Sorry I haven't posted in AGES but I'm back! I have had so many things going on since I last posted. The BEST thing that has happened to me is that I am now a grandmother! I'm not sure how I got old enough to have a grandchild but here I am and I am madly in love with her. I have also never been more proud of my daughter! I never had doubts about what kind of mother she would be, but seeing how fantastic she is makes me tear up constantly. I love her so much. I thought nothing would compare to the 1st time I held her but seeing her hold her daughter for the first time was the happiest moment in my entire life. I remember what it was like holding her right after she was born and seeing that look of perfect peace and JOY on her face was almost too much for my heart to bear. So many times in the last 6 months I have been so overwhelmed with love I thought my heart would actually burst.
I have new toys and new projects! My husband got me a Mighty Fast Herbal Infuser for Christmas and I have been having a lot of fun infusing herbal oils. No pot-sorry! After all these years I am always afraid I won't have any new innovations, but it hasn't happened yet. The joys of working with botanicals is that the possibilities are truly endless!
I have taken something of a step back from my store to focus more on my family through the holidays but will be busy with more experiments and stuff through the winter. Today I am making a ton of cold creams, resting and planning out ideas for new products.
I have fallen in love with lotion bars for my hands lately but they do have drawbacks. It takes a lot of beeswax to firm them up and that can be pretty heavy on the skin. This has been a blessing for my hands and feet but it's a bit much elsewhere on the body. So I am working on herbal body balms that aren't quite as firm and can be easily packaged in tins. I made some balms today loaded with CO2's that are high in essential fatty acids to help with my splitting nails. I am also playing around with some new carrier oils: acai berry, chia seed and mid-chain trigycerides. I am also working on botanical perfumes and body sprays using herbal extracts, essential oils and hydrosols that I'm really excited about.
Starting today I will be moderating all comments on my blog. I will still be posting (and responding to) comments from people who disagree with me, I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is a jerk company from India using my blog to promote their business. This is NOT cool and will NOT be allowed! You know who you are, and I have no doubt you are reading this. If your products are so fantastic you shouldn't need to spam my blog to promote your business without my permission. You have not once had the decency to contact me so you are blocked until Hell freezes over.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Mother's Day Giveaway
I have teamed up with Gretchen again this year for our annual Mother's Day giveaway. I am very excited this year because my daughter is also a Mother-to-be so this is her first Mother's Day :)
I will be giving away a one ounce Body Oil spray with a matching two ounce Hydrosol. You can choose between Rose, Neroli and Jasmine so Mom (or you) can have a floral she'll love. I will also send along samples of the other 2 hydrosols that you can gift to others or keep for yourself.
Gretchen is giving away an Intuitive Aromatherapy Reading with custom aromatherapy blend. She will work one on one with the winner to discover their aromatic personality. Exciting! She's a gifted aromatherapist and will treat Mom right!
http://www.adkaromatherapy.com/discover-your-aromatic-personality
To enter you can leave a comment below (with contact info, please) and tell us what you'll be doing for Mom this year. For additional entries you can enter your receipt number in the comments when you make a purchase from Glory Be Herbals or ADKaromatherapy.
The contest ends at midnight on April 30th. The winner will be contacted on May 1st so I can get your items out to you in time for Mother's Day. Only residents of the US are eligible.
Gretchen is giving away an Intuitive Aromatherapy Reading with custom aromatherapy blend. She will work one on one with the winner to discover their aromatic personality. Exciting! She's a gifted aromatherapist and will treat Mom right!
http://www.adkaromatherapy.com/discover-your-aromatic-personality
To enter you can leave a comment below (with contact info, please) and tell us what you'll be doing for Mom this year. For additional entries you can enter your receipt number in the comments when you make a purchase from Glory Be Herbals or ADKaromatherapy.
The contest ends at midnight on April 30th. The winner will be contacted on May 1st so I can get your items out to you in time for Mother's Day. Only residents of the US are eligible.
Watch for it!!!!
It's that time of year again! I will be posting the annual Mother's Day giveaway cosponsored by Gretchen at ADKaromatherapy and me at Glory Be Herbals. I have some things to take care of today but will get it up tonight.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
In the Mood for Perfumes
I have so many ideas floating around in my head right now for perfumes. I have a huge stash of materials that I could offer up for sale including herbs, essential oils, absolutes and CO2 extractions and infused alcohols that are already to go. I have read so much bad information on natural perfumery from buying cheap little booklets of amazon that I think I need to write my own book. And I may actually do that! It's so much fun and very challenging to make your own perfumes, yet it so overwhelming at the same time. It's a lot to think about and I really have A LOT on my plate right now! My husband has had knee replacement surgery and my I have my 1st grandchild on the way. Then there is the day job................on the bright side I have managed to finally detach myself from the stress of the job because I have more important things to deal with in my life. More important things where my contribution and time actually mean something to the people I give to. And my greatest fan-my dog. She is far more pleasant and intelligent than some of the humans I deal with on a daily basis.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Fads, Propoganda and the Rape of the Environment
It's hard to know where to start with this one. What has set this off is that I can't find the usual species of Frankincense tears anymore after we just had a massive shortage of Blue Tansy essential oil last year. The plants are going away, largely because ill informed people are abusing essential oils.
