right of the page...........

Tweet this giveaway and leave a comment telling me you did.

Post this giveaway to your Facebook page and leave a comment telling me you did.

Make a purchase from any of my stores and leave 3 comments with the transaction ID.

That's up to 8 entries! I'll choose the winner whenever I roll out of bed on my Birthday (August 1st) and my family is done showering me with love and gifts (yeah, right). Good Luck and I look forward to working with the winner.

Did I mention that you'll receive free stuff as part of the consult? Yup!

Free Shipping Offer

2011-07-02T08:24:00.000-04:00

Use coupon code JULY42011 to get free shipping in all my stores through July 4th-domestic orders only. Follow the links to all my stores on the right hand side of my blog. Happy shopping!

Here's Pattie

2011-06-26T18:38:00.000-04:00

Pattie is short for Patchouli. I love this plant and I rub the leaves every time I walk by it. I wish my blog was scratch and sniff so all of you could experience it too! I hope I get flowers so I can make an essence.

Canada Post Lockout

2011-06-25T10:48:00.000-04:00

I just want all my readers to be aware that there is no postal service in Canada at the moment. I'm in the USA so you might think it doesn't effect me. Well, it does. I have lots of wonderful, loyal customers from Canada who can't buy anything from me. I am also working with another very nice etsian from Canada who will be featuring some of my products on a new website that she'll be launching in the late August/early September time frame. She tells me that some of the Canadian sellers are getting negative feedback because items aren't shipping-this isn't their fault! Blame the Canadian government! I only hope after all of this mess is over that the Canadian people will have a new appreciation for their postal workers. I'm an American postal worker so I know how under-appreciated they are!

Click here to check out the new website.

A Perfect Accident

2011-06-19T08:15:00.002-04:00

I was up early, early this morning and I have been playing around with some blends. I have items consigned at Truly Bluegrass in Versailles and I have been trying to come up with an exclusive fragrance for them. I haven't come up with the "perfect" blend yet but I did come up with a fragrance oil/essential oil blend that is dead on true Sandalwood. SWEET!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-18T10:41:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful work week this week. I taught a class, which is my first love. I was hoping to get a flower essence done today since my clary sage is blooming but we are having thunderstorms so far today. It's ok though because the rain and cloud cover is keeping the outside temperature very nice. It may come back on us if the sun comes out because it will just magnify the humidity.

Take good care of your Dad tomorrow! I am taking mine out to eat at a Nice German restaurant tonight so we can spend the day at my stepson's house tomorrow. I made a big batch of soap about 5 weeks ago to give my Dad and husband for Father's Day. Spiced Rum-Dad's fave. I made the scent with a blend of essential oils that I made up 2 weeks before I made the soap so everything would be blended and mellow. It all turned out very nicely and I think they'll like it. Hopefully it will keep hubby out of the soaps I want to sell!

So shower Dad with love and presents-he deserves it! After all, he survived raising you!

It's HOT!

2011-06-11T11:01:00.000-04:00

The cooler weather didn't last long! Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I do at least have a cool breeze outside but I decided to come in for a break.

I got a yarrow flower essence going and it looks like I can do some Clary Sage soon. I had a small planter full of chickweed that I raised from seed and I cut it down and have it layed out for now. I then gathered all the little seeds from the table it was on and threw them back in the pot. I may have to bring it inside soon. Chickweed hates heat but it's supposed to be cooler next week so I'll see how round 2 goes.

To give you an idea of how much rain we had this Spring............I have been going crazy pulling up Marshmallow plants! They grow around streams where it's nice and wet so it's a struggle to keep them happy in Kentucky clay and I have never had a problem with them self seeding because we usually don't have THAT much rain and the summers are hot with maybe a half inch of rain a month. But at one point we got 17 inches of rain in 35 days. Seeds have washed all over the place. My husbands parsley keeps popping up in my flower beds, I keep finding stray violas in the yard (which is actually kinda cool). .

I guess I should head back out and find a spot for my Borage and trim the flowers off of the valerian, cut back some lemon balm and comfrey, etc, etc

Happy Saturday

2011-06-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

I am outside enjoying the cooler weather while the dog plays and protects from squirrels :) We got some much needed rain last night-yes, it seems like we were just flooded now it's been very hot and the ground is so dry it's cracking open. This is the normal wild Kentucky weather. Summer has dug it's claws in early much like winter did this year-early and full force!

This weekend we are going to get some yard work done! I have plants in flower pots that need to go in the ground and I need to murder some weeds-no poison, I kill them with my bare hands.

I am teaching a class again next week for the 1st time in over a year. I also have some fragrance oils coming in the mail Monday so I am going to add some new items to my aromatics shop. I have found a wonderful, all natural liquid glycerin soap base from a supplier-much more impressive than the castille soaps from the stores. It has a nice rich lather and no artificial ingredients, at least not until I scent them. It makes a great shampoo and body wash. I may offer some with essential oils in my GBH shop too. I want to offer a head-to-toe fragrance package but couldn't figure out how to make a conditioner so I have settled on a hair serum using olive oil squalene with just a touch of avocado oil. This only takes a couple drops worked through your hair and you're good to go. And it's much lighter than conventional conditioners. I made some for myself with my rosemary/basil/lavender conditioning EO blend. 2 or 3 drops works like a charm for me and my hair is thick and dry.

I have 2 new fragrance oils coming-Body (by Victoria) and Amber Romance (Victoria's Secret Type). I also found Lovely (Sarah Jessica Parker type) from this supplier so I ordered 8 oz o that one. Just when I got people who were interested in that one my original supplier quit carrying it. Thank goodness I found it again! And the Body by Victoria is one of the best they've ever had, and Love Spell, but you can only occasionally find a body spray at the mall and that's it. These are some of the very few commercial fragrances I ever use. So now I can make my own.

For the head-to-toe I was thinking of Shampoo/Body Wash, scented Hair Serum and either a lotion or body butter. Maybe a perfume too since I have plenty of perfume bottles! And I do mean perfume-strongly concentrated.

I think now I will go put on some work clothes and get some work done while the rest of the family sleeps. I have the dog to keep me company and I hope a hummer will make an appearance. We've only seen a couple of the little guys but it's still early. This time next month we'll be dodging them while they do battle over control of the feeders-I hope.

Hummer Watch and Other Projects......

