New Cinnamon Soap with Pure Essential oil!

Cinnamon Soap with Pure Essential oils
Originally uploaded by AquarianBath

This is a richly scented natural soap made with pure Cassia essential oil and colored naturally with cocoa powder and Annato seed. These bars are hard and long lasting and mild to those who are not sensitive to scented soaps. This 4 oz bar ships naked.

Available at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32709862

Herbal Spa Day for Hair and Body Oct. 24th St. Augustine

Sea Salt Soap
Originally uploaded by AquarianBath

Herbal Spa Day for Hair and Body: Shampoo Bars, Spa Soaps, Hair Rinses & Deodorants! October 24th 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Saturday
Herbalist and Soap Maker Cory Trusty of Aquarian Bath will lead a workshop on making Aloe Shampoo bars, Spa Salt Soaps, Conditioning Hair Rinses and Deodorants. She will discuss safety basics of Soap making and various ingredients. Learn the difference between Shampoo bars and Spa Salt bars versus regular body soaps. Join in harvesting and processing fresh Aloe vera and preparing oils for soap making. Each participant will go home with recipes, a full sized Aloe Shampoo bar and Spa Salt soap made during the workshop. Students will harvest fresh herbs from the farm to make their own conditioning hair rinses and deodorants. Bring a sack lunch. $40.00 Instructor Cory Trusty Herbalist and Owner of Aquarian Bath products

Call to Preregister 904-829-0722

Goldenrod Harvest

Goldenrod Harvest
Originally uploaded by AquarianBath

I am currently making up a fresh batch of Yarrow/Comfrey/Calendula infused oil and just harvested Goldenrod (this photo) infused oil. These will be my base oils for restocking my Skin Soothing Balm and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Balm respectively. I'm using Extra Virgin Olive Oil in these batches together with Candelilla Wax (vegan) for the first time. I like the fact that only half as much Candelilla wax is needed compared to beeswax for balm making. This will allow for a higher concentration of healing herbal infused oil in the balms.

A Selection of Cough Herbs from Maggie's Herb Farm

A Selection of Cough Herbs from Maggie's Herb Farm
Originally uploaded by AquarianBath

I took this picture at my Cold and Flu Class at Maggie's Herb Farm in St. Augustine this weekend.

This is a small selection of the herbs available at the farm which are useful for colds and cough.

Back:

Garden Thyme: for cough, bronchitis, whooping cough, inflamed sinuses, bloating

Clockwise:

Tilo: for cough and sore throat

Vick's Salve plant: a succulent herb that can be used fresh to make a steam treatment for chest and sinus congestion.

Horehound: A very bitter herb used for making horehound candy cough drops.

Comparing Essential Oils with Chemical Fragrance Oils in Consumer Products: How and Why to Spot the Differences

Aromatherapy effects of dynamic natural plant essential oils cannot be duplicated by man-made chemical fragrance oils. Aromatherapy is a branch of plant medicine that has nothing to do with synthetic fragrances. However, because the health-promoting properties of true Aromatherapy are desirable, many companies use cheaper chemical fragrance oils that do NOT carry these benefits, but will mislead customers (knowingly or unknowingly) by using the terms aromatherapy or aroma to make it seem like they are the same thing. The most offensive promotion I have seen was an "herbal soap" made with chemical fragrance oils rather than herbal essential oils. In order for a product to have genuine aromatherapeutic properties is must be made with unadulterated plant essences, plant infused oils, or other plant based ingredients. Products labeled for example as "Lavender Fragrance Oil" you may assume are synthetic. A product made with Lavender essential oil will be labeled as such.

How can you tell if you are smelling a pure essential oil product or natural perfume? There are various ways to test an undiluted oil or essential oil for purity, but when it comes to diluted oils in body or or home fragrance products your nose is also a fine judge. When you smell a product made with pure essential oils you should feel drawn to inhale deeply. In contrast when smelling a chemical substitute you may feel like you want to immediately cease inhalation or even hold your breath. Just think of a trip down laundry or home fragrance aisle at the supermarket, which is often overwhelming for people even without chemical sensitivities. Using personal body products with chemical fragrances such as these may contribute to stress on the liver and development of chemical sensitivities over time.

In addition it is noteworthy that certain plant scents cannot be stabilized. Natural perfumery expert Mandy Aftel notes in her book Essence and Alchemy that following florals cannot be produced naturally: Freesia, Honeysuckle, Violet, Tulip, Lily, Gardenia, Heliotrope, Orchid, Lilac, and Lily of the Valley. Also you may find the following fruity 'flavor oils' in various lip balms, but I can assure you they are not essential oils. These are Cherry, Watermelon, Apple, Raspberry, etc. Citrus fruits flavors however can be condensed from collection of the essential oils from outer peel.



Lavender photo by Photo by Heron 15:46, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC). This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.