Monday, September 21, 2009

St John's Wort for the body, mind and spirit


Above is the soap I made using oil infused with St. John's Wort (hypericium perforatum). Herbal folklore name is flower of the fairies and wolf medicine. This is one of my favorite herbs and grows abundantly in the surrounding mountains. I filled a glass gallon jar full of flowers and added organic olive oil. I then set the jar in the sun to infuse for at least 6 weeks making sure to turn and shake once a day. I use the oil in many of my lotions and potions.
Last week I burned my fingers with the steam from the canner. I quickly rubbed St. John's Wort oil on the burn and the pain stopped immediately! St. John's Wort oil has the ability to penetrate nerve endings thus relieving pain. I also use this oil for painful joints.
If I am feeling blue, I like to take a few drops of tinctured St. John's to lift my spirits.
The soap pictured is called Citrus Sweet Goat's Milk Soap
I used the following 5 fold essential oils: lemon, lime, blood orange, tangerine and grapefruit. I also added a touch of patchouli which gives it its sweetness and anchors the scent. Lastly I add a bit of Litsea Cubeba essential oil.

The natural colorant is fresh St. John's Wort infused in organic oils to give the soap a nice reddish color. It never ceases to amaze me that the gold St. John's Wort flowers turn the oil to a beautiful red.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Bath Time


Fall is the time I get back to taking long luxurious soaks in my claw foot tub. When we were building our log cabin, one my first priorities was finding a big old claw foot tub. This weekend I made up a batch of vanilla and lavender scented bath salts. The following recipe makes enough for many baths: I use 1 cup of dead sea salt, 1 cup of epsom salt, and 1/2 cup powdered organic milk. I place everything in a large zip lock bag and mix well. Then I add a small whole vanilla bean scraped and cut into little pieces and lavender essential oil, I use a teaspoonful but you may want to ad more or less. I shake the bag daily for a few weeks then it's ready to use. Once I draw the bath I add a tablespoon or two of the bath salts and soak my cares away.
Sometimes I will ad dried rose petals or hollyhocks for a spa-like experience. Now is the perfect time to treat yourself to Clean and Glow, my oil based cleansing method and don't forget Green Springs skin softening goat's milk soap scented only with essential oils and or herbs. Goat's Milk exfoliates naturally. Treat your feet to a rub down with our Shower and Glow made with dead sea salt and herbal infused organic oils. Relax and let the salts and essential oil do its work. Sweet dreams!