Posts Tagged ‘lavender flowers’

Posted on December 8, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Holiday Gift Giving: 2 DIY Perfume Recipes

I saw a White Diamonds perfume commercial on TV the other day – featuring a 1992 air-brushed Liz Taylor – and I thought I’d been sucked into a time travel vortex.

In addition to the post-collegiate flashback (in which ‘I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt’ topped the charts), the dated perfume commercial reflects the sea change I’ve undergone when it comes to the simple term ‘fragrance.’

A typical perfume contains a mixture of between 50 and 100 fragrance chemicals including, but not limited to:

• Coal tar distillates
• Petroleum distillates
• Benzene derivatives
• Aldehydes
• Phenols
• Phthalates (banned in cosmetics in the European Union since 2003 – see more in the ‘jargon alert,’ below )

Today, science makes it possible to dissect any natural scent and recreate it using synthetic fragrances.  Smelling machines, or ‘electronic noses’ use chemical sensors to produce a fingerprint of any scent. ¹

Doesn’t your special someone deserve something a bit more personal this holiday?

Try your hand at either one of these all-natural elixirs, and let us know how they turn out!

DIY Perfume

by Heidi Hill via www.MNN.com

Basic supplies for making perfume:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped flowers (we recommend lavender of course!)
• Cheesecloth
• Medium-size bowl with lid
• 2 cups distilled water
• Small saucepan
• Washed and sterilized vanilla extract bottle, or another small colored bottle with a lid or an airtight stopper

Instructions for making perfume:

1. Wash the flower petals. Gently clean off any dirt and sediment with water.

2. Soak the flowers. Put cheesecloth inside a bowl with edges overlapping the bowl. Put the flowers into the cheesecloth-lined bowl and pour the water over them, covering the flowers. Cover the bowl with the lid and let the flowers soak overnight.

3. Heat the flower-scented water. The next day, remove the lid from the bowl and gently bring the four corners of the cheesecloth together, lifting the flower pouch out of the water. Squeeze the pouch over a small saucepan, extracting the flower-scented water. Simmer over low heat until you have about a teaspoon of liquid.

4. Bottle the perfume. Pour the cooled water into the bottle and cap it. The perfume will last for up to a month if stored in a cool, dark place.

Green Eau de Toilette

by Julie Gabriel, The Green Beauty Guide

Basic Eau de Toilette Supplies

• 1 ounce vodka
• 4-10 drops essential oil of your choice
• 2 tablespoons distilled water

Instructions for making Eau de Toilette:

1. Pour the vodka into a small glass measuring cup (that has a spout) and add the essential oil, stirring slowly until the oil is fully mixed in. Pour mixture into a small, dark, lidded bottle and leave in a dark place (such as a closet) for two days so that the oil can fully blend with the vodka.

2. Slowly add the distilled water, shaking well. Again, let the mixture sit for two days (or more I you want a more potent mix). Now the perfume is ready. If you like, you can transfer it into a pretty spray bottle.

Homemade scents educate the gift recipient on why we can’t always trust what’s in our bath and beauty products. Plus, they earn serious brownie points for being hand-crafted. And most importantly, homemade scents are the healthiest way to smell great – naturally!

Top either DIY scent with a coupon for a relaxing Lavender Oil Massage, and you’ll win the award for best holiday gift, hands-down.

¹ The Green Beauty Guide, Julie Gabriel

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Jargon Alert: Phthalates

Phthalates (pronounced ˈtha-ˌlāt) are found in perfume, soap, shampoo, nail polish, hair spray, mascara and more.  Listed in ingredient labels as dibutylphthalate, DPB, DEHP, DHP. Phthalates are not listed when used in fragrance. May cause developmental and reproductive problems. It is used to make materials more pliable, prevent cracking, and retain scents by ‘fixing’ perfumes to reduce evaporation

Posted on October 27, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Scare Away Scaley Skin!

Halloween means cooler temps lurking around every corner.  Don’t be haunted by dry skin – give it the extra TLC it deserves.

Napa Valley Bath delivers the decadent moisturizing you need this fall and winter with our Lavender Body Butter. Developed specifically to treat cracked, callused and parched skin, it treats your dry dermis to the nutrition and care it craves in cooler temps.

Highlights from this skin-tastic salve include:

• Aloe Vera Leaf Juice:   Used extensively in skin care and in health care to soothe and protect, aloe vera is also used to treat a variety of skin care disorders as well as burns.

• Safflower Seed Oil: This oil boosts the skin’s firmness, makes it smooth, toned and gives it more elasticity.

• Shea butter: Extracted from shea nuts, shea butter is a great moisturizer and emollient  (something that softens and soothes) with anti-inflammatory properties. Ours is from Uganda, where shea trees grow in abundance naturally.

• Lavender Hydrosol: We’re big fans of lavender hydrosol, the lesser-known and less concentrated sibling to lavender essential oil.  It tones, cleans and delights as only lavender floral waters can.

• Beeswax & Propolis Cera: Busy bees supply us with this natural wax rich in moisturizing fatty acid esters and propolis cera, the waxy component of the resinous material found in beehives.

• Orange Peel Wax: Orange is a natural skin refresher rich in vitamins.

• Wheat Germ Oil: Plant-based oils are the green alternative to toxic chemicals; wheat germ oil contains Vitamin E and essential fatty acids such as linoleic, oleic, palmitic and stearic fatty acids.

• Comfrey Root Extract: Used to repair damaged tissues, comfrey boasts a long list of nutrients including Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin, B complex vitamins, calcium and more.

• Lavender: As you know, we love our lavender. We use both lavandula angustifolia flower oil and Lavandula grosso (lavandin) flower oil for their soothing, healing qualities.

Feed your skin this beauty brew of goodness and keep spooky skin away all year long!