2011-05-29T07:27:00.000-04:00

Good Morning! I am outside on the patio having my coffee and hoping to have a hummer sighting. I always see one on Memorial Day, though last year my husband and I saw our first one in early May. It hasn't been unbearably hot yet, but we are supposed to be in the 90's today and tomorrow. I hung my feeders yesterday and added a couple drops of blue food coloring to the nectar so my hummers are going to be having purple nectar

I am going to be finishing my gardening work early this morning before it gets hot. I have some helichrysum and St. John's Wort to plant. All my St. John's plants perished for some reason. Two of them may have been simply from old age but the other 2-I don't know. The only St. J's that I have in the ground look like seedlings that were sown from last year's plants. So I suspect I may have a shortage of oil this year. I also bought a stevia plant. Not sure where I'm going to put it. We have run very late getting our mulch in so I am going to cut the comfrey and lemon balm plants to the ground to make it easier to put out mulch.

I am still working on some perfumes. I want to build a musk accord tonight with ambrette seed extract, cistus absolute, patchouli, myrrh, angelica root and maybe some jasmine. Since we are having plenty of sun I am also going to make some more flower essences today and tomorrow-but I need some brandy first! I am going to do valerian, lavender, roses, and arnica.

I am also going to be working on some natural pest control. I have a bad case of little red spider mites on the patio so I am going to make insecticidal soap with neem CO2 and castille soap and water. I may also make a brew of Neem CO2, rubbing alcohol and water to spray directly on the little bastards so they'll die. We also have ants invading our dining room. This is a room where we only eat when we invite the whole family over for special occasions like Thanksgiving so there's no food in there. I have no idea why they are there but I will fix it. I am also going to come up with a chili pepper CO2 mix of some kind to put around the flower pots for the Hibiscus. The squirrels are actually climbing the hibiscus and sitting in them while they eat the leaves. Last year we had rabbits chewing off branches. Apparently hibiscus leaves are a rodent delicacy. I am also attempting to grow Calendula again this year and the squirrels always chew those to the ground-so we are going to have a chili pepper barrier..............

Guaiac Wood Essential Oil

2011-05-21T16:07:00.000-04:00

I just got done playing around with this oil, and by "playing" I mean toiling to dissolve it in alcohol so I can actually use it. This is paste. Yummy smelling paste but still paste. I gave up on softening it in a waterbath and finally ended up scooping it out of the bottle and dissolving it in pure grain alcohol-which is fine since I intend to use it for making perfume anyway.

The smell is like a cross between rose, amyris and sandalwood. I am going to use it as a base note in a perfume-maybe in a blend of rose, myrrh, patchouli. I'll let you know how it goes.

It can also be used for respiratory infections and on arthritc joints.

Patchouli and Petitgrain

2011-05-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Patchouli and Petitgrain is one of my favorite essential oil blends! I have used it to make perfume-and it's a big hit with people who experience it in person. But that's not really what I'm posting about.

I was at a nursery and went into the herb section to see what they had. They had some Patchouli plants. I was always under the impression that the plant was not the most pleasant smell-boy, was I WRONG! I bought one for myself and a friend at work who adores Patchouli. We are excited!

I also got some really gorgeous smelling Petitgrain oil today. It's very sweet and even more Neroli like than the Bigarade grade. And it's from Paraguay-I was pleasantly surprised.

I have been working A LOT and I have gotten mildly behind in orders, and since my hubby was out of town for 3 weeks we are massively behind on yard work. I dread it but I refuse to put out mulch on Memorial weekend. i have been working 6 days a week and working overtime and even working double time all month. I intend to relax for the 3-day weekend!

If it ever quits raining I will be getting more flower essences done. I have arnica, roses, lavender and valerian blooming but it ain't looking good next week. Maybe this weekend............

I'm Still Alive!

2011-05-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

I realized I haven't written anything in weeks! My husband was out of town for almost 3 weeks and, of course, that's when everything goes wrong with the house and at work. The first day he was gone the dishwasher flooded the kitchen and the part was on backorder, so it just got fixed yesterday. We are shorthanded at work so I have been working OT and my day off. I have to go in super-early tomorrow so he decided to leave for home last night instead of waiting til morning. He finally got home at 6:30 this morning-boy was I glad to se him ;)! Now he's sleeping and I am getting some orders caught up.

I am going to making some perfumes-alcohol based and I think I will put them in Truly Bluegrass. I made some of my JOY perfume for MOm on Mother's Day and she is in love!

Got to get back to work! I'm also trying to work on salvaging a surprise batch of soap that I started last night as a Father's Day gift for Dad and the hubby so I have to try to pry it out of the mold while he sleeps. I had some technical difficulties with it-maybe I'll post about that later!

Comfrey Flower Essence

2011-04-17T13:12:00.000-04:00

Today I have added Comfrey Flower Essence in my stores. This is one of my favorite plants and it was created using the fertile European comfrey and not the sterile Russian comfrey. It is one of the most healing plants I have ever used and the flower essence will be wonderful too. If you use homeopathic symphytum you may consider using this as a less expensive alternative!

Just in Time for Mother's Day

2011-04-10T09:09:00.001-04:00

I just got some cute little perfume bottles and I have been playing around with some blends. So I thought why not have a giveaway and let my readers have a chance to win some! You could win a 10ml spray bottle of pefume to keep for yourself or to give your Mom for Mother's Day. All perfumes are made with pure essential oils and/or absolutes in perfumers grade alcohol with a fixative added. I'll let you choose:

EAU DE COLOGNE is a classic light blend with citrus oils and Neroli. I love it but it contains all top notes-so I added orange blossom absolute instead of Neroli, which gives it much more staying power. I also added lemon petitgrain (from the leaves and twigs of the Lemon tree) to lift the blend. Other oils include bergamot, lemon, petitgrain (from the bitter orange tree) and a touch of orange and lavender. This is a gorgeous Spring/Summer scent-light and uplifting.

LAVENDER made with French Lavender EO and Lavender Absolute. This reminds me of the little bottle of lavender perfume I bought in Paris. No one does Lavender better than the French!

JOY my best selling aroma-perfume in an alcohol base. This blend includes bergamot, pink grapefruit, ylang ylang, jasmine, vetiver and oakmoss absolute. My customers love this!

SOFT PATCHOULI is mainly Petitgrain with enough patchouli to add some earthiness and tons of staying power. Don't let the name fool you-it's made with an aged patchouli which is soft and mellow. Patchouli can be hard to take if you smell it straight but it completely transforms when it's blended with other oils. This is my favorite Patchouli blend and I get tons of compliments when I wear it.

This giveaway will end at midnight eastern time on April 30th. I will notify the winner on May 1st so we will have plenty of time for transit in case you want it for Mother's Day. This giveaway is open to US residents only! Just leave a comment to be eligible.

Turkish Delight

2011-04-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

I just came back from running some errands and now I'm indulging in some Turkish Delight-the best herbal candy ever invented. If you've never had it, it's flavored with Rosewater and it's a gelatin type candy dusted with powdered sugar. YUM!

