Caring for the Care Givers

Friends we've not met yet...  Laura is one of them.  We have been corresponding since at least 1998...she's been using our oils, and sharing her life and the healing work she does with us.  Laura is a massage therapist and Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner...a form of acupressure and energy work. And a Rose Lover.  When we first met she was living and working in Virginia...but like most transplanted New Englanders, she got home sick and found her way back to Eastern Massachusetts. 

Over the years she has probably bought some of every Rose specimen we've offered.  One of her first purchases was some Rose Absolute, back in the 90's...she loved it.  I remember when we were able to find some Rosa Alba in 2005 - Laura was the first to order.   A true Rose lover.

This week she seized the opportunity on the 15th to order a Rose Quartz Amulet for herself, and commented with the order: "Hi Marge! It's apple picking time up here in New England!

I also want you to know that my patients are benefitting from my use of your wonderful oils. I felt that I needed the rose quartz to extend the healing to myself. Love to you!"

 

I was struck by the 'extend the healing to myself"...  Laura is a healer by nature, and currently working in a Hospice...emotionally very draining work. We chatted some about Autumn in New England, and she added the comment "Really looking forward to my rose quartz--I have used rose oil for so long as a way to care for my heart, and I think the rose quartz will add something special."

 

And I've been pondering ever since the need for the healers and care givers to give themselves the care and nurturing that they give their patients.

And thinking how Rose is the oil for healing women's hearts, and spirits....and those who believe in the healing powers of gemstones say that Rose Quartz is the heart healer.

One strong suggestion, tho....if you are planning on putting a few drops of your favorite Rose in a Rose Quartz amulet...do not use Rose Absolute.  Unlike distilled Rose Otto or Rosa Alba, Rose Absolute is deep rusty orange.  My pale pink Rose Quartz amulet has a permanent orange stain at the base. Quartz, unlike some other crystals, is absorbent.  

Laura's Rose Amulet is en route by now...as I sit here writing, I wish I had thought to include a packet or two of our Rose Bliss Bath...my favorite heart and soul healer.

 

Lavender Lotion for Alzheimers

We just finished completing what felt like a thousand pages of paperwork to be listed as a Federal Contractor.  Did I want to become a federal contractor? Not especially.  But do I want to supply products to a VA hospital's hospice? You betcha.   

We were requested to supply something that I hadn't thought of - a lavender lotion.  For use with patients with Alzheimers and Dementia.  Now, there are many small studies and case studies that indicate the low level use of Lavender essential oil can be effective in calming agitation as well as improving the quality of sleep in patients with various forms of dementia, including Alzheimers.  And for a mostly elderly population, of course the use of a hand lotion containing Lavender Essential Oil would be an effective delivery method.

As always, we were delighted to be able to help meet the needs of a Hospice; but then we started thinking.  If we are going to be making small quantities of Lavender lotion for a client... would Lavender Silk Lotion be something our customers could find a use for?  Oh, I think so... ;)

Look for it in March, perhaps... a precursor to Springtime.  Right now, in the middle of the worst winter weather we've experienced in years, we find ourselves focussing on the SERIOUS skin creams... Calendula Repair, Radiance, etc.  But with the warmer weather, a lighter lotion will be more appropriate, and I'm thinking of all the uses... it would ease sunburn or windburn from too much time in the fresh air,  what a wonderful way to ease yourself into sleep...an afterbath anointing with relaxing Lavender Silk.  Light enough to use for a toddler's back rub when he's too wound up to relax into slumber.  Ah yes...  Lavender Silk will be a Springtime delight.

Q & A: Organic?

We frequently are asked "Are your oils Organic?"

My standard answer is "The horticultural status of each oil is listed as part of its description. Many are organic, many are ethically wild-crafted, some are conventionally farmed."

But there is, in truth, much more involved than that.

Many of our oils are what can only be described as "organically grown, not certified." There are MANY small "artisan distillers" who sell all of their product, often prior to harvest, and have neither the financial means nor the free time to jump through all of the administrative hoops that are required to obtain any one of the multitude of organic certifications. Do they meet the criteria? I believe so.

An example: For several years we have offered a French Lavender Mailette. For three years we described it as "In Conversion"... ie, the producer was in the midst of the five year process of getting his fields certified. Today we can describe it as "Organic"... he received the certification.

We will soon be bringing in another French Lavender, grown, harvested and distilled by a personal friend. He is not about to jump through all the hoops required for certification in the EU.
His will be marked "organic, not certified" for lack of a better term.

We have one supplier who offers "certified non sprayed" citrus oils... and some "certified organic"... and another who has never used any pesticide sprays or synthetics... but refuses to even think about getting certified. I try to mark the oils whose certification I have copies of as "certified organic" or EcoCert, or whatever is appropriate.

There are parts of the world that produce oils free of pesticides, free of chemical fertilizers, free of all "non-traditional" or chemical additives. No GMO seeds, no modern chemistry at all. Some growers in these countries have had the resources to become certified. Others do not.

