Herbal Products

I have been busy making herbal body products for Christmas presents. I have had great fun thinking up some wonderful remedies for this time of year. I have made some herbal bath bags filled with oats, lavender, rose petals & lemon balm for a relaxing bath and with hemp agrimony, lavender, oats and Epsom salts for tired muscles. These smell wonderful. Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) grows in abundance around here. It is a relative of the more commonly used Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum). It has immune boosting actions but due to its high pyrrolizidine alkaloids it is best to use externally and I find it works wonders for aching muscles. The bags made from natural, un-bleached muslin and can be reused. Just infuse the bags in boiling water for 10/15mins then cool and add liquid and bag to a hot bath. Epsom salts are rich in magnesium which is necessary for good nerve/muscle function. Now a days you have to be careful not to buy artificial Epsom salts but get them from a reputable company which sells organic Epsom salts. I use these in my tired muscle bath bags and also in my body scrub. The action of gently massaging the salts into the skin with the addition of vegetable glycerine help to leave the skin smooth and regenerated. The lavender flower heads add to the exfoliation experience and the lavender oil leaves a sense of wellbeing. I made some fun lavender bath bombs and rose petal bath bombs, both leaving the skin smelling lovely! And finally I made some Elderflower face and body butter. I wanted to make a product that only contained a few select ingredients and which used only natural ingredients. Our skin is the body’s largest excretory organ so I did not want to use heavy products on it which could clog the pores and impede its function. But also it is important to nourish and moisturise the skin, especially in the winter when our skin can become so dry. So I opted for Sesame oil (organic of course), which in Ayurvedic terms is a Vata oil, which has a calming effect. I used this oil to gently and slowly infuse Elderflower, picked biodynamically and dried. Elderflowers were used as a cream for chapped hands and they were said to even the complexion, smoothing out the freckles. To this infused oil I added Cocoa butter, fantastic on the skin and the basic ingredient of chocolate! Then finally rose geranium essential oil. The body butter is quite solid but once applied, in a small amount as a little goes a long way, it melts onto the skin and after a minute sinks in nicely. I have been told that this body & face butter smells like a summers day. As its Christmas I also made some organic spicy Apple chutney, made a blend of lovely and warming for this this of year.