Hyacinth-Flower Essences

2011-04-03T11:21:00.000-04:00

I made my first flower essence of the year yesterday. For those of you who are not familiar with them they are similar to homeopathic remedies. The flowers are floated on Spring water and infused in the sun for a few hours and then preserved with Brandy. A dose is a few drops in water and you can dose pretty much as often as you feel you need to.

Some people believe there is a transfer of vibrational energy from the flower to the water. Since we are still talking about an actual infusion with plant material I believe there is a more scientific, physical explanation for the action. Science just doesn't know how to see it. I believe the action is related to cellular memories-maybe it's just a different wording for the same phenomena, I don't know. I believe essential oils operate this way too, at least partially. Anyhow, they work. The reason I believe in them is that they work with animals so there is no placebo effect there could be with humans. I know my dog trusts me implicitly with my plant medecines-because she knows she will feel better. That's all I need to know!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71340429/hyacinth-flower-essence. There is the new listing and I also have Borage available and I will be adding many more as plant material becomes available.

I am considering some other experiments like combining flower essences and essential oils in sprays and possibly some homeopathic doses of essential oils. Watch for further posts as I may seek out volunteers for these. If you think you might be interested in being a test subject for me go ahead and leave a comment and I will contact you.

Clearance Specials

2011-04-02T08:46:00.000-04:00

It's Spring-sort of- so it's time to start clearing out last season's inventory so I can make room for my fresh oils this summer. I will be offering free domestic shipping on some of my infused herbal oils-Arnica, White Sage, St. John's Wort. I am also going to attempt to grow my own calendula flowers again. If I can keep the squirrels from eating them I will have a Calendula Supreme oil-infused with freshly harvested flowers.

Aromatherapy Inhalers

2011-04-02T08:39:00.001-04:00

I am going to revise a couple of my formulas on the aromatherapy inhalers. The allergy blend will now include Nerolina and the vapors blend will also include Eucalyptus polybractea-guaranteed to make your nose run! Which is the point now isn't it.............

Eucalyptus polybractea

2011-03-28T07:06:00.000-04:00

I added a few drops of this oil to my anti-viral inhaler last night and just tried it out. It has a higher concentration of cineole than E. globulus so I figured it should be a stronger inhalant. Wow was I right! It is way more intense than E. globulus! Bring a tissue.........

New Listings

2011-03-27T16:22:00.001-04:00

I have listed 3 new essential oil kits in my etsy, artfire, and hyenacart stores

I finally got the ylang ylang kit up plus a set of eucalyptus oils and a really awesome set of oils from the Melaleuca family. Here are the links:

http://hyenacart.com/GloryBeHerbals/mt/1686/43725/Ylang-Ylang-Set-of-Essential-Oils-All-Fractions
http://hyenacart.com/GloryBeHerbals/mt/1686/65545/Set-of-Seven-Essential-Oils-from-the-Eucalyptus-Family-
http://hyenacart.com/GloryBeHerbals/mt/1686/59641/Melaleucas-Set-of-Essential-Oils

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=3083544
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=3083371
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=3083132

http://www.etsy.com/listing/70915656/melaleucas-set-of-essental-oils
http://www.etsy.com/listing/70913538/set-of-seven-essential-oil-from-the
http://www.etsy.com/listing/70910312/ylang-ylang-set-of-essential-oils-all

Essential Oil Experiments

2011-03-26T10:28:00.001-04:00

I used the Rosalina in the nebulizer last night and just absolutely loved it. It really is a bizarre yet beautiful combination eucalyptus/rose/rosewood/lavender type smell and I think it really helped with the little chest congestion I'm having and definitely helped me drift off to sleep. I actually got the best rest last night that I've had in a long time. I have been dragging all week. I also had a very vivid work-related dream that is directly associated with stress I'm experiencing in the work place so I am wondering if Rosalina may help release blocked up stress. I'm going to put some in a bath here shortly too if I can get myself off of the computer and into the bathtub.

The Australian Blue Cypress has also really helped with the sorenes from my eczema outbreak I'm having on my right foot. Did I mention I'm a little stressed? I have also been drinking nettle tea to try to detoxify my liver (a little Spring cleaning) and build up my blood. My iron is always low so I'm sure it's also the source of my feeling tired all the time.

I wanted to start playing around with my eucalyptus oils when I got up this morning so I started with the Eucalyptus dives (AKA peppermint eucalyptus). I added a couple drops to some sunflower oil and used it as a chest rub, a sore muscle rub and on an open lesion on my foot. It was very cooling and very quickly numbed the soreness in the sore muscle, much like menthol. It has been working best as a chest rub and the muscle is sore again. I suspected this would be the case since it contains a very high concentration of cineole. My thoughts on this one is it will be great for inhalation for congestion and would make a wonderful cooling bath or spray in the summer, much like peppermint.

I will keep you updated on my experiments as I conduct them this weekend!

New Essential Oils

2011-03-25T20:39:00.000-04:00

I got an order in today with some new essential oils. I bought several varities of Eucalyptus (E. polybractea, E. dives,E. camaldulensis) that I'm going to play around with. I also bought a bottle of Australian Blue Cypress which is supposed to be a great anti-inflammatory. It is a blue oil and it smells wonderful. I have a rash on my foot so I will be using that tonight. The oils I'm most impressed with are Rosalina and Nerolina. They are melaleucas, which means they are related to Tea Tree-you wouldn't know it from their scent!

Nerolina is also known as Lavender Tea Tree. To me the scent is fruity not Lavender. It's much more like Roman Chamomile but not as overpowering. It's also good against allergies so I will be including this in my blend for the allergy relief inhalers.

Rosalina is a good name for this oil. It is definitely reminiscent of Rosewood only brighter. It is relaxing and anti-infection so this is going in my nebulizer tonight!

I mentioned in a previous post that I would be doing a Ylang Ylang kit (will be posted this weekend). I will also be doing a Eucalyptus kit with 7 varities of eucalyptus oil; Now I am also thinking about a kit for the melaleucas and will include the Rosalina, Nerolina, Tea Tree, Niaouli, and Cajeput. You won't believe the range from down-right medicinal to floral and beautiful!

I Have a Flower!

2011-03-22T19:37:00.000-04:00

My bloodroot is flowering for the first time in years!! They have been sending up leaves but I didn't think I would ever get a flower again. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the leaf is curled up at the base. The flower shoots up first-it's not quite open yet. We are supposed to have thunderstorms today so keep your fingers crossed that I don't lose it!

