Maui Nights Enfleurage Extrait
Enfleurage is a centuries-old technique used to capture the aroma of fresh flowers. This perfume is delightful and I hope it conjures thoughts of a faraway land of magical sunsets and warm [...]
Vitex Berry Distillation
Chaste Tree berries (Vitex agnus castus) in the still this afternoon. Chaste Tree is commonly used for hormone imbalances in women that present as premenstrual syndrome, menopause, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, [...]
Essential oils and GRAS: What it really means
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a designation for substances that are intentionally added to food called GRAS: Generally Recognized As Safe. A number of essential oils, absolutes, and hydrosols [...]
Land of Enchantment
We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us. - John Muir Koi at the Southwest [...]
Bluebonnets
I will be the gladdest thing Under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers And not pick one. - Edna St. Vincent Millay
Rosemary
Sweet friends gifted me this bag of fresh Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) last night and I'm making good use of it with the distiller today. Did you know: Rosemary is used in floral [...]
Types of Olfaction
Retronasal olfaction greatly enhances the flavor of food by carrying aromatic compounds up the back of the throat and into the sinus cavity where the olfactory bulb is found. In times of [...]
Supporting Chronic Lyme Disease with Reflexology and Aromatherapy
Chronic Lyme Disease can present with a wide variety of symptoms ranging from neurological (brain fog, parasthesia, acute to chronic fatigue, headaches), to psychological (irritability, depression, bi-polar-like symptoms), to musculo-skeletal inflammatory conditions [...]
10 Epic Essential Oil Myths and Dangerous Uses of 2014
2014 was a doozy of a year for rumors, myths, and really dangerous essential oil use ideas. Did you fall for any of these? 1. Essential Oils for Ebola? During the height [...]
Aromatic History: Gattefosse’s Aromatherapie
French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé (1881-1950) is credited with coining the term aromatherapy (aromatherapie): which is the therapeutic use of essential oils. His contribution to aromatherapy includes a personal story - burned in [...]