Skincare Question

Wendy Ashmun emailed, and suggested I might want to post this question in the Blog... so I am!

"Getting your book has gotten me thinking about making skincare stuff again. Specifically, body lotion or cream. My skin is quite dry and prone to eczema -- for a long time, I was using a homemade body butter of 2 parts shea butter and 1 part jojoba, but it tends to separate, and I think I'm ready to venture into the world of emulsions.

I did the research on emulsifiers and preservatives about 18 months ago and bought a bunch of e-wax, potassium sorbate, etc, which has been hanging out waiting for me to come back to it. I've settled on a super basic recipe to start, using just oil (I'm planning to use calendula-infused jojoba), water (or hydrosol), e-wax, essential oils, and a touch of the preservative.

Calendula is in full bloom at my community garden right now, and I think I will go pick a bunch of it, dry the petals, and infuse jojoba oil with them ahead of making it, so that gives me a bit of time to order more stuff for it. I think I will use some English chamomile and some high-alt lavender, and maybe a touch of geranium and rosewood because I love the scent.

So the real question I wrote to ask, is: What hydrosol would you recommend for this?

Feel free to take this discussion over to the blog, if you want!"

My first thought is, no matter what hydrosol you choose, to make sure you sterilize it first. I'd hold it at 175 degrees, covered, for 15 minutes. The hydrosols are a perfect feast for nasties in your lotion.

Having said that...there's a long list that could be helpful. I'm going to list the ones that come to mind, more or less in order.

• German Chamomile


• Roman Chamomile


• Calendula! (If that has worked well for you.)


• Lavender


• Helichrysum


• Owyhee (Artemesia)


• Blue Tansy (esp. if the eczema has an allergic component!)

I'm wondering if it might not be an idea to get a sampler and try some of the above on the eczema all by themselves at first, to see if any one or combination seems to really help.

These are the things that come to mind first; I'm hoping others will jump in.

Another thought. I'm not sure about infusing in Jojoba. I've not tried it; but I know we have sometimes had problems with some CO2s that will dissolve beautifully in most carrier oils...the structure of Jojoba...a liquid wax... can do some strange things. I'd hate to see you lose all your calendula! Has anyone else infused in Jojoba?

and yet another thought...other carrier oils that are suggested for eczema and/or psoriasis by various authorities: Avocado, Jojoba, and Peach Kernel oils, Borage Seed, Camellia, Cranberry Seed, Evening Primrose, Pomegranate Seed CO2 and Rose Hip Seed Oils.

Maybe another choice instead of the Jojoba if we get feedback that its not the best choice for infusing?

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

I *really* hate ironing!

I truly do. And I don't do it well...instead of turning out perfectly pressed shirts, blouses, whatever, mine always have pressed in creases. So, I'm a great believer in either perma-press clothes, or in the 'natural' look...after all, natural fibers shouldn't be perfect, right?

But I love having ironed sheets and pillowcases. So, for the last few years, I iron my pillowcases. It's worth the trouble to have that nice touch of luxury. (Years ago, in another lifetime and another continent I had a housekeeper who came in once a week. She left our home sparkling, and ironed everything she could find. Sheer luxury!) However...today I'm the ironer..so it's pillowcases only.

And, to add to the luxury, I want my pillowcases to smell of rose, or rose and sandalwood. Awhile ago I made a fabulous linen spray. 6 mls of Polysorbate 20, 2 mls of Rose Otto and 1 ml of Sandalwood essential oil, and distilled water - enough to fill a 4 ounce atomizer bottle. It was rich and lovely and the pillowcases smelled lovely for several days.

I used it all. I have no polysorbate at home, so I decided to fill the steam iron with rose hydrosol instead of distilled water. They are both distilled, right?

The first time I ironed all went well. Two weeks later - today... was another story.

Folks if you ever even think about putting a hydrosol in your steam iron, go take a walk around the block, a cold shower, a good book...anything to take your mind off that idea! Great globs of brown YUCK leaped out of the iron onto my pristine pillow cases. I suppose it will wash out. I hope it will wash out.

There are things I would rather shop for than a new iron. But it might be necessary.

It occurs to me that my mother used to spritz things she was going to iron with water, roll them tightly in a tube, wrap them in something??? (a plastic bag should work well) long enough for the moisture to permeate the fabric, and then iron with a hot iron.

Maybe spritzing them with the rose hydrosol will protect my iron next time?

(I've always been afraid to mist the linens with my linen spray and then iron...don't know if Polysorbate takes to extreme heat well.)

At any rate... there are a zillion uses for our lovely Rose Hydrosol. Filling your steam iron is not one of them!

Hydrosol - Top Ten

At some point someone suggested that we do some "top ten" lists for the blog or the newsletter. Easiest data to analyze has been the Hydrosols we offer. Now, the following list is based purely on items sold via our shopping cart. It doesn't include the bulk orders that some folks enter, so the data is skewed. It only includes the 4 ounce atomizer bottles. This is the "top selling" hydrosol list from January until the end of May, 2008

Rose
Helichrysum
Neroli
Witch Hazel
Frankincense
Tea Tree
Melissa
Roman Chamomile
Calendula
Cistus

I find that fascinating! The second best selling hydrosol is also the most expensive that we offer. Rose, one expects. I doubt there's anyone in the world who hasn't heard of "Rose Water." But the only reason for Helichrysum Hydrosol's popularity is its amazing effectiveness!

(If I were to have run the stats for just this week, our brand new Patchouli hydrosol would have headed the list. I'm arranging to bring in more from the producer as soon as she has time to distill it!)

And I wonder why Lavender Hydrosol isn't on the list? Perhaps because we offer two different ones, and that confuses people? Or because I am honest enough to state that Lavender Hydrosols don't smell as good as the essential oil. It was years before I found out the reason for the difference. Because the linalyl acetate normally found in the Essential Oil is not found in the hydrosol!

I suspect now that summer seems to be upon us that Peppermint Hydrosol will soar to the top of the list. With temperatures already in the high 90's here in Middle Tennessee I'm dreading what July and August will bring. I know of no more cooling refresher than a splash of Peppermint hydrosol in a glass of water, or a spritz of it as a body spray.