Spring---FINALLY

2011-03-20T19:07:00.000-04:00

I thought t would never get here. It has been another gorgeous weekend and I actually got some work done in the garden. It was SUPPOSED to be mid-50's with thunderstorms today-instead we had mid 70's and sunshine. I hope the weatherman's forecast for the rest of the week holds out that well.

I used some border bricks to build flower beds for my Arnica. The little buggers were getting out of control so I have basically caged them. I didn't realize they had runners like that-it's like mint. I think I'll be pulling up stry arnica all year. It may be harder to get under control than comfrey and the mints. The runners are deeper in the ground than mints so, yes, it's going to be a fight.

I had a pleasant surprise. My bloodroot is making an appearance for the first time in 2 years. I think it may actually flower which hasn't happened for several years.

Now I am going to plant some seeds in the little pellet greenhouse thingy I bought yesterday. Planting some Helichrysum italicum which I will get tons of use out of, some Calendula, Borage and German Chamomile.
All of my plants are coming up fast so I really hope we don't end up a surprise cold snap again!

My poor daugter is sick again and has requested a batch of my home-made herbal cough syrup. So I have some Elder flowers and berries, licorice root, elecampane root, coltsfoot, marshmallow root and goldenseal on the stove. As soon as it's reduced I can strain it and add sugar for her. She loves it. It tastes better than anything from the store and it makes her get better unlike anything from the store or the doctor.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Happy Saturday!

2011-03-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

I hope all is well with you and everyone is praying for our friends in Japan.

I have some fairly boring updates and announcements. My beautiful new jars have arrived and I actually sent out a jar of cold cream in a new blue jar this morning-well actually it's still inside my mailbox but my carrier will take it soon. I also got cobalt blue dropper bottles that I will be using for my flower essences that I will be producing throughout the Spring and summer months as my flowers bloom (and as the weather permits). I already have some Borage that I will be listing this weekend. I definitely plan on doing my roses, lavender, comfrey, helichrysum (if my seedlings survive), arnica, valerian and St. John's wort. If I can convince my husband to plant Heather out front I'll do that one too. I have used Heather with my dog for her separation anxiety and I did see an improvement. So my co-dependant readers keep your fingers crossed.

Many of you may have seen my Lavender essential oil pack that allows you to sample 5 different Lavender oils. I am going to be doing similar sampler packages of Eucalyptus and Ylang Ylang.

We are having our usual tug of war between Winter and Spring. The Spring showers have arrived with a vengance. We were actually short 1 1/2 inches on precipitation even after all the snow we had this year. We now have a 3 1/2 inch surplus in less than a week. Yesterday we had a dusting of snow on the ground when we got up. Today is sunny and warm. Kentucky in the Spring!

Spring Fever-Part II

2011-02-19T13:38:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post I returned to my previous job but now I FINALLY have weekends off! I actually slept until 8:15 this morning. This may not sound late to you but for me that's like sleeping until noon. I bought some little color-coding labels yesterday (and I do mean LITTLE) and tagged the tops of all my essential oil bottles this morning while my family slept. Since so many of my oils are in small vials I can easily spot the oil I'm looking for and will do much less digging around through a hundred bottles. I colored my hair, took a shower and am fairly dressed up for just being around the house for the day. My husband's grandson is coming over for a sleep over so I want to look nice for my "boyfriend".

I just took a stroll through the back yard and see comfrey, valerian, melissa and yarrow starting to make an appearance. I put in some seeds last year for Pulsatilla but I have to wait a while longer to see if I'm going to get any-That's one flower essence I REALLY want to make! We do a have a little bit of a wintry mix in the forecast for Tuesday but I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Old Man Winter is starting to lose his grip on Kentucky and I say good ridance to the old geyser!

Spring Fever

2011-02-13T13:10:00.000-05:00

I definitely have a severe case of Spring Fever today. Not only has it been a long, and I do mean LONG winter, we are forecast to have very Spring-like weather this week. It is beautiful outside-warm and sunny. The rest of the snow may even melt today.

I started my first batch of infused herbal oil today and it's warm enough in the sun that I even put it outside. I hope to be able to put it out every day this week so I have a good head start on it. The herbs are similar to my sleep oil blend-roses, chamomile, calendula, comfrey root, wood betony, hops, lavender and valerian root. I can still use this as my sleep balm base, but I want to use it as a base for some "female" balms or creams. It could also work as a muscle rub with the addition of some other infused oils. I'll keep you posted on this but I would like to have several formulas for female troubles. You ladies know that our cycles can vary greatly from month to month, even day to day.

I start back at my old job, new hours tomorrow. Wish me luck!

February Giveaway

2011-02-07T06:48:00.001-05:00

For February I will be giving away a 2 oz bottle of my new THIEVES spray. Many of you may know the story by now of the band of thieves who managed to rob plague victims without contracting the disease themselves. They used powerful botanicals to protect themselves from the Black Death. The essential oil blend in this spray is based on that account. The blend is cinnamon bark, clove bud, rosemary cineole, eucalyptus radiata, and lemon peel. All of these oils are powerful against micro-organisms but also rough on the skin so I recommend only using this as a room/linen spray. I keep this with me at work to protect myself and others from exposure to colds and flu by sick coworkers and members of the general public. My daughter has been sick too so I've used this alot at home. I have been around lots of sick people and I haven't gotten sick so I can tell you it helps!

The contest is open worldwide and will end at midnight eastern time on February 28th.

Leave a comment for 1 entry, follow my blog for another entry, and if you make a purchase from me make 3 entries.

January Winner

2011-02-01T17:08:00.002-05:00

Sandra is the winner of the aromatherapy inhaler-Congratulations and it is in the mail!

Herbs and Essential Oils for Romance

2011-01-24T11:21:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Day will soon be upon us. My article about essential oils for the Holidays was so well liked I decided to do one for Valentine's Day and romance.

Here is a link to one of my favorite herbal love recipes ever. It takes a few weeks to make but is well worth the wait and the effort. It features Damiana, which is an extremely bitter herb, but it's also great for reproductive health. The combination of the damiana, chocolate, honey and rosewater tastes wonderful. Scroll down the page to view the recipe. If you have all the ingredients, or can gat them this week you have time to make in time for your big romantic evening.

You may want to sip your damiana love potion while enjoying an herbal bath (in the dark with candles, champagne and chocolate covered strawberries). You can tie up your chosen herbs in cheesecloth and just toss it in the tub and let it steep or take your herb bag and let it steep in a pot of water that has been boiled. This way you can make a really strong herbal infusion and just add it to your bath water. Your herbs can include damiana, roses, lavender, chamomile and if you want to spice things up a bit you can add a touch of cinnamon, clove or cardamom to your herb bag.

