herbal crafting

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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Herbs, Roots, Connection

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This new year has started off with a bang here in the U.S. and it has me thinking about my passion for herbs, herbal crafting, and sharing with others. My training has been focused on clinical herbalism but that is never what I wanted to do for various reasons, but mostly because what I treasure about herbalism is the self-knowledge, self-application, and self-enjoyment of having a relationship with the herbs. I aim to connect people to the earth, their roots, and each other through herbs because herbs and humans have been living entwined lives since the beginning of time. When we engage in cooking, crafting, medicine making, or simply brushing by herbs and smelling their scents, we are engaging in the same activities all of our ancestors did since the very beginning of humanity itself, and we are engaging in activities that bind us to each other all over the world and to the earth herself. For that reason, working and playing with herbs is immensely satisfying, joyful, and scratches an itch like nothing else.

The connection people form when making herbal concoctions together is something truly special to behold. If you have never taken an in-person herbal crafting class, I highly recommend it because it is as high-vibe as it gets. That connection is what I want to see more of in the world, and what I want to be part of creating. Connection to earth, to our roots, and to each other is a driving force of this website, classes I’ve made for online and IRL, and for the books I write and contribute to. Connecting to all kinds of people has always been extremely important to me and is one of the reasons I got an MA in TESOL. I love teaching English as a Second Language because I get to meet people from all over the world and that is truly the best thing ever. When I was in college my roommate once remarked that I must know every exchange student on campus, and she was probably right but I hadn’t even thought about it. Of course I want to connect with those with different lives, different habits, opinions, preconceptions, etc. It is fascinating! Isn’t that why we read books too? It is why I personally love novels…the lives that I haven’t lived are so fabulously ‘other’ and full of insights and experiences that I could never get through my own little corner of the world.

So back to this new year and this same old story of divisiveness. The events of this past week of the insurrection on the nation’s capitol were shocking enough, but the lack of police action was even more shocking after this summer’s displays of brute force and tear gas against peaceful BLM protestors. The disingenuous discourse I have witnessed from those that are uncomfortable with seeing in action what their rhetoric has incited, or even their silence, is just as upsetting. I don’t want to be silent on this and I never thought I’d have to say this, but as much as I treasure connection and I want all people to be seen and heard, this is not a space open to white supremacists, racists, or misogynists. Some have responded to that mob by stating, “This is not who we (as a nation) are,” and others have said, “Yes, this is actually who we are right now and we have to accept that and move towards better,” but I disagree with both those statements. That is not who I am, and I refuse to be part of any community that comes remotely close to what was so arrogantly displayed to the watching world. That is all I have control of and although I hope we as a nation are moving towards ‘better’ and I do believe we will and must, I cannot say that small group is who we are or who we aren’t because they aren’t going to define me, my communities, nor my country. They are they, and they are not we and they are not welcome here. That is all I wanted to say.

Happy New Year!

Natural Skin Products for Acne and Eczema DIY

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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 ✨🌿!

Infused Witch Hazel

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I wanted to show you the end of the process since I showed you the beginning a few weeks back. This is the witch hazel after four weeks of infusion. The witch hazel has clearly been infused with all the beneficial qualities of the rose petals and calendula because the color of the liquid has turned from crystal clear to a deep, warm orange. I prepped some for a facial toner with geranium and carrot seed essential oils, and left the rest without any essential oils in case I needed it for an after sun spray, in which case I’ll use lavender and peppermint essential oils instead.

Witch hazel is anti-inflammatory, soothing, cleansing, and balancing to skin alone, but infusing it with botanicals makes it a medium for adding more antioxidants, healing, and enhancing properties to your skin. It’s also just fun and so rewarding to see the color change that takes place when infusing it with herbs, so it makes for a particularly good green beauty craft for young teens/tweens and it’s also gentle enough for them to actually use.

Thank you for reading and watching! I also added a couple of other new videos on YouTube on making natural perfumes if you are interested in actual recipes. Watch the alcohol based version first because in the oil based body perfume video I tell you how to (somewhat) alleviate a problem with essential oil perfumes that I bring up in the first one~ the fact that products made with essential oils just don’t stick around as long as chemical fragrances due to their ‘alive’ and volatile natures.

Happy holiday week to all the Canadians and Americans and anyone else out there who has a holiday this first week of July :0).

 

How to Make a Body Butter

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Making a body butter or cream is an especially magical process because the mere act of whipping the concoction creates the luxurious feel of the product and also the opaqueness. It’s really easy to do and there are so many ways to do it that I very rarely repeat the same process twice in the exact same way. That being said, I don’t always get the proportions exactly right for a proper whip to the recipe so do follow the ingredient recommendations closely of whatever recipe you choose at least for the first time or two. Even if the whipping doesn’t make your butter quite creamy, you will still end up with a soft balm that is just as good for moisturizing, and considering all these ingredients are natural, healthy, and non-toxic, you can use them on any part of your body that needs a little lotion-y love. Use whatever essential oils you like, but just know if you are using the recipe below the cocoa butter gives the finished product a decidedly chocolate-y scent, so figure that into your scent profile. For example, orange and chocolate might be good, cedarwood and chocolate though….maybe not.) I used vanilla absolute to round out the chocolate scent and the lavender to make sure it didn’t smell completely like food, plus lavender has so many skin benefits.

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Body Butter

1/2 C Cocoa Butter

1/4 C Coconut Oil

1/8 C Shea Butter

1/8 C Rose Oil (Olive Oil based)

20 drops Lavender

10 drops Vanilla Absolute

Put all the ingredients, except for the essential oils, into a measuring cup that can go into a pot of water that will heat up to a simmer. 3756C7C8-FDB6-4FEB-B5E5-051F1F1C9E5A[1]Let the solids completely melt, then take the measuring cup out of the water and let the liquid cool. You can put the measuring cup on ice, or put it in the fridge or freezer with a clean towel on top of it. It takes a while to cool, anywhere between a half hour to an hour depending on how it is cooling (freezer or on ice or just sitting out or whatnot). If you lose track of time and find the measuring cup hours later rock solid, don’t worry, just melt it again. When the liquid feels room temperature to the touch, add the essential oils and start whipping it with an electric mixer or in a blender until it turns creamy and opaque. This could take 5-10 minutes, depending on how cool the liquid is upon starting. Pour the butter into a clean jar and keep it out of heat and light for storage. This is a very emollient body butter, good for hand or foot cream, elbows, or any part of the body that is very dry. It isn’t recommended for the face though because those hard oils and butter can be pore clogging. It smells decadent and it is really fun to make something that starts off mostly solid, melts into a liquid, then whips into a totally new texture.

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Store in a clean glass jar with a tight fitting top, in a cool, dark place. Preferably a cool, dark place up out of nosey doggie territory. I was going to give this body butter to a friend so I had it down on the bottom of my shelf of herbal things where I knew I wouldn’t forget about it, but see that cork there…? My dog took the cork out of the jar (it does smell heavenly, and very much like food despite the lavender, I have to admit) and the jar hardened to a decidedly non-butter state. Definitely not gift-worthy anymore although I’ll still use it. Now it’s back to the stove top to make another batch, this time with a screw-lid jar.

This does harden a bit over a couple of days even with a properly closed container, so don’t be surprised if that happens. It still melts right onto (and into) your skin. We have all heard how skin is our largest organ and whatever we put on it goes into the body, so make sure you are only using the best, purest, products. You are worth it and your body will thank you. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.