A Modern Approach to Herbal Traditions
A quick video on how using scent with intentionality can enhance your life experiences. By making easy, natural perfumes, you can connect what you study and prep for to a scent that you can then use when you need the link to those memories close at hand. For detailed information on making natural perfumes, please check out my book now available for preorder: https://www.quartoknows.com/books/9780760369142/All-Natural-Perfume-Making.html
I woke up with one goal in mind today, to make a perfumed body oil because I’ve been out for about a week and my skin is already feeling parched. (Winter weather problems). Instead of just stopping with the oil though, I decided to make my teenage son an acne-fighting toner and also an eczema oil for some dry patches he has on his neck.
He uses Alba Acnedote products on his teenage skin, and they work pretty well, but he still has issues at times as probably all 16 year old boys do. One problem is that when he goes to his Dad’s he has different products there and also his diet isn’t as strict as it is here pertaining to his food intolerances. Skin issues are very often related to dietary intolerances, which is likely why there is the common misconception that dairy causes acne. It’s not the dairy, but being intolerant to dairy and consuming it anyway, that causes the acne. So many people are dairy intolerant that it makes sense that many, many people would get relief from their skin issues by avoiding dairy. Gluten is another food that can cause skin problems if you are intolerant to it and I know it made me break out every single time I ate even just a scrap of it. (Now I eat spelt and einkorn without problems but that is after a lot of digestive healing measures and years without any gluten at all.) Other foods to consider avoiding if you have chronic skin issues are soy, eggs, and nuts.
Toner is used after cleaning and before serums or moisturizers. This is an easy toner with just 2oz of witch hazel, 3 drops of tea tree essential oil, and 3 drops of lavender essential oil. I instructed him to keep his eyes firmly shut when he sprays this on his face because no one wants essential oils in their eyes. If your skin is sensitive, start with one drop of tea tree and one drop lavender in the two ounces of witch hazel.
The eczema oil is very simple as well. I used .5oz of jojoba oil which is noncomedogenic (doesn’t clog pores) with 2 drops lavender essential oil and 2 drops rose absolute. I chose rose over tea tree for this one because tea tree is slightly drying while rose is specific to dry and/or mature skin. Lavender e.o. is great for any type of skin issue. By the way, eczema is just as often related to food intolerances as acne is, and in fact almost all skin issues (such as rosacea) and have a strong correlation with the digestive system. Hippocrates famously noted, “All disease begins in the gut.”
This is the perfumed body oil in the making. These body oils not only keep my stomach, arms, and legs soft and moisturized throughout the year, the act of putting it on day and night also keeps my hands moisturized and healthy. I used to have chilblains during the fall and winter, but ever since I started being consistent with perfumed body oils, the flair ups are far less common. I change up the base oils and essential oils each time, but as long as quality of the ingredients is good, the body oils are therapeutic and beautifying. If you would like the recipe for this one that I did this morning, let me know and I’ll add it, but I want to encourage you to create your own concoctions with the ingredients you have on hand.
Thank you for reading and if you haven’t already checked out my book coming out in March but available now for preorder, take a look and let me know if you have any questions 👀:
Thank you for reading and let me know if you make any of these, and if so what your recipe turned out to be.
Happy crafting ✨🌿!
This was a fun project! I made some sample perfumes to accompany the marketing team when they introduce the book I wrote to book buyers. It was a little intimidating to try to create a scent for 25 strangers that was going to be gender neutral and hopefully widely appealing, but I really liked how the scent turned out! It reminds me of fresh air like no other perfume I’ve ever put together and now I’m working with the publisher on making it a bonus recipe for those that preorder the book.
In the parlance of Instagram…How it started:
How it’s going…
Speaking of Instagram, check out these eagles I saw on my run this morning! They were so quiet that I don’t know why I even looked up. It must have been their intense regal-ness that caught my attention:
Here’s a link to the book where you can preorder through your book seller of choice, including independents. Thank you so much for your support!
💜🌿🌸
I don’t think 2020 has been a banner year for anyone, and personally 2019 was not a great one for me either because that was the start of my divorce and it ended just in time for the pandemic lockdown. There have been other things as well, just as we all have our personal stories of loss and pain during this extraordinary time in history, but the one bright spot for me was I fulfilled a lifelong dream of writing a book about something I love, and I’m happy to announce it is now available for preorder. http://quartokno.ws/AllNaturalPerfumeMaking
This book tells you how to create natural perfumes from natural ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen, garden, or liquor cabinet, plus essential oils (though you don’t actually need them). There are recipes to play with and instructions on how to create your very own signature scent. Alcohol based, oil based, and solid perfume instructions are all there, and the mental and emotional benefits of the essential oils are discussed so you can create with your health in mind as well as your aesthetic sensibilities.
