Natural Skin Care

Frankincense resin oil 1

 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Healing Herbs / Natural Skin Care / Products  tagged fair trade / frankincense / resins by

This is Dalzielii Frankincense resin extract, after the tears have been hydro distilled for their essential oil, and after the water soluble gum has been removed.  The aroma is pure and regenerative, just what I need right now!  This is a resin extract dissolved into oil and the result is full of aroma and the healing properties of Boswellic acids.

frankincense resin in oil
Frankincense resin dissolving in hot oil.

After about 1/2 hour, it’s dissolved and there are a few bits and pieces of bark floating about.  I filter out about one tablespoon and this goes on the wood stove, where as it warms it continues to fill the house with wonderful aroma.

dissolved resin of frankincense
Dissolved resin of frankincense with bits of bark
bark and resin bits
Bark and resin bits

Now I have a 1:3 ratio of pure oil to use as-is, as a base for salves, or in other new creative ways I might find to share with others. This is another amazing gift provided to us by nature.

We use only the finest fair-trade frankincense resins, sourced directly from Dan Riegler at fairtradefrankincense.com. Dan deals directly with local harvesters in Africa, ensuring that the local communities, whose people are the true caretakers of these botanical treasures, are fairly compensated for their work.

I encourage you to read Dan’s posts to learn more:

https://fairtradefrankincense.com/2015/07/26/tapping-into-frankincense-and-its-boswellic-acids-an-easy-extraction-method/
https://fairtradefrankincense.com/2018/02/28/frankincense-as-medicine-truth-myth-and-misinformation/

Almonte Farmers’ Christmas Market December 8th and Cheerfully Made Saves Christmas December 21-22!

 in Aromatherapy / Distillation / Healing Herbs / Markets / Natural Skin Care / Products / Wild Harvest  tagged holiday / markets by

Yay!  The time is here for Holiday Markets and I have some extra special items to make everything smell and feel good!!

The Almonte Farmer’s Christmas Market is this Saturday, December 8th  from 9-2 at the Almonte Community Centre.

Special Holiday Gifts: Lotion Bars, Frankincense, and Diffuser blends

In addition to our regular stock, I have created really nice gift packs, sets of diffuser blends, and a new luxurious lotion bar with Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, and Palmarosa essential oil that is great for dry skin and excellent for cuticles!

I love working with the resins of evergreens and yesterday we hand-harvested our own Spruce resin and combined this dissolved traditional remedy with some of our own steam distilled essential oils, along with sustainably harvested fir and cedar oils to create our Winter Woods Salve, a favourite among our customers, family, and friends!

Ancient Gifts Salve
Ancient Gifts Salve: Frankincense, Myrrh, and Cinnamon Bark

The resin of Frankincense has been a special remedy and joy for me and this year I have some extra special infusions just for the holiday markets!  Ancient Gifts oil and salve are each their own unique aromatic treasure.  No need for potpourri as these are rich, warming holiday treats!

Cheerfully Made Saves Christmas

Two weeks later, on December 21st and 22nd, we are very excited to participate in the Cheerfully Made Saves Christmas market at the Bell Sensplex!!  Tickets for the night market on the 21st must be purchased in advance, and can be bought here.  We (and many other vendors) will be offering some specials for that night only, and everyone who attends the night market will receive a tote bag and two raffle tickets.

frankincense, Myrrh, and Cinnamon bark
Frankincense, Myrrh, and Cinnamon bark
Almonte Farmers Harvest Market, November 10, 2018
Almonte Farmers Harvest Market, November 10, 2018
Cheerfully Made Saves Christmas


New Product: Hair and Scalp Oil

 in Healing Herbs / Natural Skin Care / Products by

I have put together a new infused oil blend using some traditional Ayurvedic herbs.  I grow the Bacopa Monnieri and the Gotu Kola and warm-infuse them into Sesame oil and then separately make a long warm infusion of the organic powder of Bhringaraj, Eclipta alba, also known as false daisy, into Sesame oil.  Traditional uses for these herbs topically include anti inflammatory, circulatory stimulant, reversing baldness, hair growth and clearing the mind.    See for example the excellent book Ayurvedic Medicine by Sebastian Pole.

I used the Hair and Scalp Oil last year for my own hair which has been thinning with age.  Now that I have a new batch made I will start to use it again weekly as I did notice a difference on the scalp as well as healthier, stronger hair.

This blend has no essential oils added but could be paired well with my new Rosemary verbenone in Jojoba, available separately.

Hair and Scalp Oil

Contains:

Bacopa monneiri / Brahmi, Bhringaraj, and Gotu Kola infused into Sesame oil, with Argan and Jojoba oils

Hair and Scalp Oil is an external use only product.

Winter Waiting

 in Healing Herbs / Markets / Natural Skin Care by

Wow it is cold outside!!!
Everyone probably needs some extra moisturization for the skin, and there are lots of pure and natural ways to hydrate your skin in the depths of winter; one example is coconut oil directly on the skin. But if you need a little something more specialized I have two new products ready to go and inspired by customer requests. Both are nourishing, gentle, and essential oil free, one for the face and one for anywhere else.
Hope you enjoy!

It is now time for me to start some seeds indoors and plan for the upcoming growing season, which I am very excited for. Winter is lovely, but I do really miss my work with the live plants. See you soon at the markets!

winter

Marshmallow, Calendula, & Tea Tree Salve

 in Gardening / Healing Herbs / Natural Skin Care / Products by

This salve is inspired by this post on marshmallow by Rosalee de la Foret.
I love marshmallow; it’s a moon herb, and helpful in so many ways. It makes the absolute best lip salves too, that will be coming up soon!  It has been so wonderful to learn the different ways to utilize the healing potentials of the plants and to learn this method of infusing the properties of marshmallow into oil.

I have 3 first season Althaea officinalis plants and one is very crowded so I decided to use it.  First I dug up the root, then scrubbed it clean, and shredded it.  Then patience and attention, just what I need.

grated and chopped into the oil over a double burner, on low for 2 hours.

first year marshmallow root

Cooling

cleaning it up to be chopped and grated, then partially dried before infusing it into oil.

After the first hour of simmering I added 1/3 ratio of warm infused plantain and self heal into safflower oil and jojoba.  At the end, I always blend my essential oils into a small amount of jojoba oil before I mix them in to the final batch.  Then I test the ratios and consistency and pour into prepared jars.