Frankincense essential oil has been overused because of the belief that it fights cancer. Any cancer killing abilities that have been scientifically proven are from extracts of the whole herb in a petri dish, specifically boswellic acid, which is not present in the essential oil. This belief is still wide spread among MLM sales reps who only get their information from the company they sell for and are STRONGLY discouraged from getting information outside of the company. The result is thousands of people drinking Frankincense essential oil believing it will prevent or cure cancer, widespread hysteria and more and more Frankincense being distilled and the trees being stressed to the brink.
The same said company uses WAY too much Blue Tansy essential oil in there blends. It's a nice oil but very powerful and also a high ketone oil, which should be used with caution. The result there-a massive world wide shortage last year, still a shortage this year and the same said company had to remake a couple of their blends so they could keep the money rolling in.
Even worse is the copy cats. The company Melaleuca decided to jump on the essential oil bandwagon in the middle of the worldwide Blue Tansy shortage. They have their knock off blends but since there was no Blue Tansy on the market they decided to just substitute with Tansy instead. It's painfully obvious they don't have anyone with even ten seconds of aromatherapy training on staff or they would know that Tansy is EXTREMELY TOXIC AND HAS NO USE IN THERAPY. NONE.
There's a new MLM company popping up, or a wannabe, at least called Miracle Oils. All of their blends are $13.95 for 15 ml and if you look at the ingredients they list aromatic chemicals. Now even if they are naturally derived you could hardly call these pure essential oils and at best, they are taking the lazy way out to get certain components in their oils. Given the price they are most likely just using chemicals.
Essential oils are wonderful but they are NOT concentrated herbs. They are the concentrated volatile oils from the plant and heavier elements don't get carried over in the distillation process. So much plant material is needed to get such a small component out and the rest is pretty much just thrown away-what a waste. I'm not saying not to use essential oils because I definitely do myself. I'm saying to respect the plants and recognize that the essential oils are very limited in what they can do. the whole herb has so much more to offer especially when you consider that only about 5% of all plants even contain an essential oil. Even if some oils do kill cancer cells you are going to shut down vital organs in the process of "curing" yourself.
I see people who will only use essential oils and people who will only use infused oils who declare "I never use essential oils". I find both of these ridiculous. If you are using infused oils some of what is carried over into your infusion is the essential oil. So you may be using it highly diluted but you're using the essential oil. As for ONLY using essential oils-you are bombarding your body with extremely concentrated chemicals, which is not healthy and you are cutting yourself off from 95% of the healing plants in the world. Not to mention that your are contributing to the complete destruction of the 5% that do contain essential oils.
Just some food for thought.
Frankincense essential oil has been overused because of the belief that it fights cancer. Any cancer killing abilities that have been scientifically proven are from extracts of the whole herb in a petri dish, specifically boswellic acid, which is not present in the essential oil. This belief is still wide spread among MLM sales reps who only get their information from the company they sell for and are STRONGLY discouraged from getting information outside of the company. The result is thousands of people drinking Frankincense essential oil believing it will prevent or cure cancer, widespread hysteria and more and more Frankincense being distilled and the trees being stressed to the brink.
The same said company uses WAY too much Blue Tansy essential oil in there blends. It's a nice oil but very powerful and also a high ketone oil, which should be used with caution. The result there-a massive world wide shortage last year, still a shortage this year and the same said company had to remake a couple of their blends so they could keep the money rolling in.
Even worse is the copy cats. The company Melaleuca decided to jump on the essential oil bandwagon in the middle of the worldwide Blue Tansy shortage. They have their knock off blends but since there was no Blue Tansy on the market they decided to just substitute with Tansy instead. It's painfully obvious they don't have anyone with even ten seconds of aromatherapy training on staff or they would know that Tansy is EXTREMELY TOXIC AND HAS NO USE IN THERAPY. NONE.
There's a new MLM company popping up, or a wannabe, at least called Miracle Oils. All of their blends are $13.95 for 15 ml and if you look at the ingredients they list aromatic chemicals. Now even if they are naturally derived you could hardly call these pure essential oils and at best, they are taking the lazy way out to get certain components in their oils. Given the price they are most likely just using chemicals.