I can’t tell you how many dark days were transformed by focusing on this book and pulling out my essential oils and filling my hands with dried herbs. There is healing in these natural ingredients, healing in the beauty they create, and healing in the creation process, of that I am 100% sure. I can’t wait to share this particular kind of beauty and healing that is both deep and long lasting, good for you and good for the environment.
The pandemic pushed the publication date a few times but it now is set for March 2021. You can preorder now and as you probably know, preorders matter in the algorithm of how many books are bought by retailers which informs how many books are produced, so if you intend to order the book, please do so early. Here’s the link which gives options for US, Canada, UK, and Australia. If you are somewhere else in the world, contact me and I’ll talk to the publisher who seems able to do just about anything.
If you know anyone who likes to craft, is interested in herbs, essential oils, and/or green beauty, please share this book announcement with them. I would be forever grateful. 🙏
All the best to you and yours,
Kristen 💜🌿
I wrote this post last year but it’s relevant every summer.
This is somewhat counter-intuitive, but bugs do not like essential oils. That always struck me as odd since bugs and plants seem like they should be natural friends, but I guess the strength of essential oils is off-putting to them. This works out really well for us because we can lather ourselves up with essential oil laced products and smell divine while playing in nature, without having to endure the nasty smells and questionable ingredients of over the counter bug sprays. Citronella is an essential oil that is already commonly used in mosquito repelling products such as candles, but there are other essential oils that can be just as effective and perhaps more appealing to put directly on your body and/or your clothes.
One way to take a precautionary measure before even getting dressed in the morning is to apply a body oil with essential oils on your arms, legs, and stomach. To make a body oil, you just need a base oil or a mix of base oils such as sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, or jojoba oil, and add whichever essential oils you want to wear. Almost any essential oil or blend of essential oils will deter bugs, but especially good picks are lavender, peppermint, thyme, and lemongrass. You will want there to be 5-7 drops of essential oils per 1 teaspoon of base oil. (There are 6 teaspoons in an ounce, so aim for 30-42 drops of essential oils per ounce.) Make sure to shake the mixture before blending, and allow time for the oil to dry before putting your clothes on for the day to avoid oil stains. This can be reapplied throughout the day, but it is probably easier to make a spray for day time reapplication.
To make a bug spray, add essential oils to distilled water with at least a teaspoon of vodka, or use witch hazel instead, in a spray bottle (preferably dark glass) in the same proportion as above, 5-7 drops of essential oils per teaspoon of distilled water. You can spray this as often as needed on yourself throughout the day and it will help deter bugs and also provide a nice little scent pick-me-up when you do so. Again, any essential oils will be helpful, but the ones mentioned above would be a great place to start. Of course, citronella is always an option too.
In Valerie Ann Wormwood’s book, The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy, she gives this recipe for a great blend to keep away the little buggers:
4 drops Thyme
8 drops Lemongrass
4 drops Lavender
4 drops Peppermint
She recommends putting a couple of drops of this blend on a cotton ball at night and placing near open windows or around your head or body, especially while traveling. Another technique for traveling is to add a couple of drops to boiling water and placing it by an open window or if you are sitting outside, right on a table next to you. Even very hot water in a mug will dissipate the essential oils, so as long as you travel with an essential oil or two, or a blend like the one she suggests above, you don’t need to worry about a diffuser.
I actually do like to take a little terracotta diffuser with me when I travel. They are quite small and do not require any heat, so it’s a convenient option. These make cute little gifts as well, and are one way to easily use essential oils in your car or in other places where you don’t have the option to light a candle or use an outlet.
If you do happen to get bitten or stung by an insect, lavender can be applied neat to the area. Applying essential oils to the body without a carrier is 99% of the time NOT recommended, but lavender is one of the few that can be applied without a carrier and it actually is quite good for burns, bites, and other skin issues. Do use caution if you have sensitive skin though.
Thanks for reading and enjoy your bug-free outdoor time! Please share this article with anyone who might be interested in flower powered bug repellent.
