Frankincense

I have been making hydrosols in the background while I work on orders so today I am going to make a codistilled Frankincense and Myrrh.  Both are great for aging skin, especially frankincense but I prefer the aroma of Myrrh so I am throwing some in there.  This would be a great spritz for prayer and meditation.  I will spritz myself down with this before I pray my rosary and I would love to see how a Bible study group would do with this sprayed in the room!

More Floral Waxes

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 :(

Rose Geranium

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 Giveaway

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!

New Essential Oils

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!

Neroli Essential Oil

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.

January Giveaway

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!

Product Updates

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!

Black Friday Specials

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

Important Announcements

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.

Holiday Specials

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

March Giveaway

For March I will be giving away one of my aroma minis. As always just leave a comment to be eligible.

Description
These are standard lip balm tubes filled with the natural aromatic balm of your choice.

Lavender-made with a High Altitude French Lavender. This lavender is the best I have ever smelled! It can be used for stress relief, massaged over your forehead and the back of your neck for tension headache, or applied to cuts and scrapes to speed healing.

Rosewood-This essential oil is famous in spas for it's ability to stimulate the production of healthy new skin cells. It is also used for stress relief, to bring the body and mind back into balance. It also stimulates the immune system, which tends to be compromised when we're stressed. It smells really beautiful.

GBH for Men-This is a masculine blend that I have created using sweet orange, cedarwood, patchouli, clove and a touch of lime.

Joy-This is one of my best selling blends that I created to treat burnout and depression. It contains grapefeuit, bergamot, ylang ylang, vetiver, etc. This blend is also great for the winter blues.
Added on Mar 02, 2010

Lavender Essential Oil

I haven't posted an "educational" post in a while and since I actually have some time today I figured it's about time I did one! I have decided to talk about Lavender essential oil today since it is by far the most useful oil. I use more of this oil in a year than I do of all my other oils combined. You might conclude that is my favorite oil but you would be wrong. I do adore Lavender and it is ONE of my favorites-I would put it in the top 10 but definitely not my favorite. So why do I use so much of it? Because it is quite literally good for everything!

It is one of the few oils that is safe to use undiluted. It can be used for beauty, first aid, for psychological well-being, and even in home made cleaning products.

For beauty-It is a skin regenerator so it can help keep skin beautiful and youthful. It is disinfecting and healing so a drop or 2 on a cotton swab applied to a zit will DRAMATICALLY speed healing. You can add a few drops to a bottle of store bought witch hazel to make a healing toner for normal or acne prone skin. It also prevents scarring if you use it faithfully.

For first aid-it is an insect repellant so if you apply some before you go outside it will keep the bugs away from you while you work in the garden. If you forget to apply it, like I ALWAYS do, you can apply a drop to bug bites to neutralize venom and prevent swelling and itching. When I have a mosquito bite I apply a drop a couple of times a day until it heals. It can also be used this way on cuts and scrapes. I even used it this summer on vacation to relieve nausea with my daughter. Peppermint would have been better but I wanted to pack light so I only took a vial of Lavender in my purse. We were at the Washington monument and she decided to jump from the embankment instead of walking around and I guess she jarred a nerve. She was so nauseaous that she literally couldn't stand. I had her inhale the lavender oil from the bottle and in a few minutes she felt better and was able to keep walking. You can also massage a few drops over your forehead and back of your neck for tension headaches.

For psychological uses-It has a reputation as a relaxing oil. It would be more accurate to say it's balancing. If you are stressed out it will help you relax enough to go to sleep. But you can also use it during the day to relieve stress without getting sleepy. You can use a burner to diffuse the scent in your house or use a few drops in the bathtub, make a pillow spray, or sprinkle a few drops on a tissue and stuff it into your pillow case.

Around the house-there are lots of nice recipes on the internet for making your own cleaning products with essential oils. Lavender is one of my favorites to use this way along with rosemary, citrus oils, fir needle, and pine.

Plus.....Lavender is not expensive. You can usually find good quality Lavender for $15/oz. When you consider that you will be using it a few drops at a time, an ounce will probably last you for a year.

Things to consider when picking a Lavender oil...........the varieties of Lavender oils will probably give you a headache so here are my recommendations (opinion). Lavender 40/42 is not for therapeutic use. Lavindin is a hybrid of lavender and spike lavender and has a pretty medicinal smell, although it has the same properties as lavender. If you want a more herbaceous oil try Bulgarian or Maillette (sweet lavender). If you want more floral try a French Lavender. My absolute favorite is High Altitude French Lavender-this is the most delicate lavender I have ever used.

I hope everyone finds this information useful. You can contact me or leave a comment anytime you would like to know more.