The spray was based on essential oils that calm children and are safe for them, such as [...]]]> Quite a few years ago, I found a lovely website written by a therapist, I think. On this site was a great recipe for a room spray, designed to ward off monsters and other fears children have.

The spray was based on essential oils that calm children and are safe for them, such as lavender and mandarin

I was immediately taken with this idea and have used it often in our house with my own boys.

I want to share the recipe with you, but first, I have noticed that there is a proliferation of sites and blogs around sharing this recipe, but no one credits the original source.

And I can’t find her, anywhere!

I know that recipes can’t be copyrighted, but this was such an ingenious idea, I think it’s unfair to claim it as my own — though I wish I had thought of it. It’s so brilliant, on so many levels!

So, if, by any small chance, anyone reads this and knows the woman whose idea this is, please let me know!

On to the ingeniousness:

Kids are often afraid of the dark. Of monsters, things under the bed or in the closet, a general weird feeling to a room. Our goal is to help reassure them, but we also don’t want to discount their genuine feelings.

Well, by making a room spray that will spray away whatever they are afraid of, we can calm them and still acknowledge their fears (not discount them).

I called my latest: All Purpose Go Away Spray, because my son couldn’t articulate what exactly he was afraid of, just a general creepiness at night.

The recipe follows:

1 spray bottle (make sure it mists)
water
2 drops vanilla
3 drops lavender
1 drop mandarin

And, by the way, I began to use this as a body spray because I liked the way it smelled so much!!

You can play around with the scent, using a combination of mild, calming essential oils that your child likes.

Good luck, and let me know how it works for you!!

And I know that genetics, hormones, etc. have a lot to do with the severity of your acne. My mom suffered horribly from acne when she was [...]]]> When you’re suffering from acne, I’m sure the last thing you want to hear is something that can only be heard of as a judgement on your lifestyle.

And I know that genetics, hormones, etc. have a lot to do with the severity of your acne. My mom suffered horribly from acne when she was young, and was diligent with me when I was a teenager. I had access to Retin A when I was 15 and 16 (and that was a long time ago, and all I had was a little sprinkling of pimples.

Anyway, before you do anything else, or spend a ton of money on special products, make sure you are controlling the things you can control: diet, exercise, and (hopefully) sleep.

Stress is another one, but we can’t always control that one.

If you are interested in ways to control stress, though, I do recommend mindfulness practice.

But when you need something to clear up your acne, what should you turn to? Obviously, I am biased toward essential oils.

I’ve just posted two of my favorite (and newly improved) recipes for facial toners that can help your acne.

One uses witch hazel, the other uses (of all things) lettuce leaves.

Good Luck!

I got bored.

But here is my update: I honestly think you can get excellent results with essential oils. I am using pomegranate, rose and lavender, about 3 times a [...]]]> It’s been a couple of days since I posted about my attempts to use essential oils instead of expensive anti wrinkle cream for my face.

I got bored.

But here is my update: I honestly think you can get excellent results with essential oils. I am using pomegranate, rose and lavender, about 3 times a day.

I was using Fresh and Eminence anti wrinkle creams and eye wrinkle cream. At this point, a half a week in, I feel that using pure essential oils is perhaps a better choice. I think the only drawback is that they don’t absorb into my skin as quickly, but that is a small price to pay. As I mentioned, the Weleda Essential Body Oils Kit cost me $18, and then I found it on Amazon for less than $5. Insane.

So, here I am on Monday afternoon : )

Axe-like wrinkle still there, but I think theres improvement

Weleda Essential Body Oil Kit:

I am intrigued, though. I ran out of my expensive anti wrinkle cream for my face and decided to try cheap and dirty Weleda Body Oil instead.

As far as anti wrinkle face creams go, I had been super happy with Fresh and Eminence products. But they are expensive.

[...]]]> Exciting, I know.

I am intrigued, though. I ran out of my expensive anti wrinkle cream for my face and decided to try cheap and dirty Weleda Body Oil instead.

