DIY

Summer Bug Repellent Reminder

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Shady lane on a sunny summer day

In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s that time of year again when longer hours are spent outdoors alongside our insect frenemies. We can’t live without them, but I think we’d all prefer to not be their snack nor their targets for taking out their buzzy ire. If you find yourself particularly tasty to mosquitos or simply irresistible to their more combative cousins, one way to shield yourself from the unwanted attention is to use essential oils. Bugs do not like essential oils, so you can make a body spray or body oil to use daily, or simply add a few drops into your sunscreen or lotion if you are in a hurry as I wrote in the post linked above. Here’s a recap of that post if you don’t feel like clicking through:

Instructions:

To make your sunscreen or body lotion into a bug repelling screen as well, all you need to do is squeeze about a tablespoon of sunscreen into your palm. Add 5 to 10 drops of essential oils into the sunscreen, mix it together, and then lather it on your body. This hack is for your neck down, not your face. Start on the lower end of that 5-10 range, so 5 or less drops of essential oils per tablespoon, to make sure your skin isn’t sensitive and then you can add more drops next time if you wish.

Which Essential Oils?

Almost any essential oil can be used and will be effective, but do not use citrus oils because they can cause hyperpigmentation. Citrus oils are mostly obvious, such as sweet orange, lemon, and lime, with one exception, bergamot. Please avoid these and any other citrus essential oils in your sunscreen. Particularly effective essential oils are citronella (of course!), lemon eucalyptus (not a citrus oil despite the name), thyme, and all the mints but especially peppermint. Be a little cautious with peppermint because it is a cooling essential oil but just as dry ice can burn, so can peppermint at certain levels and everyone’s skin sensitivity level is different. Mixing essential oils is recommended because some bugs are repelled more or less by certain scents, so your end result will be more effective with two, three, or more essential oils.

Make Your Own

If you prefer to make your own dedicated spray and/or oil, which I highly recommend because it is a fun way to scent yourself for summer with the added benefits of less bug bites, I have all the deets on this post (linked) but if you don’t want to click through, here are the most important paragraphs:

Body Oil

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.

Body Spray

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 and vodka, or witch hazel. 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.

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Travel

If you travel with essential oils, as I do, to secure your sleeping area you can put some drops on cotton balls to keep bugs away, especially around open windows or near your bed. I actually 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.

After Care

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 and always assume you do have sensitive skin and start small until proven otherwise.

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/.

Summer Hack for Repelling Bugs

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Sunny day along Juanita Bay

*This post includes affiliate links to Mountain Rose Herbs. I highly recommend their essential oils, herbs, and crafting materials, but use whatever you have on hand first!

A couple of weeks ago my niece mentioned that her sunscreen, which she loves, attracts bugs, which she does not love. I recommended putting essential oils into the sunscreen container because bugs do not like essential oils. I realized later that it’d be more useful to actually add the essential oils right before you put sunscreen on, and an easy hack for anyone who would like some insect protection along with their sun damage protection. I’ll explain how to do just that in a moment, but also want to remind you how easy it is to make your own bug repelling sprays and body oils for when you are heading outside and maybe do not need sunscreen, such as enjoying summer nights out, or you just want to be able to spray yourself repeatedly throughout the day. I have all the details on making your own bug repellent here.

Instructions:

To make your sunscreen into a bug repelling screen as well, all you need to do is squeeze about a tablespoon of sunscreen into your palm. Add 5 to 10 drops of essential oils into the sunscreen, mix it together, and then lather it on your body. This hack is for your neck down, not your face. Start on the lower end of that 5-10 range, so 5 or less drops of essential oils per tablespoon, to make sure your skin isn’t sensitive and then you can add more drops next time if you wish.

Which Essential Oils?

Almost any essential oil can be used and will be effective, but do not use citrus oils because they can cause hyperpigmentation. Citrus oils are mostly obvious, such as sweet orange, lemon, and lime, with one exception, bergamot. Please avoid these and any other citrus essential oils in your sunscreen. Particularly effective essential oils are citronella (of course!), lemon eucalyptus (not a citrus oil despite the name), thyme, and all the mints but especially peppermint. Be a little cautious with peppermint because it is a cooling essential oil but just as dry ice can burn, so can peppermint at certain levels and everyone’s skin sensitivity level is different. Mixing essential oils is recommended because some bugs are repelled more or less by certain scents, so your end result will be more effective with two, three, or more essential oils.

Let me know if you try this and how it works out for you!

Happy Bug Repelling 🐜🚫 and remember, it’s good for the bugs too because if they aren’t bothering you, you aren’t bothering them! ☮

Bay Laurel Crown D.I.Y.