There are other factors involved, as well. One can have a certified organic, poorly distilled oil. The result, of course, is a certified organic mediocre product. I'd rather a perfectly distilled uncertified, or even conventionally farmed product.

Another factor. As stated above, I do have the organic certificates from many of our producers. Will I share them? Not any more. We used to; because some of our manufacturing clients require the certification. A few years ago a fairly well known "name" in our industry asked for a huge bulk quote. She agreed to our pricing, but requested the certificates in advance. I sent them all. The huge order never materialized. But she soon started offering the same list of oils on her website. She quite obviously used the certificates to find my suppliers, and placed her order directly. That was the year we stopped offering the certifications we have on file.

Our descriptions describe the status of the oil as we received it from the producer. Nature's Gift lacks the free time (or the interest!) to go through all of the red tape required to become an organically certified reseller. I have two friends (importers, much larger than we are) who have either completed the process or are in the middle of it. After hearing their adventures in the process, it is not something we plan to undertake.

Hope all of this makes some sense, and adds some clarity to what can be confusing terminology.

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.

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!

Cistus? Labdanum? aha!

I love it when something I've never quite been able to wrap my brain around suddenly makes sense. The "Aha Moment"

For years I just rather assumed that Cistus Essential Oil was distilled from the leaves of the RockRose plant (cistus ladinifer). and that Labdanum absolute was solvent extracted from the same botanical. Or, maybe that cistus essential oil was distilled from the resin of the above named plant, and the absolute from the same substance.

Until I realized that my producer offered not only Cistus essential oil AND Labdanum Absolute but also a Cistus Absolute. Ooooooooooops. That totally confused me.

Obviously Cistus Absolute and Labdanum absolute weren't the same thing (since there is quite a difference in price.) but??? confusion reigned supreme.

Finally, after much material being sent me, and many questions back and forth by email, I finally wrapped my brain around it.

The shrub commonly known as Rock Rose (but known as "Christ's Tears" in Andalusia because of it's five petalled flower, with deep purple spots on each petal, near the center of the blossom) produces a thick, resinous exhudate from the leaves (actually from the whole plant, but mostly from the leaves.) This aromatic resin (called Labdanum!) protects the plant from evaporation.

In ancient times, when goats fed on the leaves of the Cistus shrub, the resin stuck to their beards and was combed out. (Surely they don't still collect it that way?)

Cistus Essential Oil is produced by steam distillation of the leaves of the shrub. That makes sense. Yield, by the way, is quite low, normally less than 1% of the weight of the botanical.

but the resin? the absolute? If the essential oil is distilled from the leaves, where does the resin come from? and the absolute? Cistus Absolute is extracted from the leaves. Okay...what is the difference between Cistus Absolute and Labdanum Absolute. Still scratching my head here.

The leaves of the plant (obviously not the same leaves that have been steam distilled to produce the oil!) are soaked in warm carbonated water. Since carbonated water is fairly acidic, the acid solution causes the raw resinoid to separate from the leaves, so that it may be collected from the water bath.

This raw resinoid is then washed with alcohol and concentrated to form what is known as Labdanum Resin. (Wonderfully aromatic stuff, almost solid, and totally impossible to dissolve in carrier oil. I know. We tried.)

This resin is far more concentrated than the essential oil derived from the leaves.

The resin is further processed (washed with Ethanol) to produce the Absolute, which, fortunately for us, is soluble in carrier oil. AH... Cistus is from the leaves, which produce *some* resin. Labdanum is the resin itself, and Labdanum Absolute is extracted from the resin itself. Which is why it is so much more aromatic, more intense.

There may be some other natural botanical which gives the amber note found in the various cistus products, but I've not encountered any.

Cistus Essential Oil is sweetly balsamic, with amber notes. Our Labdanum absolute, on the other hand, is deeper, darker, almost animalic. It would be superb in any leather blend, add depth to amber blends, and, of course, is the basic necessity for any chypre based accords for the perfumers.

I am so glad I finally got that one straight!

Blending with Tabac - Tobacco Absolute

Recently on the Botanical Perfumery list at Yahoo someone asked about blending a Tobacco scent...

Eva Marie Lind was gracious enough to send in several suggestions, and gave me permission to share them:

I would try working with some of the notes that Ernest Daltroff made famous in Caron Tabac Blond - orris,vetiver, cedar, patchouli, vanilla, ambergris, musk?

However oftentimes I find 'leather' is the overlapping theme to creating tobacco notes and therein many of the oils overlap/are similar in selection ... labdanum,cedar (moroccan and also virginiana), costus, mastic & calamus (even though there are now some stringencies with these essences) tonka, spikenard, patchouli ... and to add in a bit of the spicy-smokey-floral inference,neroli & ylang ylang (generally the first.)

Also remember that there needs to be a bit of slippery citrus note -not too sweet and not too sour - sweet orange, lemon -even a bit of bergamot could have a nice relationship. Birch tar ~ adding in some tonka, opoponax ... and yes, even some vetiver - and I might even work in a smidge of tuberose if it is spicy and deep enough ~definitely will need a shaving of vanilla, however that could also be utilized through benzoin, styrax ... ? ~em

Interesting ideas, and I thank her for sharing her experience!