As far as anti wrinkle face creams go, I had been super happy with Fresh and Eminence products. But they are expensive.


What I am going to try, for a couple weeks, is a combination of the Weleda and a homemade eye wrinkle cream.

I’ll take a picture of my horrid axe-scar-like- wrinkle in the center of my forehead and see if there is any improvement.

Here I am this morning:

Axe-Scar Wrinkle still there....

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

For the record, I bought the Weleda Essential Body Oils Kit for about $18 and was thrilled. Then, when looking for a link for this post, noticed it is less than $5 at Amazon!!!

There I was, grocery [...]]]> What are the best anti aging skin care products, anyway?


I recently ran out of my Fresh and Eminence and was a bit stuck. Those brands are expensive, and I just couldn’t justify spending that kind of money on my face right now.

There I was, grocery shopping. I remembered how well Weleda Calendula Baby Cream had worked when I had had a bad sun burn last year. I decided to try out the Weleda Essential Body Oils Kit & use it as my anti wrinkle face cream. I know. Bold move.

But desperation is the mother of invention, or whatever. Recently, my eldest son, bless him, told me it looked like I had been cut between the eyes with an axe.

Here is the proof that he is right:

Notice large scar-like wrinkle between the eyes

I took this photo on the day I bought the Weleda Essential Body Oils Kit. That would have been Wednesday. I already feel like that axe scar thing on my forehead looks better.

This stuff also smells nice, and is sooo cheap. For anti wrinkle cream, I think it’s up there in the top 5 skin care products I have ever used.

Just thought I’d share. I paid nearly $18.00 for it, but found it on Amazon for less than $5. Unbelievable.

The dead sea salts have what some feel is the perfect therapeutic blend of minerals. It consists mostly of Chloride and [...]]]> The other night I decided to have a dead sea salt bath, and wanted a bit of an extra touch so I added an essential oil blend on the spur of the moment.

The dead sea salts have what some feel is the perfect therapeutic blend of minerals. It consists mostly of Chloride and Bromide, but also has its fair share of calcium, magnesium and potassium. These minerals in the right balance are calming, muscle relaxing, and can help with wrinkles. They are also good for your hair.

But I digress.

The blend I made up was frankincense, clary sage, and ylang-ylang. Wow. The balance was important. Too much frankincense and the whole bath smelled way too earthy. But the ylang-ylang (about 15 drops) really seemed to balance the frankincense and add the perfect flowery, euphoric touch to it.

One huge benefit to adding essential oils to the bath is that you can experiment as you go. I added way too much frankincense at first, but was able to blend in the clary sage and ylang-ylang as I bathed to get the exact scent I wanted.

Here are more of my ramblings on bathing with essential oils. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get my new recipes up, and to inspire you to create your own magic.

I am (for some unknown reason) redoing that original web site, and in the process I [...]]]> When I wrote my original site a couple years ago, One thing I was sure of were my list of top 5 essential oils. You can see my original article, lovingly archived by the Way Back Machine.

I am (for some unknown reason) redoing that original web site, and in the process I am occasionally wondering what-in-the-hell-I-was-thinking when I wrote the original pages.

The top 5 oils is a case in point.

I am not so sure that I would include Eucalyptus, for example. And, even though I don’t enjoy the way it smells, I don’t think a starter kit of essential oils should be complete without oregano. And what about geranium???

You get the idea.

In fact, I haven’t written my new top 5 article quite yet. I can’t decide.

In the process of thinking about which oils really are essential, considering stuff like bath oil making, soapmaking, essential oils for house cleaning and skin care, etc, I came across this great article by Dr. Mercola from way back in 2004. I think he makes some great choices, though I am not sure I would say cedar essential oil is essential. And, though he makes note of the fact that sandalwood is endangered, which is great, I don’t agree that it is essential any longer. It is way too expensive, and there are too many issues with it’s sustainability. It’s an incredible oil, but you can easily do without it.

I’m looking forward to getting this site back up and running!