December Sales Incentive

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

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

Flower Waters

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

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.

HerbalCandy

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.

Sales Incentive

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

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!

Hyacinth-Flower Essences

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

 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

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.............

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!

February Giveaway

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.

Herbs and Essential Oils for Romance

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.

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!

How to Shop for Soap

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

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

Essential Oils for the Holidays

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

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.