Essential oils are wonderful but they are NOT concentrated herbs. They are the concentrated volatile oils from the plant and heavier elements don't get carried over in the distillation process. So much plant material is needed to get such a small component out and the rest is pretty much just thrown away-what a waste. I'm not saying not to use essential oils because I definitely do myself. I'm saying to respect the plants and recognize that the essential oils are very limited in what they can do. the whole herb has so much more to offer especially when you consider that only about 5% of all plants even contain an essential oil. Even if some oils do kill cancer cells you are going to shut down vital organs in the process of "curing" yourself.
I see people who will only use essential oils and people who will only use infused oils who declare "I never use essential oils". I find both of these ridiculous. If you are using infused oils some of what is carried over into your infusion is the essential oil. So you may be using it highly diluted but you're using the essential oil. As for ONLY using essential oils-you are bombarding your body with extremely concentrated chemicals, which is not healthy and you are cutting yourself off from 95% of the healing plants in the world. Not to mention that your are contributing to the complete destruction of the 5% that do contain essential oils.
Just some food for thought.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Missing Your Blends?
I know because of the Blue Tansy shortage some Young Living blends aren't available. Since I do have Blue Tansy, which has been tested and verified to be pure and true, I have some of my versions of these blends available.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/230468023/calming-essental-oil-blend-with?ref=shop_home_active_2
Read what they are saying about my calming blend!
Used YL peace and calm on my son who has some anxiety and insomnia. They're always sold out. This blend is exactly the same, better priced and works just as well. Will definitely be ordering again. Very fast shipping! Thank you!
And..............
https://www.etsy.com/listing/230475826/strenghtening-pure-essential-oil-blend?ref=shop_home_active_20
I'm not paying any commissions to anyone so I'm able to offer them at reasonable prices.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/230468023/calming-essental-oil-blend-with?ref=shop_home_active_2
Read what they are saying about my calming blend!
Used YL peace and calm on my son who has some anxiety and insomnia. They're always sold out. This blend is exactly the same, better priced and works just as well. Will definitely be ordering again. Very fast shipping! Thank you!
And..............
https://www.etsy.com/listing/230475826/strenghtening-pure-essential-oil-blend?ref=shop_home_active_20
I'm not paying any commissions to anyone so I'm able to offer them at reasonable prices.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
BUSY Day!
Last weekend I gathered tons of our glorious wild elder flowers and ran 2 distillations-which in my still yields about 6 cups. I decided to get some more this weekend so I could fill my half gallon jug and (hopefully) remain in stock until next years harvest. Then I decided to run my clary sage, which will take 2 runs to distill what I cut down. But it's lower yield so it won't take all night like 2 runs of elder would have. Trust me-I was distilling ALL DAY last Sunday. It comes with the territory when you're running an herbal business. You have to do things when the plants are ready and not when you feel like it. Needless to say, June is a super busy month for me. And I haven't even done the lemon balm and my roman chamomile is on the verge of blooming. But while I was out there I noticed I had several roses in bloom so I was inspired to run a special distillation (and a very small one, at that). It's a surprise!
I have struggled with my clary sage after 2 very brutal winters here. I barely had any last year and this year looks like I'll get about of hydrolate. It kills me now when I think of years past when I pulled up stray plants all over the place and got rid of them. I know I'll have one flowering plant next year and I will put in a bunch more. I let my one plants flower so it would drop seeds, so if this winter is closer to normal I should have plenty more generations of plants in the years to come.
And I have helichrysum plants flowering. I won't get much off them this year but, again, if the next winter isn't too cold they'll have a chance to get nice and big next summer and give me plenty of flowers. And I have re-established St. John's wort again this year thanks to a dear friend who dug up a wild plant and sent it to me. I also have seedlings growing and I may keep some of those babies inside this winter. The same dear friend also sent me some of her oil so I have some to keep my business running. It's tough to remain self sufficient when the weather goes crazy, but it's time for things to settle down to normal this year with light snowfalls, moderately cold temperatures and one ice storm in January.
I have struggled with my clary sage after 2 very brutal winters here. I barely had any last year and this year looks like I'll get about of hydrolate. It kills me now when I think of years past when I pulled up stray plants all over the place and got rid of them. I know I'll have one flowering plant next year and I will put in a bunch more. I let my one plants flower so it would drop seeds, so if this winter is closer to normal I should have plenty more generations of plants in the years to come.
And I have helichrysum plants flowering. I won't get much off them this year but, again, if the next winter isn't too cold they'll have a chance to get nice and big next summer and give me plenty of flowers. And I have re-established St. John's wort again this year thanks to a dear friend who dug up a wild plant and sent it to me. I also have seedlings growing and I may keep some of those babies inside this winter. The same dear friend also sent me some of her oil so I have some to keep my business running. It's tough to remain self sufficient when the weather goes crazy, but it's time for things to settle down to normal this year with light snowfalls, moderately cold temperatures and one ice storm in January.
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