Hints & Tips

I love a good story, particularly when aromatics are the heroines. The truth behind the legend of the Queen of Hungary's Water is long lost to the mists of time, leaving behind intriguing whispers of a beautiful queen, reclusive monks and magical alchemists.

MAKE YOUR OWN

Ready in seconds and so easy to make, this will beat any face masks you can find on the market. It is guaranteed to refresh and lift dehydrated skin. Use for the face but also for any dry patches that can afflict other parts of the body.
This mask is ideal to use after a day in the sun, when ever the skin has been exposed to harsh a weather conditions, or as a routine treatment. It will leave the skin look refreshed, lifted and feeling velvety and soft.

Ingredients

• Honey is reputed to be a very valuable ingredient in skincare. It is anti bacterial and anti-inflammatory, heals cuts and wounds, soothes and calms sensitive, red skin and generally hydrating the skin.
• Vegetable oils: There is a wide selection to choose from
• Calendula (macerated) marigold flowers in sunflower cools, calms red, inflamed skin. Ideal for sunburns and eczema.
• Jojoba is balancing, equally useful to dry and oily skin types as its composition is close to that of sebum and it regulates its secretion.
• Rosehip, argan, camelia are ideal for scars and wrinkles
• carrot is rich in carotenoids
• avocado

To make your mask, blend
1 teaspoon of honey - semi solid
1 teaspoon of carrier oil of your choice

If you want to be more creative, you can make a blend with 2 or more vegetable oils. It will keep in a dark cool place for several months. You can use it for making subsequent face masks or as a moisturising face and body oil on a daily basis. Blend equal parts in a 30 or 50 ml bottle.

• Dry skin: equal parts of calendula and jojoba
• Sensitive skin: Calendula, Rosehip, camellia, jojoba
• Mature skin: Rosehip, camellia, Argan with a touch of seabuckthorn
• Nourishing face or massage oil: jojoba, carrot, avocado, camellia

Add 3 drops lemon, 2 drops geranium. For sensitive, aging skin, 1 drop of helichrysum can also be added.

Apply on the face avoiding the eyes. Leave for 15 mns. Remove with wet cotton pads. This mask leaves the skin feeling velvety and replenished. You can apply a moisturiser of your choice or leave as is.

Enjoy !

Easy recipe to try at home (ready in seconds !)

Ideal for dry and mature skins 
100 % natural 

 30ml apricot or evening primrose oil or even rosehip (depending on your skin type) 
 1 teaspoon clear runny honey 
 Enough finely ground almonds to make a paste 
 2 drops frankincense 
 2 drops mandarin 
 2 drops neroli 

Mix the oil and honey and add enough almonds to make a paste in a clean glass bowl. 
Add the essential oils. 

Apply to your face and neck area, avoiding the eyes. 
Leave on for twenty minutes while resting with eyes closed or reading a good book. 
If you don't have time or do not want to keep the mask for so long, you can just use it as a gentle exfoliator. Rub in circular motions over the face. The ground almond is soft enough as to not irritate the skin (which is important for dry and sensitive skins) and will gently rub off dead skin particles. 

Rinse off with warm water and follow with a hydrolat to tone. 
Finish with moisturiser or night cream of your choice. 

Any extra mask will last for three days if stored in the fridge. Cover with lid or cling film. 

Enjoy !

Tea Tree is reknown for its strong anti fungal actions. It is also one of the 2 essential oils that can be used neat, and with very good results to fight nail fungus.

Paint the affected nails with... a Q tip dipped in tea tree as if applying nail varnish. Leave to dry for a couple of minutes. Apply twice a day for 5 days. Have 2 days off and repeat for 4 to 5 weeks. The oil won't get rid of the signs of infection on the damaged nails but will prevent the fungus from spreading on the new growth. Once the nail has started to grow clear (4 to 5 weeks), stop the treatment. 