I created my Lover's Massage Oil a few years ago with sensual essential oils and my husband and I love to give each other a nice back massage with it. Not only do the essential oils relax us (and it has some sexy oils in it), just the act of giving each other a massage helps to strengthen our bond with each other, it is a nurturing act of love in and of itself.

For a massage oil choose carrier oils that are light and soak into the skin easily. I recommend almond, jojoba, avocado, apricot kernel, grapeseed or fractionated coconut oil. the whole point of a massage oil is not to get greasy but to lubricate the skin enough that you hand isn't skipping and pulling on your lovers' body. Add essential oils at a rate of no more than 2.5%. That's about 15 drops per ounce of carrier oil.
Relaxing essential oils can include lavender, roman chamomile, petitgrain, neroli, clary sage. More sensual oils include rose, jasmine absolute, vanilla absolute, champaca absolute, cocoa absolute, Ylang Ylang, Patchouli -all of these are pretty strong so you don't need more than a drop per ounce. Some warming essential oils are ginger, rosemary, cinnamon (bark or leaf), cardamom, clove bud, cassia (chinese cinnamon). In the case of the cinnamons and clove, I would add very little because they can cause some stinging on some people and some people- about 5% of the population-can develop a skin allergy after they are exposed to them. I recommend adding a little something from each list for a nice balance.

Of course any of the essential oils can be used in a diffuser or room/linen spray rather than applied to the skin.

Artfire Feature

2011-01-22T18:33:00.000-05:00

My Healing Skin Balm has been included in a collection on Artfire. I have been chosen for several collections now and I am really honored that another artisan thinks so highly of my work. I am really starting to feel like part of the community over there now, like I have for years on Etsy.

Check out the collection here. There are lots of beautiful products in there!

New Essential Oil Listings

2011-01-17T15:26:00.000-05:00

I listed a whole bunch of essential oils in my Etsy and Artfire stores today. Rather than doing 20 or so listings I decided on 3 listings with different price points. One big motivation for this was saving listing fees on etsy and not having 20 or 30 listings with the same photos. Another reason is to make it easier to sift through. I actually hate looking at a shop where there are like 20 pages of items listed. I'm not going through all that, I think it's too much and people lose interest. So if you are looking at the listings you will know what is going on. I just think it's easier for all of us.

Neroli Essential Oil

2011-01-15T11:11:00.002-05:00

Today I have decided to post about my absolute most favorite essential oil-Neroli AKA orange flower. It is distilled from the flowers of the bitter orange tree. Citrus aurantium (bitter Orange) is the only plant that I'm aware of that yields 3 different essential oils. Bitter orange oil is cold pressed from the peels of the fruit, Neroli is steam distilled from the flowers, and Petitgrain is steam distilled from the leaves and twigs. All have relaxing properties and are useful in skin care, but Neroli is the most powerful.

The scent of Neroli is light, floral and delicate. It's a top note in perfumery, which means the fragrance only lasts for a couple hours. It's one of the more expensive oils but worth every cent!

In aromatherapy it's used for thread veins and redness in the skin (rose works better), wrinkles (nothing is better than Neroli, here), to promote relaxation, lower blood pressure, fight anxiety, strongly promotes restful sleep, tones the heart and blood vessels, for grief and shock, and to promote the production of healthy new skin cells. I can personally tell you that it is the only EO I have used that makes a visible difference in the appearance of wrinkles in the skin. It is said to mimic youth hormones but I also believe that the physical action of relaxing the muscles and the psychological and physical action of the aroma relaxes you so that you aren't making the facial expressions that CAUSE worry lines and wrinkles.

Not only has it made my skin more youthful and radiant, I am convinced that it has possibly saved my life, or at least saved me a great deal of suffering. When I first purchased some Neroli I just had to use it in the bath. I was borderline hypertensive before I started taking a Neroli bath almost every night and within weeks I stopped taking the drugs my doctor had prescribed and I have never gone back on them. It was one of those cases where I didn't realize how bad I was feeling until I was well again! I ALWAYS have this oil in my house!

The reason I was inspired to write about this oil today is because of the turmoil in Tunisia. Tunisia produces the finest Neroli oil in the world and I'm concerned that the political upheaval is going to make the price of the oil skyrocket even more. If you would like to purchase Tunisian Neroli now I recommend camdengrey and 100% Pure Essential Oils. I also had the pleasure of getting an ultrasonic diffuser from 100% Pure Essential Oils for Christmas and Neroli was the first oil I used in it. Three drops was all it took-very impressive!

Leave comments! I always check them and respond if you have any questions.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is recovering/resting today. I slept very very late today after having a wonderful night with family and friends last night. It's always nice to usher in the New Year surrounded by the people who mean the most to me. Today I am just relaxing but I realize I am going to have start getting very busy soon, since my soap supplies are seriously depleted. Tomorrow we'll take down the Christmas tree and Monday after my daughter goes back to school I will probably make a batch of soap. Who knows, maybe I'll start tonight and get 3 batches done before I have to go back to work on Tuesday. I will also get around to posting my giveaway on the Team Blog sometime tonight too.

Everyone have a relaxing day!

Aromatherapy for Hangovers

2010-12-30T19:40:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve so I thought this would be a good time to talk about detoxifying on New Year's Day. Some essential oils that are great for detoxification are citrus oils, especially grapefruit and lemon, Geranium, and Helichrysum italicum. Other oils that may help are rosemary and carrot seed since they act so strongly on the liver. You could also make a massage oil or mix a few drops in an unscented cream or lotion. For a bath try 5-8 drops, depending on how big your bath tub is. Run a tubful of water, hot but not steaming. Add your oils after the water is shut off right before you step into the tub. If you add them while the water is running they will just evaporate-the same if you add them to the water and wait before you get in. The oils will be gone. The water will still smell good but you won't get any of the benefits the oils had.

If you want to make a massage oil or add the oils to a cream or lotion add 15 drops per ounce.

Everyone please celebrate responsibly tomorrow night! My parents always coe spend the night at my house so my Dad can drink without the worry of having to drive.

For those taking medications, especially cholesteral medicines, don't forget that your liver is already overloaded so you may not be able to drink like you used to!

January Giveaway

2010-12-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

Since I didn't have a giveaway in December I decided to post January early. I am launching a new product line and you will have a chance to win one for yourself! I have started making inhalers. I use them myself and I'm very impressed with them.
You can read all about them here. Your choices are Lavender, Rosewood, Pink Grapefruit, Geranium, Detox Blend, Anti-viral Blend, Vapors Blend and Allergy Blend. Read the post on the listing and tell me which one you would like to try and why. The contest ends at midnight EST on January 31st and all you have to do is leave a comment. The giveaway is open worldwide.

