It's been so long..............

I have been waiting to have fresh St. John's Wort flowers again for 2 years.  Two years ago all my plants died so I replanted.  Last year the plants got really big but hardly any flowers so I think I got 4 ounces of oil from them.  Hardly enough to keep an herbal business running for a year.  This year they are in early and back with a passion!  I had already started an 8 ounce jar last week but here is what I pulled today:

And we have only just begun!  I filled a QUART jar and topped it off with the small jar I already started.

This should be ready after 2 weeks in the Kentucky sun.  If I get another quart (which I think I easily will) I will be set up well for the year!  And I saw this while I was gathering my flowers:

A ladybug napping on my clary sage, surrounded by yarrow flowers.  I will be distilling clary sage this weekend.  Probably right before I go to bed. 

And I need to gather elder flowers this week and run the lemon balm.  I am going to be busy!

Still Playing With the Still

I did a distillation of some dried roses last night and wasn't really happy with it so I made a strong infusion from 3 different dried roses.  This morning I'm distilling last night's distillate with the strong infusion and some rose hips and it is coming out beautiful.  I may also do some elderflowers today too.

I know Spring appears to be early-we are going to be in the 70's all week.  Yet I'm still impatient and can't wait to have fresh plants to work with.  Just in my garden I will have tons of Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Peppermint, Basil, Rosemary, catnip, calendula and hopefully Helichrysum.  Lest we forget the various Roses I'll have to play with.  My husband will probably move out if I have the house reeking of flowers all summer. I want a Rosa Rugosa Rose bush from Horizon Herbs, for the flowers and the hips-I love the EO so it should make some awesome rosewater.  I am also going to buy seeds and/or plants of German Chamomile, Roman Chamomile, Ceremonial White Sage and Tulsi Basil.  i have some Lavender but not enough to do much hydrosol so I may have to stick with dried herb there-but that one came out fantastic and produced more essential oil than I ever dreamed!

I am going to start listing some of these this week so if you are interested in hydrosols and aromatherapy you should consider making a purchase. 

My Head Hurts

I have so many ideas I wish i could quit my job to develop them!  My head is absolutely spinning with ideas for distillations when I get my still.  Right now I am thinking about an anti-inflammatory blend of German chamomile, calendula petals and rose petals.  I may actually do this and see if my friend Kelly would be a guinea pig for me.  She has rosacea so I'm sure she'll love it.  I also have a little redness and thread veins so I will use it.  I am also thinking about what a wonderful pillow spray I could make from my bath herbs blend-or a fabulous skin spray.

I also found some fabulous rosewater and orange flower water at an international market last weekend.  They are made with extracts but smell wonderful.  So this morning I made an eau de cologne blend with my favorite blend of bergamot, petitgrain, orange, lemon, orange blossom absolute and added some cassie absolute and oakmoss absolute to anchor the scent and add some light green notes.  Can't wait for this to meld together.  I pulled a little out and mixed 50/50 with the orange flower water in a little perfume bottle so I can check it often.  If only the weather in Kentucky could support bitter orange trees-I would SO get one in the yard!

Specials, New Stuff, Perfume Updates

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!

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 :)

Comfrey Flower Essence

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!