Nature’s Gift October Newsletter

• New and Back in Stock products
• Special Autumn Sales
• Hallowe’en Sale
• Blog Update
• Celebration
• Research Report
• Our Clients Share
• Quote of the month

New and Back in Stock

TWO new rose absolutes for your sensory enjoyment, a deep and mysterious

Bulgarian Rosa damascena Absolute, available pure and undiluted, or
in a 10% dilution in organic Jojoba, and a bright and sunny
Rose Maroc, Rosa centifolia absolute grown and produced in Morocco.
(Rose Maroc was my first true rose decades ago and I have always loved
it. For the past few years we have had difficulty sourcing it, so
I have been delighted to find and make it available to you.)

These new roses have allowed us to really expand our Bouquet of Roses sampler. While the very limited supplies last, the sampler contains all
our new roses, but also contains the last few remaining bottles of our
Turkish Rose Otto and Absolute, as well as the irreplaceable Rose de
Mai (all oils are 10% dilutions). Supplies of the “full” sampler are very limited, so if you
want them all, order now.

A Nature’s Gift EXCLUSIVE… the rare Rosemary ch A-pinene.
I’ve been seeking this rare treasure for years, ever since Robert
Tisserand mentioned it in his skincare course. Organically grown
and distilled by a true artisan distiller, you may read the story of
this rare treasure’s journey, from plants in the ground at Stone Rise
Farm to bottles ready to ship to you in our blog. Supplies are extremely limited;
if you wish to order, now is the time.

Corsican Helichrysum: the two oils we wrote of in last month’s
newsletter have arrived and are available online. For the first time in
three years we will be able to offer Corsican Helichrysum in bulk, and in wholesale, not
having to limit this healing oil to 5 mls per client. We are rejoicing!

Lemongrass: We have sold out of our special High Myrcene Lemongrass
oil, and it will be next spring before more is available. We have
replaced it with a sparkling
Haitian Cymbopogen citratus . I’m sure it will meet
your aromatic standards.

New, from our Australian producer,
Fragonia™ Hydrosol.

CO2 extractions of some of the most fragile fixed oils,

Borage Seed and

Evening Primrose, and a wonderfully aromatic Clove Bud CO2 extraction, as well as a powerfully relaxing and anti-spasmodic
Sweet Marjoram CO2 extract…

Another Nature’s Gift Exclusive: We have a few remaining copies of Madeleine Kerkhof-Knapp Hayes,
Complementary Nursing in End of Life Care. In my opinion, this is
the most important aromatherapy book published in the last five years,
perhaps the last 10. I took a stack to the AIA conference and
they practically flew off the table. Every serious student of
aromatherapy needs this book. I bought my first copy because of my
interest in hospice work, but the book offers much more than end of life
care. We are accepting preorders for those studying with us in
Atlanta. Any left after we return from Atlanta will be available via our
website. Yes, you can buy it at Amazon occasionally (it is not
always available there), but our price is lower, and we ship from
Tennessee, rather than from the Netherlands.

We have restocked a long list of oils… Ho Wood, Cistus (Rock Rose),
Scotch Pine, a tiny bit of Juniper Berry, Balsam Fir. (The Balsam Fir is so very freshly distilled, a still note is definitely detectable.
It will improve immensely over the course of the next two or three
months.) Finally more Petitgrain Bigarde, more Madagascar Clove
Bud, astringent Cypress, anti-aging Carrot Seed. A new
Rosemary Cineole from Morocco, since our Tunisian supply is not reliable due to political unrest, and a new lot of Litsea cubeba. We are
keeping the FedEx people in business!

SPECIAL SALE ITEMS

For October, save 10% on our retail-sized Australian oils, to celebrate the visit
of my friend and mentor Mark Webb, who will be teaching a course in
Aromatic Medicine in Atlanta, in October, and again next spring. On sale: Aniseed Myrtle, Blue Cypress, Eucalyptus Radiata, Lemon Eucalyptus, Lemon Ironbark Eucalyptus, Peppermint Eucalyptus, Fragonia™, Lemon Myrtle, Lemon Tea Tree, Niaouli, Rosalina, Australian Sandalwood, and Tea Tree.

20% on the 20th. Yes, we will be having a birthday
celebration sale on the 20th again this month, but we have not yet
decided which products will be included. Watch for an emailed
update around the 17th or 18th.

Halloween Sale

On October 30th and 31st. There will be two sales, two
promotional codes. You may only use one code though, so you will
have to choose. (Yes, you may place two orders, but you will be
charged shipping on both orders, so the savings won’t be worth paying
double shipping.)

Since Hallowe’en is trick or treat day, we will have a trick or treat
sale:

Enter the Promotional Code TRICK, press apply, and save from 8 to 12%
on all our retail sized products, even the kits which we normally do not
discount. The only exclusions will be bulk products and our rare
and special books. Yes, the % of the discount will vary throughout the
day. No, we can’t tell you when it will be higher or lower.
The amount shown on your invoice will be the amout of your discount.