Good Luck! If there are other blends you would like to see just let me know and I may add it!

I am also sponsoring the same giveaway on the team blog in January so you can enter there too!

Giveaway

2010-12-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

Mountain Rose Herbs is hosting a fabulous giveaway on their blog. I am entering as many times as I can because I have been dying to try the rose cream. It's a collection of their best selling skin care items including some relaxing bath salts. What a great way to fight the effects of the brutal winter weather!

Product Updates

2010-12-13T13:16:00.000-05:00

Today is my day off but I went into work for a couple hours and shoveled some snow then came home and shoveled snow. Now I'm just laying around the house in my long johns drinking coffee. I feel like I should do something today but it's not looking like I'll get much accomplished. To be quite honest, I'm already sick of snow and it's not even winter yet. We had our first snowfall Thanksgiving night and it's been downhill ever since. It's usually 40's-50ish here in December and we have already had about a foot of snow plus we are having single digit temps. Weather like this doesn't hit Kentucky until mid-late January. Did I mention it's not even Winter yet? So, anyhow, this blog post is my big project for the day and maybe I'll even drag my exhausted behind upstairs to take a bath.

One BIG product update has to do with my Melissa Cold Sore Treatment. I made a new batch with coconut oil infused with lemon balm-even more stable than olive oil, plus the coconut oil I used is imported from India and has a wonderful toasted coconut aroma. Now, I have also gotten some Melissa essential oil so I'll be using that instead of the CO2. I will update the listing when I actually get the work done :)

My most exciting news is that I will be offering aromatherapy inhalers. I actually made an anti-viral inhaler when I got home from work because I was around a co-worker with a cold, that I don't want to get. I am toying around with the blends I want to offer-here are my thoughts and you can tell me what you think: Lavender (calming, tension headaches), Rosewood (anti-stress, immune boosting), Anti-viral (tea tree and Ravensara-to prevent colds and flu), Anti-Herpes (Lemon balm, bergamot and ravensara-to short circuit the herpes simplex virus, including shingles), Detox Blend (Geranium, Lemon, Helichrysum), Vapors (something like a Vick's Inhaler), Geranium (for hormonal balance and blood sugar control), Insomnia (marjoram, lavender, clary sage, etc), Performance (Basil, Rosemary and lemon to enhance physical and mental performance and memory). I may even try some other blends for meditatation or may a version of my Clarity or Joy for the inhalers.

I would love to know what you think. I'm really excited about these!

November Winner

2010-12-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

Jennifer is the winner of the November giveaway! I really hope it helps you feel better.

Check back for December. I haven't decided if I am going to do a giveaway this month because my online business has died since September and I ain't makin no money, as we say here in Kentucky. You know I always run late with it anyway so I will have to let ya know!

How to Shop for Soap

2010-11-28T10:43:00.000-05:00

This seems like a weird question but I'm sure we have all bought soap that looked and smelled wonderful, but after we use it our skin is all dried out and we're not so impressed anymore. This is mainly true of commercial soaps but you may have had this experience with handmade soaps as well. It is my goal to educate as much as possible with this blog so I want to educate consumers about what to look for when buying handmade.

I recently dropped off some of my soaps at Truly Bluegrass where I have items consigned and one of the owners snagged a bar for herself. On my next visit, she told me that she had tried all of the natural soaps in their store but mine was the only one that hadn't dried her skin out. I know why. There is one basic mistake that soapers and makers of other handmade skin care items make. Coconut oil is NOT a moisturizing oil. It is a DRYING oil, especially in soap. If you want to test this out for yourself, go to your grocery store or health food store and buy a bar of Kirk's Coconut Castille Soap. It costs about a dollar and change for a bar so it won't be an expensive experiment-go buy a bar and take a shower with it. It's made with just coconut oil and I GUARANTEE this soap will dry your skin out more than any other soap you have ever used! The same goes with another popular ingredient in handmade soaps-Palm Kernel Oil. I can't imagine you can add enough shea butter to make up for the drying effects of coconut oil AND palm kernel oil in any soap recipe.

That said, I do like some coconut oil in my soap because it makes a firm bar with lots of suds. But my primary ingredient is olive oil. It's stable and moisturizing but isn't creamy and doesn't make lots of bubbles in soap. So the key here, like everything else in life is balance. I use enough coconut oil to make a good lather and make the soap firm, but it isn't my primary ingredient. This is why my soaps aren't drying like other handmade soaps.

What to look for? When I list my ingredients I list the items in order of content-that is the first ingredient on the list is what I have the most of -so when I list the ingredients in my soap I list olive oil first because that is the most plentiful ingredient. This is how you are legally supposed to label items so I always assume that are others are doing the same. So if I look at a listing for a bar of soap and the first ingredient is coconut or palm kernel oil, I assume that the soap is mostly coconut and/or palm kernel oil. I can honestly tell you that if I see BOTH as ingredients, especially the top 2 ingredients, I won't buy it-and yes, I do buy soap from other people from time to time.

Now, ironically, I am off to make Monoi lotion bars with coconut oil. I will be balancing the coconut oil with avocado butter and some light vegetable oils, like almond, grapeseed, sunflower, etc. I am using the coconut oil because it's a must for Monoi oils and I have a bottle of coconut oil from India that has a heavenly coconut scent that I can't duplicate with essential oils.

Black Friday Specials

2010-11-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I still have soaps and essential oils on sale. Now through Christmas Eve I am offering free shipping on orders over $20 and orders over $50 will also receive 10% off. Soaps are 20% off and EO's are 10% off through the rest of 2010. So if you want to stay in your nice, warm house and shop take a look in my shops!

Hyenacart
Etsy
JASaromatics
Artfire

Aromatherapy Gear

2010-11-24T17:31:00.000-05:00

A lady from my herbal group has designed some herbal/aromatherapy gear that's worth having a look at. I may be more excited than most about it but I figure if you're reading this blog you may enjoy it. I'm a little ashamed I didn't think of it myself. Maybe I should work on some Glory Be Herbals gear.....hhhmmmmm....
http://www.zazzle.com/naomiball

Please Help!

2010-11-21T13:05:00.001-05:00

I am putting a link up on my blog for this family run apostolate. I have purchased many items from them and I have been blessed. They are doing the Lord's work and trying to support a big family. I urge everyone, that is, all Christians (especially Catholics) to please consider sending in a donation to keep them going. Just a few bucks from lots of people can help them stay afloat. Send in a donation in the name of a loved one as a gift if you like. They offer spiritual services, old fashioned natural remedies (right up my alley), annointing oils and more. Please check them out!

