Many do it yourself herbal beauty and health products start with herb-infused oils. From lip balms to massage oils, the backbone of any herbal, oil-based product is a well-infused oil. While essential oils add a particularly aromatherapeutic effect, herb-infused oils tend to add a more deeply healing quality to your herbal products.
Nourishing your skin from the inside out makes sense, but few of us use this in practice. It’s easy to slap on drugstore sunscreen and spend hours outside but there are unseen, and often unacknowledged, dangers in conventional sunscreen. Protecting yourself from ultraviolet radiation is important in avoiding sunburns, sunspots, wrinkles, and dry, peeling skin, but some unprotected sunshine is also needed for optimal absorption of vitamin D.
An “infused oil” is a vegetable oil in which herbs, spices, or plant resins have been infused. They’re fun to make and immensely useful. First, let’s look at uses, then how to make an oil, and finally, I’ll share some of my favorite oils.
Travel is a beautiful mix of exhilarating and exhausting. Our curiosity guides us to faraway places, foreign lands, new relationships, rituals unknown, food we’ve never tasted, novelty experiences…you name it.
When I first studied aromatherapy and learned that perfumery was part of the course I thought “Well, that part’s going to be boring.” Perfumery is now my favorite part of aromatherapy. Natural perfumes are fun to make and the more developed your nose gets from blending, the more nuanced your perfumes will be.
Join Basmati.com every week for a Q&A session with one of Basmati’s practitioners, Melissa Hill (FDN-P)! We know that there is a lot of confusing information out there, which can make applying health advice overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s best to ask a practitioner directly, so each week we’ll cover a common health question!
Have you looked at the ingredients in an Oreo lately? Sure, it's loaded with unhealthy sugars and fats, but your eyes probably skimmed over one important ingredient: Palm oil. Oreos use palm oil, along with many other snack brands most kids (and adults) love to eat. Why is this a big deal? I'm glad you asked.
Sandalwood refers to wood from trees in the genus Santalum. Sandalwood trees grow in India, Asia, and places like Hawaii. There are many types of wood that have desirable fragrances such as cedar and cherry trees but the scent of those trees fades pretty quickly compared to the sandalwood. The sweet, warm, woody, and soft scent of sandalwood stays strong for decades. Sandalwood’s sweet aroma has been around and highly valued for many centuries.
Omega-3 fatty acids are vital to our health. Keeping the heart healthy, the nervous system in check, and our cholesterol levels down, Omega-3s are a friend to the body. One of the best sources known for Omega-3 is fish. If you are vegetarian and vegan, however, this presents a problem. As someone who has primarily a vegetarian diet, I myself have had to be conscious of knowing where my Omegas are coming from.
The kids are back in school and the weather is getting cooler -- which brings a bounty of beauty, as well as cold and flu season. We all know what it feels like trying to sleep with a stuffy nose and chest congestion.
If you take a look at your average store bought vapor/chest rubs you will see many unnecessary ingredients on the list. The shorter the list of ingredients in your products the better, especially if you can pronounce them.
What Oils Should I Use?
Well here is where some of the fun gets to take place -- at least I think so!