OR… enter the promotional code TREAT, press apply, and save from 10
to 15% on all retail sized essential oils, absolutes, and CO2 extracts.
You choose, trick or treat.

Blog Updates

Thanks to my friend and fellow student Sandy Barrett, we have had a
series of blogs about some of the lesser known Australian oils.

The last weekend in August she wrote of

Kunzea ambigua, my new favorite pain reliever.

In September she has already published articles about

Fragonia™, Christi’s favorite, and my favorite

Ironbark Eucalyptus.
I interrupted her series to blog about preparations to go as a vendor to
the
AIA conference in Denver. (First time in 12 or 15 years since
Nature’s Gift was represented at a conference, so it was a big deal.)
Sandy’s series continued with

Aniseed Myrtle,

Rosalina, our newest “child safe” essential oil,

Rosemary (a preparation for our very special Australian Rosemary,
mentioned above), and the newest Sandalwood in our collection,

West Australian Sandalwood, Santalum spicatum. Next in the series is our

Blue Cypress (also known as Cypress Pine).

I interrupted her series with a collaborative effort, a story of the
very special Rosemary oil introduced above. Chris Burder, the
farmer-distiller at Stone Rise Farms has been gracious enough to share
the journey of this rosemary, from young plants in his farm’s field to
the finished product, In The Journey of an Oil. More blog articles on more
Australian Oils are saved and ready to post between now and October 9th,
when we leave for Atlanta for the first part of our studies.

Celebration!

While at the AIA
conference in Denver I had the joy of watching my friend and mentor
Dr. Jane Buckle receive AIA’s lifetime achievement award. Never
has an award more well deserved.

Research Report

For those who took part in my research project (no, I haven’t compiled the results yet!) and wanted to know “the secret formula.” If you were given sample B, the blue mixture, you received the trial blend. Sample A, the brown mixture, was the placebo. Now, the results for the trial blend were all over the map. One participant wrote “I hope this was the placebo because nothing changed.” Other participants found amazing pain relief. For those who want to know, and perhaps follow through on their own, the formula was: 2 parts Helichrysum Italicum from Corsica (we used our DON variety), 2 parts German Chamomile steam distilled, and one part Ginger Root, also steam distilled. These were blended, and used at a 5% dilution in a “neutral” carrier oil. (We were not allowed to use a carrier with known benefits, since we were strictly testing the results of the oils.) Given my druthers, I would have used St. John’s Wort infused oil as the carrier.

Our Clients Share

Eczema:

Anyone who struggles with eczema knows what a frustration it can be. Just this evening I received the following “success story” from Kim H. in Washington:

Eczema is so tricky and individual! But right now we’re having some real movement forward with two of our eczema children using an oil blend right after a bath and before “greasing.” My fourteen year old daughter has seen healing in her feet that she hasn’t experienced in many years. Here is the blend I’m using: two teaspoons Grapeseed Oil (for the high ceramide content), one full dropper Chia (I measured this out at first, but one dropper is just about right), one full dropper Pomegranate, and three drops Sea Buckthorn. My plan is to eventually have a second oil blend so I can switch between the two, but this is doing so well for them! For my occlusive, I have made a “grease” that is basically the spoon oil recipe I’ve always made for my wood kitchen countertops, beeswax and instead of the mineral oil for wood I sub a grapeseed/avocado blend, no essential oils anywhere in this because of the open skin involved. I have a smaller tub of the grease with some zinc included for open weeping skin, to both stick to the area and dry it up. Anyway, sorry for the book in your comments section! You’d have to know my fourteen year old, who is a very dry and sarcastic little individual who does not get excited about ANYTHING, to know what a deep thrill it is to see her excited about these oils healing up her chopped-up looking feet with quarter-sized “flakes” and continual itchiness. We’re folks with a very tight budget, but hubby has agreed — it’s a line in our budget for the foreseeable future. Thanks again, ever so much.”

When I asked Kim for permission to share this with you, she replied,

Sure, share away! I do use some of your wonderful oils when I can, as well. My eight year old finds a 1% dilution of your Bulgarian Lavender and Balkan Heli in grapeseed oil to be very soothing when he’s itchy, but I only use that on unbroken skin, which sadly isn’t present when he’s flared. I have been amazed at the healing power of just the carriers! I’m looking forward to playing with others as well over the coming months — I made a long list of various oils and properties to plot out future buys.

And I am saluting Kim for doing the homework, investigating the properties of the carriers and the CO2, as well as the essential oils to see what will best meet her families needs. THANK YOU!