Eucalyptus Citriodora - Antifungal

The latest issue of the Intl. Journal of Essential Oil Therapeutics arrived earlier this week. I sometimes get discouraged, because all too often the research articles printed have to do with rare and exotic oils that are not commercially available. This issue, though, has an interesting article about Euc. Citriodora (Lemon Eucalyptus.)

I've always known that Euc. Citriodora was a strong anti-fungal agent, and recommended it for this purpose. A research article shows that Euc. Citriodora is not only powerful against most "conventional" fungi, but it is even more powerful when used (in the laboratory!) against the newer drug resistant mutants of Candida.

Now, if the authors had not suggested that isolating "the active phytoceuticals from the whole oil may provide a valuable antimicrobial agent for counteracting fungal and drug resistant infections" I'd have been happier. I am not a chemist, but it seems to me that if big pharma isolates the one (or more) phytochemicals that give Euc. Citriodora its powerful anti-fungal effect, the possibility of the drug resistant strains becoming resistant to this valuable natural anti-fungal increases.

Emotional effects of Tuberose

And while we are quoting... from the same source:

Tuberose has a relaxing and sensuous effect and decreases depression and increases happiness and is used to enhance romantic moments. It caused a decrease in depression, reinforcing its positive mood swings.

No wonder both these oils are so beloved by perfumers!

Read more about our exotic Indian Tuberose Absolute here.

Osmanthus and mood

Quoting from "Aromatherapy Science a guide for healthcare professionals" by Maria Lis-Balchin who refers to a study between the Sense of Smell Institute regarding the effects of fragrance on mood. 'Osmanthus is stimulating and helps to reduce apathy and depression; it is highly coveted in China and Japan, with its floral/fruity smell somewhat like apricot, and showed an increase in happiness, with a decrease in all the negative mood factors."

Liquid sunshine indeed! Read more about our Osmanthus absolute here.

Rose de Mai (Rosa Centifolia)

My friend Sylvie, from Grasse, the world's perfume capitol, sometimes sends me photos. This last week she sent some of the famous "Rose de Mai"... Rosa centifolia, gathered from a friend's garden.


Most of you know I love all true Rose oils and absolutes, Bulgarian, Turkish, hydrodistilled or solvent extracted... centifolia or damascena; I'm not too proud to love them all. But the Rose de Mai is just SPECIAL... "Rosa centifolia"...the hundred petal rose.



I came across a wonderful description of the production of our Rose de Mai (yes, ours is also from Pegomas...the same Absolute Chanel uses!) at Jessica's 1000flowers blog.


Memo to me...I have to find some of the pictures Sylvie sent me of the Jasmine fields in Grasse, as well!

Jasmine Absolute - pricing and availability problems

We were restocking some of our Indian oils and absolutes, and received the following information from our producer (when we went through a bit of "sticker shock" at the cost of his beautiful Jasmines!)

"Jasmine : Pls note the current market scenario for Jasmine both Sambac & Grandiflorum:
Jasmine Grandiflorum Jasmine Sambac

As you all know that South India is the major producer for Jasmine flowers. This year due to climatic conditions, the production of flowers was less compared to previous years. These flowers are not used only for processing but also for making garlands & other needs. Actually after satisfying the local market needs, the surplus of flowers is normally taken for processing so that the cost of concrete & absolute is competitive. But since the production of flower itself is very less, a limited quantity of flowers is available for processing.

These are obtained after paying very high cost. Much above $ 1 per Kilo which is our highest bench mark for processing.

Also this year, demand of Jasmine concretes & absolutes is much higher than expected whereas the supply is less so there is scarcity of material in the market.

Jasmine Grandiflorum Bud Jasmine Sambac Bud

The flower suppliers have increased their cost for flowers & since the flowers i.e. raw material is procured at high rate, the price for the resultant product i.e. Concrete has increased directly.

The situation is also worsen due to less availability of labor in the production area because of migration of literate people from the production area to metro cities in search of better Job Opportunities so the limited labor available there have more demand & thus they have increased their labor cost from $ 2 per day till last year to $ 3 per day.

The overall impact of all these factors has affected the cost of Concrete & absolute & cost of the same have already increased. We would like to inform you all that looking at the current scenario, if the situation remains the same, there is possibility of further increase in the cost of Concrete & Absolute in near future.

We want you all to make sure that you have sufficient stock of the material to cover your requirement so that you don't have to pay very higher price later this year & perhaps you may not be able to procure the material after paying high cost also."

Side note from our website:8000 individual blossoms (carefully hand picked) are required to produce one gram (approx one ml) of absolute. No bruised flowers may be used for extraction, since their aroma is ruined by bruising or mishandling.

I'm glad that we still have a fair amount of our Jasmine Auriculatum left from last year. I really couldn't justify this year's pricing for that rare and exotic specimen!