Do not apply on the skin surrounding the nail. Stop if stinging or redness appears on the skin.

How to go through the cold and shortest days of winter without feeling seasonal depression



As days shorten through the autumn until the winter equinox, our exposure to natural light is greatly diminished.  It has been thought that humans respond to the shorter days in the same way as animals do, seeking rest and sleep.  Equally the natural response and need of our body would be to work less and sleep more. The demands made by society on our life have not been considering such needs and will not allow them.  Could this be a trigger for feeling down, tired as soon as winter approaches ?



Due to the high level of photosynthesis that happened when reaching maturity during the longest days of the year, St John's herbs become appropriate during the winter months. They bring to our cells the vital energy of the sunlight they accumulated during their growth. Essential oils of Angelica and Yarrow have a tonifying and balancing action to restore calm and focus. Roman Chamomile loosens emotional ties. Fankincense brings relaxation and peace. Not to forget St John's wort, reknown against depression.



Use the essentail oils in a base of vegeable oil of 80% jojoba, 20% St John's wort macerated oil. Add 2 to 3% of any of the essential oils singly or blended (2% is about 15 drops to 30 ml). Angelica, yarrow and chamomile are strong and overpowering, add a touch of bergamot or orange to lighten the blend

Apply on the wrist and inhale at will.

Use as a massage oil along the back bone or the sole of the feet.

The following recipes are easy to make and make wonderful balms for the face and body.

They are only suggestions and ideas on how to mix butters and waxes with other vegetable and essential oils. You can play with the proportions given below to change the consistency of the product so that you can create exactly what works for you.
In a 100 ml jar

Melt the beeswax, cocoa and shea butter in a Bain Marie

Add the other vegetable and essential oils

Stir

Pour into jar and leave to cool

Enjoy
Body Butter for Mature Skin

(suitable for face and body) In a 100 ml jar

Shea butter 50 ml Cocoa butter 20 ml Rosehip 10 ml Macadamia 10 ml Borage 10 ml 10 drops frankincense 4 drops geranium 1 drops patchouli
Body Butter for dry skin

Suitable for face and body in a 100 ml jarShea butter 30 ml Calendula 30 ml Coconut / Monoi 20ml Cocoa butter 20 ml Beeswax 10 ml 10 drops palmarosa 7 drops geranium 4 drops bergamot 2 drops lavender 2 drops petitgrain or neroli
Tissue repair Ointment

(to massage over scarred and damaged tissue) In a 100 ml jarShea butter 50 ml Rosehip 30 ml Cocoa butter 10 ml Argan 10 ml 20 drops frankincense 10 drops lavender
Gentle exfoliating orange cleanser

Suitable for face and body In a 100 ml jarShea butter 30 ml Jojoba 20 ml Cocoa butter 10 ml Beeswax 10 ml 1/2 Teaspoon of oatmeal flakes or crushed wheatgerm 1.5 ml orange ess. oil 1.5 ml mandarin ess. oil
Lip Balm

In a 15ml jar

Beeswax 5 mlOlive / Rosehip / Calendula 14 ml Lemon essential oil 1 ml

To help smooth out and prevent fine lines around the eyes,

Below is a suggestion of a blend easy to make up.

4 ml Argan oil
2 ml Rosehip oil
2 ml Borage oil
2 ml Avocado oil

In a 10 ml rollette

Therapeutically

Argan oil is rich in anti-oxydant. It has extraordinary moisturising properties and leaves the skin remarkably smooth and soft.
Roship is ideal for skin repair and works wonders on scar tissue and wrinkles.
Borage is the richest oil in GLA and is ideal as a cell regenerator and anti-aging agent
Avocado is useful for fragile, dry, red skin.

How to use

Apply around the eyes, twice a day, massaging gently until the oil has sunk into the skin. It provides a good base before applying make-up especially for dry skin. It can also be applied to any areas where wrinkles may appear, where there is scaring or stretch marks.