Here is their donation page-you can also get to their website from here. They are saving souls everyday!

Coupon Code

2010-11-20T17:31:00.001-05:00

Coupon codes on Etsy-yeah! Use code TBLOG1120 to get 10% off your order this weekend!

Essential Oils for the Holidays

2010-11-15T05:28:00.001-05:00

I always say that essential oils make life better and never is it more true than this time of year. It's getting colder and darker everyday, the holidays are looming, and it can be a stressful and sometimes depressing time of year. For the Fall and Winter holidays, we are naturally attracted to essential oils that are warming, cheerful and remind us of the smells we are familiar with for the holidays. I am always fascinated by the oils we choose and the reasons we choose them. Some of the reasons are quite logical, some seem to be natural instinct. If you look at the properties of the herbs and plants we like to use for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's no wonder we are naturally attracted to their oils.

Sweet Orange is my least favorite citrus oil but I use a lot of it this time of year because it blends so well with other oils that I use. Citrus oils are especially useful this time of year to counteract the effects of less daylight. Sometimes I will use some Lemon or Bergamot, but really Orange is the best. You can try some Bitter Orange oil if you like more of a marmalade scent over fresh orange peel scent.

Many spice oils are fabulous this time of year. These are from the same spices we tend to use in cooking, they are warming, and since they are so familiar, they are comforting. A blend of any of these oils along with Sweet Orange in a burner will make your house smell inviting and festive and just might stimulate everybodys appetite before they sit down for the Thanksgiving feast-got get rid of all that you food you slaved over for hours or days. Try Cinnamon Bark, Clove Bud, Allspice, Nutmeg (use sparingly), Cardamom and Ginger. The kind of spices you would find in pumpkin pie or a nice spicey Chai tea. If you want to mix things up a bit try adding some Coriander Seed or Black Pepper.

For Christmas oils that remind us of Christmas trees work very well. Pine, Cypress, Fir, Spruce, Rosemary, Cedarwood maybe some Juniper Berry or Myrtle. No wonder we like these. Not only do they remind us of Chritmas trees, but they are clarifying and invigorating and they keep our heads and lungs clear. Perfect at the time of year when it seems to always be dark and we are getting colds. They can give us the mental boost we need and relieve physical discomfort.

Also for Christmas our favorite Biblical oils-Frankincense and Myrrh. And no wonder. These oils have been used in religious ceremonies for thousands of years because they are meditative and calming and focus the mind on the divine. Two of the Three gifts of the Magi to the Christ child, the symbolic meanings are significant: Gold for a King, Frankincense for a Priest, Myrrh for a Prophet.

Of course if you're Italian by birth or by marriage (like me) Basil, Oregano, Parsley and Rosemary will also make you think of Thanksgiving or Christmas since dinner usually includes a Pasta dish.

I can't forget the most comforting fragrance of them all-Vanilla. Vanilla oleoresin can be difficult to deal with so a good way to include Vanilla is to add some true Vanilla extract to some water being simmered in a crock pot-add a couple drops of sweet orange and you'll have a creamsicle scent. NEVER use vanilla extract over an open flame since the alcohol makes if flammable!

Have fun spicing up your holidays!

Important Announcements

2010-11-14T08:20:00.000-05:00

I am starting my "Black Friday" specials this weekend and running them until Christams Eve. I will be offering free shipping on all orders over $20 and all orders over $50 will also receive a 10% discount.

In January I will be closing down my Hyena Cart store-maybe even in December. It just hasn't been a good fit for me there and with all my other sales slowing I can't justify keeping it.

For those of you in the Central Kentucky are, my products are on consignment in Lexington, Midway, and Versailles.

In Lexington I have items at the First Touch Therapeutic Massage center located at 2028 Regency Rd Suite 100. So if you need a massage that's the place to go and you can check out my oils, soaps, etc. while you're there.

In Versailles I have items at Truly Bluegrass located at 173 North Main St. As the name implies, only Kentucky artisans are featured and it's like Heaven when you walk in the door. My friends and fellow teambluegrass members, Joey and Kelly Graves of WhimsyBeading are also consigned there.

In Midway I have my products in DamselFly Studios located at 126 East Main St. So if you're near one of these locations stop in and check out all the items they have made by local artists.

Veterans Day Special

2010-11-10T16:24:00.000-05:00

All orders over $20 will get free shipping! This applies to all my stores for orders placed on Thursday November 11th.

Artfire Feature

2010-11-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

My bath herbs are in a collection on artfire! It's an honor to have someone you don't even know feature your work in a collection. Here it is if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=7184

Holiday Specials

2010-11-07T03:42:00.001-05:00

I have special sales going on in all my stores for the Holidays. All Soaps are 20% off and essential oils are 10% off through December 31st.

Glory Be Herbals Hyena Cart

JASaromatics on Etsy

Glory Be Herbals on Etsy

Glory Be Herbals on Artfire

November Giveaway

2010-11-06T16:32:00.001-04:00

For November I will be giving away a two dram (1/4 ounce) bottle of my analgesic balm. This is a blend of pure essential oils with menthol crystals dissolved in it. I can tell you, I use this personally. I use this OFTEN! It relieves pain quickly, first it's warming then cooling. It feels wonderful.

The blend is wintergreen, lavender, camphor, peppermint, and eucalyptus. If you have any allergies to aspirin you should not use this because of the presence of salicylates in the wintergreen oil.

Not only does it relieve sore muscles, it's also great for headaches and to break up sinus and chest congestion.

The giveaway ends at midnight on November 30th. Leave a comment to enter. You can post 1 extra entry if you follow my blog, 1 entry if you tweet this giveaway, 1 entry if you post this giveaway on your blog and 3 entries if you make a purchase from any of my stores.

TeamBluegrass November Giveaway

2010-11-01T05:36:00.000-04:00

The Bluegrass Etsy Street Team, of which I am a proud member, is having a HUGE giveaway this month. We are giving away two boxes full of items donated by our members. I put this together so I can tell you that my teammates sent in their finest work for this! Head over and check it out!

Teambluegrass Blog Giveaway

2010-10-13T19:35:00.000-04:00

My etsy street team has a blog and we are giving away a really cool pair of earrings.
http://bluegrassetsy.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-october-halloween-giveaway.html

October Giveaway

2010-10-04T11:30:00.000-04:00

For October I will be giving away TWO one ounce tins of sage ointment. This isn't regular garden sage but Ceremonial White Sage. The smell is absolutely heavenly, and this herb has a long use as a natural incense for ritual, meditation and purificatrion cermonies.