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Bay Laurel is my all-time favorite herb in terms of the rich stories where this herb takes center stage. Nowadays we think of this herb as a culinary herb, although one that we don’t actually eat but instead use it to flavor beans and broths, so even that makes it a bit of a standout. Bay laurel is the herb at the root of bay rum, which you may have already read about here or in my book because I love to talk about that traditional men’s scent and make it on occasion. Bay laurel leaves have signified triumph, nobility, and scholarly success since the Greek heyday, and the Romans adopted that symbolism just as they adopted so many of the Greek ways. Olympian winners were crowned with laurel wreaths, and scholarly successes were also celebrated with laurel crowns. The word baccalaureate derives from bay laurel, as does the word laureate, as in Nobel laureate, poet laureate, etc. Graduates can be seen donning laurel crowns which is something that I’ve wanted to do for my own sons ever since I first researched bay laurel years ago and found modern photos online of both Olympians and graduates with glorious crowns of bay leaves around their heads. My oldest graduates from high school in a couple of weeks so I decided it’s time to break out the garden wire that I have had for years for just this occasion. If you would like to make your own, here’s what you’ll need:

Floral wire

Floral tape ideally but fishing wire, floss, or any kind of strong thread will work

Fresh Bay Laurel leaves

Scissors

How To:

Take two pieces of garden wire and measure them around the head you want to crown, or your own and make adjustments based on your best guess if the head will be smaller or bigger than yours.

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One last little tradition that I love involving bay leaves is that people used to sleep with one tucked under the pillow to promote good dreams and/or to boost creativity. Give it a try if you need some creative inspiration whether in your waking life or in your dreamscape! Let me know if you try any of the above!

Congrats to any grads out there and their families too! 🎓🎉🎓🎉

Time to Start DIYing for Valentine’s Day

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There are a lot of options for making your own one-of-a-kind, deeply personal Valentine’s gifts, but I’m partial to perfume body oil. It gets my vote for best DIY Valentine gift because it can also be used as a massage oil for some loving partner time, or bath oil for individual (or shared) self-care tub time. Even if your gift recipient is prickly about baths, massages, and perfumes, they can still rub their feet with the oil before putting on socks and this is a highly effective way for the essential oils to get into the body, and whose feet don’t need some extra love? They could also soak their hands in warm water with the oil which again is another way for the whole body to experience the essential oils and afterwards they can rub their hands with more oil for deep moisturizing after pandemic quality washing and sanitizing for a couple of years now.

Making a body/bath/massage oil is incredibly easy with just base oil(s) and one or more essential oils. It can be made even more healing and complex with first creating an herbal oil, then adding essential oils. Making an herbal oil using the quick method only takes a few hours and is guaranteed to make your house smell divine. I have several tutorials on how to do this, here, and here.

Base oils are fairly interchangeable but there are some I’d recommend over others depending on how the final product will be used. If you think it will be used as a pulse-point perfume, then jojoba or fractionated coconut oil are the best choices. If you don’t have either of those, use sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil. For a full body perfume oil, combining two or more of the oils mentioned above is a great idea. Just using one of those oils will work too, but sweet almond oil and grapeseed oil are going to provide more slip so those two make it easier to cover larger areas than merely pulse points. That makes those two oils ideal for massage oil, and any of the base oils I’ve mentioned will work for a bath oil.

For herbal oils great choices would be lavender, rose, or vanilla, or a combination of two or more of those herbs. As noted above, I have several tutorials on making herbal oils here and here.

So, which essential oils to choose? That’s the easiest part in one way, and also the most daunting in another. It’s easy because any essential oil or combination of essential oils is going to most likely reduce feelings of stress and tension, and help boost feelings of wellness and calm confidence. The only time this might backfire is if the person has a bad experience associated with a certain scent and therefore the scent can trigger feelings of unease. For example, lavender is traditionally known to be calming and relaxing, but if someone went to a lavender farm when they were young and got lost in the fields, separated from their family for long scary minutes, then lavender could easily trigger feelings of distress and alarm on some level for that person for the rest of his/her life. This is fairly rare though and we often know what scents our friends and family gravitate towards. If they are big flower people, pick florals, if they love citrus fruits, pick a citrus, if their favorite thing to do is to hike in the woods, pick pine or cedar, etc. The daunting part can be when trying to decide which essential oils blend together nicely, and for that I’d recommend starting small and starting early, which is why I am posting this a couple of weeks before Valentine’s Day. Use a small container to test the essential oil blend before adding it to the oil, so that way you can see how the blend develops over a few days or weeks’ time, and what adjustments need to be made, such as more top note for more of a lighter initial hit or more base note for grounding, or perhaps more middle note to weave it all together better. I have a few recipe suggestions below but follow your intuition, your nose, and what you know about your gift recipient. Think of this as a truly customized, personal, gift that only you would make for only that one special person. That way what you create will be unique to you and your giftee and both of you will think of the other each time that scent is in the air. Which reminds me, don’t forget to write down your recipe so you can recreate it!