In case you missed the links above, here’s more information on making your own body oil: https://botanicalalchemyandapothecary.com/body-oils-diy/ and more details on making a body spray: https://botanicalalchemyandapothecary.com/essential-oil-sprays-for-body-and-home/.
Happy July and Happy Canada Day to all of the Canadians! I’m sure we are all pretty happy to enter into the second half of this unusual year. Here in the Seattle area there is a common understanding that summer weather does not begin until July 5th, and true to form it’s windy, drizzly, and cool this morning (see above pic). The sunny days are coming though and if your skin tends to burn easily, this after sun spray is easy-peasy to make.
Peppermint and lavender will be the stars for this after sun spray, as well as aloe vera juice and/or witch hazel. Peppermint needs to be used with care because it can irritate sensitive skin, so although it is cooling, use it in moderation. Lavender’s healing effects on burns started the study of aromatherapy as we know it, so it’s fabulous on its own in this recipe if you don’t have peppermint or are too sensitive to it. Aloe vera is a great plant to have around your house in case of burns, or the juice can even be used as a facial mask for its firming action. Witch Hazel has tannins which help soothe sun burned skin and you can use it alone as the base if you don’t have aloe on hand.
–2 oz spray bottle (preferably dark glass)
–1oz witch hazel (can be plain or infused)
–1 oz aloe vera juice
–10 drops lavender
–5 drops peppermint
–Store in the refrigerator for up to one month, or use 2 oz witch hazel instead of aloe and store for 6 months in a cool, dark place.
Don’t forget to label your bottle with what it is and the date you made it. Writing down your recipe for next time is always beneficial too, as well as any notes such as ‘too much peppermint’ or ‘try aloe juice next time’.
May your July be a fresh start to this year with many happy summer days ahead.
Below is a blog post I wrote two years ago. If you are like me, these holidays are sneaking up even more than ever in this strange time. I’ve read that we are currently in the month of “Marprilay” which sounds about right to me and if you agree, take heart. Making bath salts might be something you can do easily while sheltering in place because Epsom salts work wonderfully and you can find them at drug stores and grocery stores so no need for anything from hard to get to places. Here’s the post from 2018:
What mom doesn’t treasure her bath and beauty time? Whether you are making a gift basket for your mom as an adult, or helping little ones make gifts for your partner, natural DIY pampering gifts are easy to make and will actually be used and appreciated. If you are working with little ones, essential oils need to be handled with care because they are so potent they should not be put on the skin directly without a carrier, and also the scents can be overwhelming if you are using a lot all at once.
To make a custom jar of bath salts, you have some options. You can use sea salt, Epsom salts, pink, grey, or black salt depending on where you are and what you fancy. Epsom salts are best known for aches and pains, but pink and grey salts can help with those too, and they have a high mineral content. Sea salt and black salt are detoxifying, and all the salts are good for the skin. You can also blend different salts together if you can’t decide or want to make sure you cover all the salt benefits. Whatever salts you use, just fill a jar with them, and add the essential oils you want in a ratio of about 10-25 drops per cup, depending on how strong you want the smell. Mix with a chopstick and cap tightly.
To make it a moisturizing bath soak, you can almond oil or grapeseed oil to the salts slowly, mixing the blend as you pour. You will want about 1 3/4 cup salts, with 1/4 cup oil. When the oil and salts are all blended together, add your essential oils and stir some more to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Since this is a total of 2 cups, you can use 20-50 drops of essential oils.
If you are making this for someone who takes more showers than baths, then a salt scrub is another option. You want more oil than salt in that case~ 2 cups of almond or grapeseed oil, 1 cup of fine sea salt, and 20-50 drops of essential oils. You can always make an herbal oil first, then add that to the salts. Add the oil directly on top of the salt, then add the essential oils and stir well. You can use sugar instead of salt for a gentler body scrub. Prepare the exact same way as the salt but use brown sugar instead.
Another option is to add dried herbs to the salts. This of course looks lovely but can make a huge mess, so adding a large sized muslin bag or two to the jar of bath salts is a nice touch. The bather can spoon in however much they want into the muslin bag, then place it into the bath for a nice soak that they don’t have to worry about cleaning up later. Lovely herbs to add are rose petals, calendula flower tops, seaweed, and/or oats. The proportions are completely up to you, and in fact you can just use herbs for an herbal bath without any salts, or just add the salts and herbs together, or add essential oils to the mix as well. There are no hard and fast rules, so just follow your aesthetic sense or look to your (or her) favorite products to get an idea of what proportions might be most appreciated.