Sages are cooling, deodorant, anti-inflammatory, purifying and anti-infectious. Try this on wounds, on sweaty feet to reduce perspiration, rub a little on your chest to break up congestion or even to alleviate hot flashes. One customer who bought this oil from me described it as a garden in a bottle. I LOVE it!

Leave a comment for one entry. I am also going to allow extra entries-leave 3 comments if you make a purchase from ANY of my stores-leave 3 comments and tell us what you bought. Leave an extra entry if you follow me on twitter, youtube, or follow this blog. This contest will end on October 31st at midnight (eastern time). You can have lots of entries if you purchase from me more than one time. I am going to be starting to stock for the Holidays so keep checking my stores for special offers!

And the Winner Is........

2010-10-01T18:38:00.000-04:00

Crystal from Ohio is the winner of the August/September giveaway. She has chosen Love Spell.......yum. Congratulations and I hope you love your soap!
I will have the October giveaway posted sometime this weekend. Stay Tuned!

Lobelia is My New Best Friend

2010-09-27T07:41:00.000-04:00

Have you ever coughed so much that you actually sprained an ovary? That's how my night went last night. I have been sick since Thursday. I slept, used all kinds of herbs and essential oils, ate only chicken soup and toast. By Saturday I was SICK OF BEING SICK! I put some tea tree oil in the salts for nasal rinses, took some ravensara essential oil in honey, added some hyssop decumbens to my vapor rub and started taking some osha root extract. Sunday morning I felt much better and even managed to make it to the team meeting. I don't know what went wrong last night-maybe it was from eating a piece of cheese on my sandwich at the meeting. I went into horrible hacking spells-and for no apparent reason other than my body decided to torture itself. So I found my lobelia extract and took a few drops in water and finally the coughing stopped and I managed to sleep for 5 hours. Why didn't I think of it sooner.

Lobelia is a fabulous LOW DOSE medicinal. Seriously, you don't want to take too much-it's also known as pukeweed for a reason. In low doses, it helps to relieve pain, is an expectorant and antispasmodic. I highly recommend it for congestion (including for asthma) but you MUST follow the dosing on the label.

Why is it so easy to treat other people and so hard to treat yourself?

Giveaway Scout

2010-09-20T05:18:00.002-04:00

If you sponsor giveaways on your blog like I do, you may want to try this website. The site is giveawayscout.com. You can submit your giveaways monthly or submit your blog and they will scan it monthly and automatically upload your giveaways. They also post to twitter and other websites so you can really get your name out there!

Patchouli Essential Oil

2010-09-19T08:25:00.002-04:00

Before I begin my post about Patchouli I want to remind everyone to register for my monthly giveaway here http://glorybeherbals.blogspot.com/2010/08/august-giveaway.html.

Patchouli. This is one oil that evokes powerful emotions in anyone who has ever smelled it. I don't think there is any middle ground with this oil-you either love it or hate it. And haters don't just hate it-they HATE it. The haters have good reason to hate it. It is a very powerful oil that can easily be overdone. I love patchouli in small amounts but it can quickly become overpowering if too much is used.

Patchouli is one of the very few oils that improves with age. Fresh Patchouli is very rough smelling but as it ages it becomes much smoother. It is a great fixative and blender-it works well with just about everything else. Try blending it with rose or palmarosa and you won't even recognize it. My favorite oils to blend with patchouli are rose, palmarosa, petitgrain, citrus oils (especially orange, lime and bergamot), spices and woods. Again, just one drop of patchouli can help anchor the lighter oils-more than that can overpower everything else. Patchouli also lingers for a long time-days or even weeks.

The therpeutic value of patchouli is unbelievable, used in the right way. It is considered an aphrodisiac, helps to moisturize dry skin, prevents wrinkles, and is mildly stimulating. For skin care I love it mixed with rose, neroli, carrot seed, lavender, palmarosa, and rosewood. For perfumery I adore it blended with petitgrain. The blend of patchouli and petitgrain really helps to anchor the petitgrain and the petitgrain really helps to soften the patchouli.

So if you're a hater give this oil another chance! It certainly won't do any harm to buy a small vial of it. If you can't deal with it right away you can put it away and forget about it for a year and go back to it. Try purchasing perfume blends from artisans who specialize in natural perfumes-you may just be surprised and may become a lover.

Carrot Seed Essential Oil

2010-09-13T06:49:00.002-04:00

This essential oil is steam distilled not from the seeds of domestic carrots but from the wild carrot AKA Queen Anne's Lace. Yes this lacy plant that grows wild everywhere yields an oil that is absolutely marvelous in skin care. It has a rather earthy fragrance and really doesn't have a lot of use in blending as far as perfumery goes. I do like it blended with lavender or patchouli for skin care and to improve the smell.

Wild carrot seed oil is a must in blends for older and mature skin. Just so you know ladies, mature skin is generally defined as anyone over the age of 25, so I'm not just talking about wrinkled old ladies. It does help to moisturize dry skin and combat wrinkles, but it also improves the texture of the skin and correct scarring. So if you weird texture or scars from doing battle with acne (and using alcohol based toners) then carrot seed will help your skin look younger and healthier.

You can make your own facial oil by combining no more than 25 drops of essential oils in 1 ounce of carrier oil. Buy a cobalt blue or amber glass bottle with a dropper top. For oily/acne prone skin the best carrier oils are grapeseed or hazelnut oil. For essential oils try lavender, geranium, palmarosa and add a drop or 2 of carrot seed. For mature skin try avocado or apricot kernel oil with your choice of lavender, neroli, rose, patchouli, jasmine, with carrot seed added.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about specific oils!

Happy Sunday

2010-09-12T12:04:00.002-04:00

I am having a good day. It's a beautiful sunny and cool day here in Kentucky. At this point it would be beautiful if it were raining buckets but, oh well.

I made a nice cream for myself today and am wondering if I should share. I made it with light oils and essential oils (plus co2's) to help keep my skin in good shape through lots of handwashings. Plus I like a light moisturizer under my mineral makeup but it's hard to find one that doesn't leave an oily film. I used no artificial preservative, but some of the essential oils are doing double duty-skin regenerator/moisturizer and anti-fungal. I'm very happy with it-here's what I used:
Distilled water, aloe vera gel, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, apricot kernel oil, sweet almond oil, beeswax, emulsifying wax, essential oils (patchouli, carrot seed, palmarosa, lavender, rosa damscena, rosa rugosa), CO2's (calendula, rosehipseed, sea buckthorn). It is light and soaks in quickly and the scent is rosey-floral with a hint of earthy musk.

What do you think-should I put some up for sale?