Anxiety:

An earlier message from Kim, a couple of months ago, that I never made time so share:

The sample you sent of your Reunite Synergy was just what was needed. My 15 year old daughter suffers from panic attacks where she feels like she can’t breathe. Complicating matters, she also has asthma so it is hard to sort issues. Last week, she had one of these episodes and came to me, saying that she’d taken her rescue inhaler “and still can’t breathe.” Since she sounded OK to me, I put a drop of diluted Reunite on her palm, then had her rub her palms together, then breathe out of her cupped palms. Within minutes — like 2 — I heard her in the other room giggling and chatting. This has NEVER happened before. We can usually “comfort her down,” but that takes a half hour or more, and she’s miserable. Our whole family, but particularly this daughter, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Some of you know the story behind our Reunité… I developed it for my own crippling anxiety. I could NOT stand up and speak in front of a crowd. Period. My knees shook, I shook all over, the lump in my throat wouldn’t let my voice out.. I was a panic stricken mess. In the late 90’s I was asked to fly to Michigan and address the Handcrafted Soap Guild Gathering…talking about Essential Oil Safety. I couldn’t do this. But I couldn’t NOT. I was terrified. When the afternoon came for my talk, I sat in the audience, listening to the speaker before me, (Jeanne Rose, I think!)…and inhaling from an aromatherapy amphora… with my Reunité. By the time they called my name… I took the podium and talked for an hour, as though I had been doing that for YEARS. Cool, calm, collected. That is the power of these oils, and this blend.

Stress / Insomnia:

Adriana Z had written asking which Lavender for helping her relax and sleep. We suggested the Mailette, and told her that at the time, it was what we were using in our Relax Synergy. A week later she wrote,

Hi Marge, I received the products and just wanted to follow up on this communication. I LOVED your recommendations. The Lavender Mailette is something I never smelled before. It mixed really well with my Clary Sage and Ylang and it turned out to be a great combination for when I get home from work.

Now the relaxing Synergy… well… that was something else. I had one of those days on Monday and put few drops in my diffuser before going to bed. I was a little jittery in the evening trying to process the events of the day and knew it was going to be hard falling asleep. I placed the diffuser on my night stand and just laid there quiet. I didn’t even see my husband coming to bed and he told me he went up about 30 minutes after. It’s magical, thank you so much for making such a great product.

Blessings,
Adriana

I LOVE success stories!

Quote of the Month

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower….”
—Albert Camus

And, of course, there is my very favorite line…“October’s bright blue
weather.”

Have a glorious October everyone!

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[A revisit to an archived blog from March 14. 2012]

Health Alert: Avoiding Synthetic Fragrances
This was the headline in a Consumer Reports newsletter in my mailbox years ago.  Now, I have been avoiding synthetic fragrances for decades.  But… for those who don’t know:

Consumer Reports issued a report criticizing the use of synthetic fragrances in the dryer. “Consumer Reports environmental experts say you should get nervous about smells that won’t quit, especially when you don’t know what you’re smelling. The product’s label just says “perfume dispersant, perfume and dyes.” The manufacturer, Procter & Gamble, told Consumer Reports that perfume ingredients are “proprietary information,” but it says that the chemicals they use are at safe levels.” I am sure we all find that reassuring.

The good news is that it is possible to add fragrance to your laundry, and know exactly what you are using!

This is what I do.  (Years ago a serious case of contact dermatitis landed me in the ER.  I was taught there to *never* use a “dryer sheet” to soften cloths,   to buy and use only the “FREE” detergents – unscented with no color –  and to put some white vinegar in the fabric softener cup of my Washing Machine.   Two washing machines later, I’m still following that advice.)

If I’m washing clothes that may have a bit of musty mold scent…  a generous splash of Palma Rosa or Eucalyptus citrodora (Lemon Eucalyptus) goes into the wash water with the detergent.  Anti fungal oils will freshen towels that perhaps sat, damp, too long.    If clothes are grease stained,  some Orange essential oil with the detergent will remove any greasy aroma. (Be aware though, that Orange Oil CAN discolor white clothes.)  LilBit slept too long on my quilt?  Fresh Aire synergy does a GREAT job at removing the scent of wet dog.

Other things that I do.  (For various reasons I can’t dry my clothes on a clothes line. Cold water washing and low heat drying is as “green” as I can be.)   There is NOTHING like the smell of sheets and pillowcases, blown dry on a line in the sun and freshly made up on your bed.

Lacking that option… I have two or three old washcloths (rags!) that sit on the dryer.  When a load of clothes I want to subtly scent goes in the dryer,  a few drops of essential oil or blend go on a rag, and it gets tossed in with the wet clothes.  Normally I am aiming at a VERY faint aroma, and use only a few drops of EO.  More essential oil, obviously, makes the scent of the clean and dried clothes a bit stronger.

Fresh Aire, again, for towels, and a lot of my clothes.  Linens?  Lavender, or, if I am feeling decadent and self indulgent..a drop of Rose.   A man’s laundry could be scented with Cedarwood or Sandalwood.