As always, be sure to label whatever you make and to write down the recipe. Here are some more DIY gift ideas if bathing isn’t the best treat for your gift recipient. Have fun with whatever you are making and Happy Mother’s Day to all the hard working mamas out there. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.
This has been an era of polarity for a while now, fueled by social media and the strange but very real pleasure hit we get when we feel ‘outrage’ (more about that phenomenon here). There’s an empowering feeling to have strong opinions about something~ vaccines, politics, moral codes, etc~ and then have those opinions validated by others, whether they be FB friends, radio hosts, or TV personalities. They have become the way many people define themselves and it’s become accepted, even encouraged, to make fun of the other side and dehumanize them. It seems opinions, defined as: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge (google dictionary but italics my own), are being mistaken as facts, and furthermore, used to bolster self esteem and promote polarity. Why? Why should any of us settle for this?
I’ve seen this playing out with the current COVID crisis and supplements/foods. It seems you have to be ‘for’ or ‘against’ using nutrition and supplements to bolster your immune system. Why does this tunnel vision persist? The word complementary is defined as: combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other or another (google dictionary), and that’s exactly what complementary medicine does best. All sorts of health enrichment exists beyond modern medicine, from broccoli to meditation, cardio to vitamin C, it is not revolutionary to say that there are things that we do every single day to keep ourselves healthy so why do some get upset by the idea of using herbs and other supplements to boost the immune system and health in general….? I just don’t get it.
Maybe it’s time we could embrace a different paradigm and use the traditional knowledge built up over centuries around herbs and other natural substances on a daily basis and use modern medical care when we need it. It can be a stretch for some to understand that we actually live in a paradigm where health is viewed in a specific and not holistic way. Our current view is that health is absence of disease and disease means uncomfortable tests followed by pills with bad side effects and we just accept all of that because that is modern medicine. I agree that sometimes the tests are necessary and even the pills are necessary with their harmful side effects, but we do have more control than that viewpoint allows. Herbalism is not about using herbs instead of pharmaceuticals~ it doesn’t work like that. Herbalism is looking at health holistically and supporting the body through diseases, aging, personal tendencies, inherited conditions, and more through balance which is a life-long endeavor. This means always striving for optimal health, not just the absence of disease, and when disease presents then supporting the body through it with or without modern medicine, depending on the severity and personal needs.
Maybe if we could all open our minds to the idea that we don’t live in an either/or universe, it would translate to better health, grander living, broader thinking, and more humanity in general.
Healthy Wishes to All
Anyone else been thinking about the Plague recently? Back in the middle ages there weren’t many options for medicines other than what grew within walking distance of one’s community. Actually, that’s true for almost all of human history, so it’s no wonder that people turned to herbs during the Plague years.
Below are a couple of old sayings during Middle Ages era of Plague:
“Eat valerian and pimpernel And all of you will be well”
“ Take of sage, rue, briar leaves, elder leaves, of each a handful, stamp them and strain them with a quart of white wine, and put thereto a little ginger, and a good spoonful of the best treacle, and drink thereof morning and evening.”
It was common to wear garlic around the neck or to tie other bundles of herbs around different parts of the body such as wrists to keep oneself safe, and the Plague doctors themselves also implemented herbal armor. Those long beak-like masks famous from that era were actually constructed that way in order to house herbs in the ‘beak’ area. The herbs were either fresh, dried, or soaked in vinegar to make an extract, then placed in the tip of the beak so the doctors would breathe in the herbal air instead of the ‘bad air’ because at that time they thought the disease was transmitted through air instead of understanding there were particles involved. The herbs varied depending on the place, but some common herbs used were: juniper berries, mint leaves, myrrh, rose petals, camphor, cloves, and straw.
