Bloggers Only Special Sale

On Ground Hog day, February 2nd, we wait and see if the famous Pennsylvania Groundhog (whose name I can neither spell nor pronounce) sees his shadow.

If he doesn't see his shadow, he will come out of his den, and winter will be over. If he sees his shadow, he'll retreat to his den, and we will have another six weeks of wintery weather.

In honor of Punxsutawney Phil, we are doing a special sale on Groundhog Day. On Monday, February 2nd, at checkout enter the promotional code "shadow" (without the quotation marks), press "apply" and receive 10% off almost all our normal retail prices. Kits, special books, bulk products are not included. Please make sure you see the discount reflected on your screen, we can not go back and apply it retroactively.

Happy shopping, whether Phil sees his shadow or not.

Lost and Found - Sandalwood Tamil 2002

I was looking for something in my home "workroom." Didn't find what I was looking for, but came across something worth far more. Several ounces of our Sandalwood Tamil 2002, distilled from heartwood only. It has been out of stock for years.

When we first procured it, in 2002, this is what I wrote on the website:

"Sandalwood-Tamil-2002 - Even the best Sandalwoods need at least two years after distillation to mellow and ripen. We have procured what we call our "investment sandalwood"... fresh from the still of a master distiller, distilled from the heartwood of a tree over five decades old, with a distillation time measured in weeks, not days, this Sandalwood oil is pleasant today. It is extraordinarily sweet, and has good staying power in blends. Given time to mature a bit it will develop the complexity that a good Sandalwood should have. In five years it will be splendid. In twenty or forty years, it will be beyond belief...something to leave in your will to your grandchildren. Anne has already tucked some away for her six year old's 21st birthday and for his wedding. Now, we can age it for you, and increase the price as it ages. Or you can invest in some at this bargain price and put it way for safekeeping. "

Well, I have inadvertantly aged it for you. It is no longer bargain priced.
I very carefully wiped a THICK layer of dust off the bottle, unsealed it, and said "ahhhhhhh"

It will be featured on our February "New and Specials" page, when I have time to get that written. Needless to say, quantities will be VERY limited!

"Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils?"

At least once a week someone will email me asking "Are your oils Therapeutic Grade? You don't state that on the website." My instinct is to ask "What do you mean by "Therapeutic Grade?" Asking the question tends to drive away the correspondent, though.

To answer that question, first you must define what is meant by "Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils" What does it really mean? There is no organization that oversees therapeutic quality so the definition is really up for grabs. It can be what you make it. This is the reason that at Nature's Gift we do not make the claim that our oils are "Therapeutic Grade" since, in this country, the term is meaningless, and often used as just marketing hype. Any vendor can claim that their oils are "Therapeutic Grade" since there is no definition of the term.

This is just the start of what is either a glorious rant, or a really informative page... read the rest here.

Top 10 list - Hydrosols

Our shopping cart will do an export of products ordered through the cart and paid for by credit card. Based on this limitation, offline orders, phone orders, and bulk hydrosols/hydrolats (since they aren't listed in the cart) aren't counted. But the figures are a fair assessment of what our retail clients are buying. (The small manufacturers who may buy 32 ounces of, let's say Cistus Hydrosol for an anti-aging face cream are not reflected, of course.) I found some of the results interesting, and thought you might too:

10: Rose Alba - This one rather surprised me. Perhaps it shouldn't though, it just smells so lovely. A must have for any true rose lover.

9: Lavender Mailette - Since Lavender Hydrosol is so often recommended as an "all purpose" toner I would have thought it would rank higher. Perhaps because we offer two Lavender Hydrolats people are confused?

8: Tea Tree Hydrosol - Who would have thought? I think people are using it for acne? And, of course, its sweetly herbal scent makes it a true unisex toner.

7. Melissa Hydrolat - Great for oily skin, refreshing. Further research shows we sell more of this one during the summer months. That makes perfect sense to me.

6: Roman Chamomile Hydrosol - Again, not surprising. One of our more reasonably priced hydrosols, and a nice anti-inflammatory. Safe and effective for use on babies, as well.

5: Frankincense Hydrosol - whoda thunk? But it is wonderful for delicate and sensitive skin. Perhaps Christi's writing about it has caught your attention?

4: Neroli - One of my personal favorites. Good for all skin types, especially oily or combination skin; richly aromatic, great for anxiety, and one of our clients says it helps fade thread veins. Lots of good client feedback on this one.

3: WitchHazel - our bargain priced hydrosol - not surprising, based on its extremely low price - for those who don't want alcohol in their skincare products.

2: Rose - Is there anyone in the world who has not heard of Rose water? Of course this is the best known of our hydrosols.

and for our most popular - best selling hydrosol:

1. Helichrysum Hydrosol! In spite of its rarity and high cost, year in and year out, when we can keep it in stock, Helichrysum Hydrosol remains our most popular hydrolat - hydrosol.

And there you have it.

some surprises (for me, at least) We go through a lot of Cistus Hydrosol, but more often in bulk. I would have thought Patchouli would have listed higher than it did. And if I had combined the Lavender Buena Vista and Lavender Mailette totals the Lavender waters together would have ranked 6th - behind Frankincense, but above Roman Chamomile

Working with THICK essential oils

No, I'm not going to give the directions. I'm going to lead you to them.