If you are looking for an aphrodisiac combination since this is the holiday that celebrates all aspects of love after all, keep in mind the general effect of any essential oil is to support a calm, confident, and relaxed yet alert state, so any essential oil is truly going to be a good place to start. That being said, some essential oils have traditionally been used for aphrodisiac affects, including the spices such as cinnamon*(see caution), cardamom**, and nutmeg**(see note). Vanilla which is not a true essential oil but can be used in the form of an herbal oil or an absolute. Rose, jasmine, and ylang ylang have sensual reputations as well.

*Cinnamon essential oil can be irritating to the skin. Cinnamon leaf is less so than cinnamon bark, but use either essential oil sparingly in blends and test for sensitivity. ** Cardamom and nutmeg are very potent and easily take over blends, so although they aren’t known to cause the same skin irritation that cinnamon and clove e.o. can, use one drop in a blend at the end of blending, mix, and then test to see if you want to add more. If so, only add one drop at a time, mix, then test.

If you prefer to just buy a ready made oil or body mist with aphrodisiac essential oils already considered in the blend, you might like to check out these two items from Mountain Rose Herbs: a body oil and a body mist. They also have an essential oil Love kit that makes picking out ‘love inducing’ scents easy too.

Here are a couple of recipe ideas to get you started. There are many more recipes in my book, All-Natural Perfume Making, with proposed amounts of each ingredient, so check it out if you like playing with herbs and essential oils. I didn’t suggest amounts for the recipes below so you can truly experience blending with your nose and intuition. Feel free to contact me though with your ideas if you want a second set of eyes.

For a traditionally masculine scent:

Cedarwood, vanilla absolute, bay, and lime in a base of lavender, rose, or vanilla herbal oil

Or

Sandalwood, vanilla absolute, bergamot, and nutmeg in a base of lavender, rose, or vanilla herbal oil

For traditionally feminine scents:

Vanilla absolute, ylang ylang, rose absolute, and cardamom in rose herbal oil

Or

Sandalwood, jasmine absolute, ylang ylang, lavender in vanilla herbal oil or rose herbal oil

Here are more Valentine’s Day DIY projects to consider and here is a post with more information on herbs that support reproductive health, including healthy sexuality.

Wishing everyone rich, deep and layered love this upcoming Valentine’s Day and always ❤.

A Balm for Winter🐾

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Here in the Seattle area, 2021 is going out with a bang. This summer we had record breaking heat and in the fall we had record breaking rainfall. Now, this winter is serving us a record breaking cold snap. Maybe 2022 will take it a little easier on the record breaking weather, but in the meantime my dog and I are walking over the snow and ice for two outings a day, and although she’s invigorated by the cold air at first, her paws would start to bother her after walking on the hard ice and having the snow pack into her pads. Someone told me about a balm they put on their dog’s paws before going out in this weather, so I decided to make one for Bailey and see if it helps. Sure enough on the first walk we took where I’d slathered her specially-made-balm on her paws she did great the entire walk! She didn’t stop, lie down, and lick her paws once, and we went for a slightly longer walk than her usual one. The balm is so easy to do too! I didn’t put any essential oils in it because dogs’ noses are just too sensitive for essential oils. If I’d had time to make an herbal oil and turn that into a balm, I would have used lavender buds, rose petals, and/or plantain, but just the oil and beeswax balm worked well. Here’s the (so easy!) recipe:

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Dog Paw Protective Balm

2 oz almond oil (you can use another oil such as grapeseed or olive oil)

1/8-1/4 cup beeswax (the more wax you use, the harder the balm)

Mix the two together in a double boiler set-up. I use a measuring cup in a pot of water. Turn the burner on medium, making sure the water never boils. Mix the combo occasionally with a chopstick until the beeswax is all melted. Pour into a container and let it cool before capping.

That’s it! For a vegan balm, substitute the beeswax with carnauba wax or use a butter instead, such as shea butter or cocoa butter. The final balm will be softer if using the butters and the waxes provide a better protective barrier so use those if you have them.

Look how cute they are! Little gifts for all your friends with pets next year!

Happy New Year Everyone! 🎆May it be a healthy, joyous year of growth and fulfillment for you and all those you love! ✨(Including your furry friends and family, of course🐶🐈🐰).

How-to Posts and Recipes Related to Perfume Making Book

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Here are some of the former posts and videos I’ve made that relate to my book, All-Natural Perfume Making. If you are looking for a step by step process from the book that isn’t here, let me know by contacting me!