Another use of herbs from the Plague years which is still around today is in the formation of ‘thieves’ oil. Thieves oil has a great story to it, though whether it is more history or mythology is anyone’s guess. The story has several variations, but basically they all say something along the lines of this: During the Middle Ages there were four thieves in France who used to rob the graves (or the houses) of those who had died of the Plague and managed to not get ill themselves. When they were eventually caught, they were given a lighter punishment in return for telling how they did it. The four thieves admitted they used herbs (most likely soaked in vinegar at that time) to keep themselves from getting the disease. They knew how to do this because among them were perfumers and spice traders who understood the anti-biotic and anti-viral properties of their goods. Their blend has passed down to us through all these centuries, though the actual recipes vary depending on who’s making it. Usually the blends include: clove, lemon, eucalyptus, cinnamon and rosemary, and then different makers add in their own special favorites. This is almost always an essential oil blend now, instead of a vinegar extract, and it can be found under names such as Thieves oil, Four Thieves, Bandits oil, Medieval oil, etc, and of course you can make your own. Just use a mix of antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal essential oils to make a powerful anti-germ blend and add it to a carrier to wear as perfume or diffuse it in the air with a diffuser.
Vinegar extracts aren’t nearly as common as they used to be, but one recipe has endured for a long time, though no one knows exactly when it began. This actually just came up in a court case because one company wanted to trademark the name ‘Fire Cider’ but other herbalists and companies resisted that since fire cider is a long time folk recipe that many believed should not and could not be owned by one company. The courts agreed and the trademark was thrown out so anyone can make fire cider and call it such. Fire cider is an herbal combination that boosts immunity, especially during the winter months, and seems to be more common in the Northeast of the U.S. than anywhere else from what I’ve observed, though I could be wrong about that. Beloved herbal elder, Rosemary Gladstar was one of the main people leading the fight to keep fire cider out of trademark territory, and she’s one of the first to pen a recipe that has been widely copied. Here is her version and you can watch her make it and follow along here:
Ingredients
1/2 cup ginger, fresh (grated) 1/2 cup horseradish (fresh, grated)
Put ginger, horseradish, onion, garlic, peppers, lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary and turmeric in a quart canning jar. Cover with apple cider vinegar by about two inches. Use a piece of natural parchment paper or wax paper under the lid to keep the vinegar from touching the metal. Shake well. Store in a dark, cool place for one month and shake daily.
After one month, use cheesecloth to strain out the pulp, pouring the vinegar into a clean jar. Be sure to squeeze as much of the liquid goodness as you can from the pulp while straining. Add ¼ cup of honey and stir until incorporated. Taste your cider and add another ¼ cup until you reach desired sweetness. Fire cider should taste hot, spicy and sweet. It is great as a winter time tonic and as a remedy for colds and coughs. Often people use it as salad dressing, on rice, or with steamed vegetables.
Just to be clear, fire cider is not a recipe originating from the Plague era, but it is a vinegar based recipe which is how most herbal medicines were prepared back then, which is why I’m sharing it on this post. Also, don’t worry about exactness with this recipe, as it’s a folk recipe that has many variations so yours will be just fine.
Stay safe and healthy and let me know if you make your own fire cider and how it turns out! Also comment with any herbs you are currently taking to keep healthy during this pandemic~ I’d love to hear!
Hello from the land of Limbo! I’ve been stuck in a moving delay with most of our stuff moved over to the next house and some essentials keeping us at the old house and quite frankly it’s been rather stressful and discombobulating. Add this to the whole living and working in the center of US’s coronavirus outbreak (Kirkland, Washington) 
and it’s been a wild ride for the last few weeks. Our schools are still in session, but all the businesses around here are insisting their workers telecommute which has at least been a boon for traffic. All the trips I’ve made between the two houses trying to locate our things has at least been through less congestion. Counting all the blessings I can at this point.
No one seems to know exactly how panicked everyone should be~ debates rage on if this all overblown to this isn’t being taken nearly seriously enough. All we can do is take personal responsibility for ourselves and our loved ones and boost our immune system with the usual suspects: elderberry, astragalus, medicinal mushrooms, echinacea if getting sick, essential oils in a variety of ways, and general good sense. Probiotics are also smart, as is vitamin C, zinc, and pretty much any herb used in any way is going to be healthy for your immune system so if you are cooking at home, go heavy on the herbs and spices. Adaptogens help with stress, nervines with anxiety, and of course there’s CBD for all of it if that works for you. In other words, you don’t have to feel helpless and panicky. There are many natural ways to help us all move through these trying times. Now only if they would help move the last of my things to the new house, that’d be magical. 
But, no worries, the movers are supposed to finish up this Friday the 13th…what could possibly go wrong?
Stay healthy, XO