Self Care & Staying on Track

using persuasive, habit-forming techniques from Scott Adams & James Clear It’s inevitable. Sooner or later, life happens and all those good habits you worked so hard to cultivate go straight out the window.  If stressful periods that derail my normal routine go on long enough, I find it incredibly difficult to get back on the […]

Making Herbal Oil Infusions

Infused oils are a foundational cornerstone of herbal-powered wellness products such as salves, creams, lotions, serums and other topical formulations. Oil acts as a solvent (aka menstruum) to capture oil-soluble plant constituents such as alkaloids, gums, resins, volatile oils, and certain oil-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), allowing the plant’s therapeutic compounds to be delivered to the skin.

Shades of “Natural”

Wellness products should never be toxic. Period. That being said, I also don’t believe you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater in the name of being “natural.” Natural is not black and white; it can be both good and bad.

Balm of Gilead Salve with Tallow & Infused Honey

Cottonwood buds are bursting with a wonderful, sticky red resin that many herbalists refer to as an “herbal band-aid.” Its anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain relieving) properties make it a top-notch first-aid salve that deserves a place in every herbalist’s medicine cabinet (and perhaps a place in their daily skincare routine!)

Styptic Nasal Spray with Yarrow, Horsetail & Calendula

This simple DIY recipe harnesses the styptic powers of horsetail and yarrow to create a soothing herbal nasal spray that should be helpful for anyone dealing with dry, raw sinuses that are susceptible to nosebleeds.

Healthified “Shake-n-Bake”

I keep a large jar of this stuff in my refrigerator at ALL times. It’s ridiculously versatile, and I use it often to jazz up sautéed vegetables, garnish casseroles, bread chicken, pork chops or fish. If you have an air fryer, this stuff works well as a breading to make “fried” chicken your kids will love.

Herbal Onion Soup Mix (with a SECRET Ingredient)

Onion soup mix is one of those versatile multitaskers that’s good for so much more than just soup. It’s fast and easy to make and tastes so much better than the store-bought stuff. No contest. And this version gets an extra boost of nutrition with an herbal “secret” ingredient…

Gentle Yucca Root Shaving Gel

Move over marshmallow root, I have a new herbal obsession. Meet the yucca root. It’s an herbal surfactant. How cool is that? The possibilities of projects with this stuff – from facial cleansers to scrubs to household cleaning products – are endless!

Soothing Repair Gel with Marshmallow Root & Chamomile

Continuing my love affair with the miraculous, mucila-GENIUS marshmallow root, here’s a recipe for a lovely, soothing facial gel with chamomile. Thanks to marshmallow root’s healing polysaccharides and chamomile’s soothing, anti-inflammatory properties, it also works well on sunburns and exceptionally dry, chapped skin.

The Great Gel Experiment

I wanted to make an eye gel incorporating my all-time favorite skincare ingredient, the marshmallow root, but to do that, I needed to understand more about the different natural polysaccharides at my disposal for creating a water-based gel. Which one will give me the thick, creamy, but lightweight texture I’m looking for? How much should I use? Which one feels the best on the skin? Inquiring minds want to know!