How to Make Vanilla Extract
How to Make an Herbal Oil Part 1
How to Make an Herbal Oil Part 2
DIY Herbal Oil Quick Method
How to Make an Herbal Tincture Part 1
How to Make an Herbal Tincture Part 2
Rose Water DIY
Spray Perfume DIY
Body Spray for Guys
Herbal Perfume Base DIY
Herbal Perfume Base DIY Part 2
Vanilla Oil DIY
The Art and Craft of Herbalism
Bay Rum Aftershave and Toner
Fragrance vs. Essential Oils

DIY Herbal Oil Quick Method

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Happy Equinox Weekend everyone! I decided to make some video tutorials that correspond with recipes in my book since the pictures aren’t necessarily step-by-step visuals of the process. I haven’t made a how-to video in over a year so this one is pretty rough. I’m feeling inspired to get back into the groove though so it feels significant that I restarted on Spring Equinox. This corresponds to page 94 of my book.

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Excerpt from My Book on MindBodyGreen on How to Make All-Natural Solid Perfumes

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Solids are a great way to carry a perfume around with you in your bag, especially when traveling, since there aren’t spillage concerns with solids. The excerpt from my book explains how to make an all-natural solid perfume, including vegan options because most solid perfumes use beeswax. Click on the link below or here to see it.

Excerpt of My Book on MindBodyGreen

Happy Crafting! 🌸🌿

The Better Normal Article

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I wrote an article for the website, The Better Normal, and wanted to share it here as it has two recipes from my All-Natural Perfume Making book. (The recipes were modified in that they use straight oil or alcohol for the bases, instead of the herbal oils and extracts in the book, in order to provide less complex recipes.)

Here’s the first paragraph:

Nature gifts us many ingredients and tools to help us rest, relax, and rejuvenate. Just being in nature is grounding and soothing which is what led Japanese doctors to start writing prescriptions for ‘forest bathing’ (or spending time in nature). Doctors around the world have taken note, and the idea that being out in nature releases stress and promotes health is no longer fringe. Along with “forest bathing,” things like caring for plants, gardening, hiking, and outdoor yoga have plenty of nature-based health benefits. And from these experiences, we know that herbalism (use of things like herbs and essential oils for healing) is also an incredible gift from nature that can be grounding, relaxing, and promote better health physically, emotionally, and mentally.

To continue reading, please click this link.

Thank you for reading!

Multi-Layered Natural Perfume Making

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It’s March, my birthday, and my book will be released this month! I’m in the mood to celebrate! 🎉! March has become heavy with significance the last few years, and I am so happy that this March I can turn it around into a lighter, brighter month heralding spring and good things to come once again. In March of 2019, my (now ex)husband left after a tumultuous few years and right after promising we could start over and everything would be fine. In March of 2020 my divorce was complete on the same day we moved from the only house my kids had known, and it was the first day that schools here went remote and we embarked on a “two week” quarantine, which of course is still more or less going on a year later. To say that I’m happy that this March is the month my book is officially releasing is an understatement, and to celebrate all month I’ll be giving glimpses inside it.

One piece of perfume creation that the book covers is how to balance top, middle, and bottom notes. In the book you’ll find examples of where the essential oils fall in terms of top, middle, or base notes, but in general the top notes are the lightest scents, so citruses and some florals, middle notes are herbs and other florals, and base notes are generally the woods and resins. In order to make the most well-rounded perfume that lasts the longest, it’s best to have essential oils from each category. Top notes refer to the first notes of a perfume that you smell, while the middle notes come in next and are often referred to as the main component of the perfume, and the base notes are the last to come through and also linger the longest. If, for example, you are drawn to top heavy perfumes, it can help balance out a perfume to add scents from the other note categories. Personally, I tend to like base-y perfumes, and usually have to add a top note towards the end and that is always when the perfume comes together and smells complete.

Below is a recipe from the book for a mood balancing perfume, where the note categories are clearly shown. This perfume still works with just two of the essential oils, but when all three are together, it’s a more balanced, complete scent that just resonates better. As the word ‘note’ suggests, it is indeed like music. If you can imagine just a drum playing, then a drum and guitar, then a drum, guitar, and a bass guitar, that can help you visualize the difference between a perfume that’s just thrown together with one or two scents, as opposed to one where the different note categories are considered.

Once you mix your essential oils, add them to oil or an alcohol like vodka to actually put on your body. Don’t put essential oils directly on your skin because they are extremely potent and need a carrier. (There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, but in terms of perfume, always use a base oil or alcohol unless it is a solid perfume in which case the carrier is already oil and/or wax.)

Enjoy the change of seasons, wherever you are! It feels like spring here today🌷🌻🌷.