A few days ago my friend Wendy, of Aromaweb, asked if we could do an "email interview" for an info article she was adding to her website. The topic was, of course, working with the very thick, semi-solid oils, absolutes and CO2 extracts. She emailed me the link to the article today, and I'm just honored and delighted to be quoted.

She also featured the article in her blog, Aromatalk.

Have you checked the list of 'favorite blogs' we posted? Aromatalk leads the list. (Of course, the list is alphabetical, but still ;)

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Days 11 and 12

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, Mark Wiesman of Omaha was chosen to receive a jar of our Sandalwood Shave Cream. (mmmm he's going to smell yummy!)

And for the 12th day of Christmas, we are sending Kat Mundell, of Oak Ridge NJ, a dozen drummers drumming! No... in reality Kat will receive a four ounce jar of our Calendula Repair Cream, to keep her hands soft and smooth during the winter weather.

Thanks to all of our "giftees" (and for all those who weren't chosen... there was, after all, only one gift per day!) for keeping the order desk busy while we were closed for inventory.

Now we have reopened, and are busily packing and shipping orders. There are new specials online on our Specials page, and I need to write a newsletter to announce them.

After the holidays, I always find it hard to get back to everyday reality. Do you?

The 10th Day of Christmas

The days are winding down. By ordering on Saturday, January 3rd, the 10th day of Christmas, Sheryl Goldberg of Ithaca NY won a Cleopatra's Secret Gift/Travel Set.

Hope you enjoy it, Sheryl!

The Ninth Day of Christmas -

By ordering on January 2nd, the 9th day of Christmas, Robyn Holder of Anaheim CA will be receiving a copy of Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit, by Gabriel Mojay.

Happy New Year, Robyn!

Safer Driving with Aromatherapy

Recent Research Article I found:

Description
The scent of peppermint or cinnamon in your car might make your morning commute less frustrating and you more alert when behind the wheel. That's according to the results of a recent study led by Dr. Bryan Raudenbush.

Newswise ­ The scent of peppermint or cinnamon in your car might make your morning commute less frustrating and you more alert when behind the wheel. That's according to the results of a recent study led by Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, an associate professor of psychology at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV. According to the study drivers demonstrated decreased levels of frustration, anxiety and fatigue when exposed to peppermint and cinnamon scents. The study also revealed that drivers were more alert.

The results of the study, Effects Of Odor Administration On Driving Performance, Safety, Alertness, And Fatigue, were presented at the recent Association for Chemical Reception Sciences Conference in Sarasota, FL.

The study builds on Raudenbush's past research, which indicated the odors of peppermint and cinnamon enhance motivation, performance, and alertness, decrease fatigue, and serve as central nervous system stimulants.

"Given these results, it is reasonable to expect that the presentation of peppermint or cinnamon odor while driving may produce a more alert and conscientious driver, and minimize the fatigue associated with prolonged driving," says Raudenbush.

In the present study, participants were monitored during stimulated driving under three odor conditions (peppermint, cinnamon, non-odor control). Odors were added to low flow oxygen (1.3L/min) via an oxygen concentrator and presented at the rate of 30 seconds every 15 minutes. Subjective measures of cognitive performance, wakefulness, mood, and workload were also assessed.

"In general, prolonged driving led to increased anger, fatigue, and physical demand, and decreased vigor. However, fatigue ratings were decreased in the cinnamon condition. Both cinnamon and peppermint administration led to increased ratings of alertness in comparison to the no-odor control condition over the course of the driving scenario. Periodic administration of these odors over long term driving may prove beneficial in maintaining alertness and decreasing highway accidents and fatalities," says Raudenbush.

Results Summary:
· Peppermint is associated with decreased anxiety while driving.
· Peppermint is associated with decreased fatigue while driving.
· Peppermint and cinnamon are associated with decreased driving frustration.
· Peppermint and cinnamon are associated with decreased temporal demand while driving.
· Peppermint and cinnamon are associated with greater levels of driving alertness.
This research was supported by grants from NSF and NASA.

Article found at www.newswise.com

Seems to me this is yet another indicator of the value of our Car Scenter Diffuser

Grandma's Brag Page

A lot of you remember the excitement almost a year ago when my two sons presented me with two grandsons within two weeks of each other. We posted baby pictures of the newborne cousins on the website. This Christmas we were able to get all six of the grands together for a long visit. Here's a shot of the two cousins. Leif's chosen toy of the evening was Grandma's bottle of water. Jack's chosen toy was Leif!

Lest I be accused of favoritism...Jack's brother Josh (who will be 4 in April) and Leif's big sister Chelsea are here too.

And on New Year's Day

The Eighth Day of Christmas, Diane Campbell, of Reno NV, will be receiving a Black Lacquer Box, from India. I think it will intrigue her students!

Happy New Year, Diane!

Days 6 and 7 and Happy New Year

Day 6 - December 30th - where has this year GONE? Well, where-ever the year has flown, Karen Tappin, founder of Karen's Body Beautiful in Brooklyn NY will receive a Nature's Gift Gift Certificate.

And to end the year, on New Year's Eve, Kris Wiechman, of San Diego, placed the order that will receive a very special one of a kind amphora. Enjoy!