Activities

Making your own herbal beauty bath is a wonderful and rewarding experience. Tied in pretty muslin bags they make lovely natural gifts.

Method: Tie 1/2 cup or more of a mixture of any of the herbs listed below into a wash cloth or a small muslin bag and fasten this herb bag to the spout of your tub so that the hot water runs directly through it. When the bath is drawn, place the bag in the water. For a stronger effect, first simmer herbs 10 to 20 minutes in 1/2 liter of water. Then place both the resulting decoction and the herbs (in the bag or the washcloth) in the bath water.

Here is a listing of some suitable herbs according to their effects as a bath addition: any of these can be combined into a bath mixture of several herbs.

Antiseptic - lavender, thyme, peppermint, eucalyptus.

Astringent - sage, yarrow, nettle leaves.

Calming - lemon balm, marjoram, hops, passion flower.

Cleansing - peppermint, yarrow, chamomile, linden blossoms, rosemary, lovage.

Moisturizing - orange blossoms, chamomile flowers, rose petals.

Softening wrinkle removers - rose petals, linden blossoms, oatmeal, almond milk.

Stimulating circulation - thyme, rosemary, lavender.

Toning the skin - thyme, lavender, yarrow, peppermint, nettle.

A potpourri is a mixture of flowers, other aromatic plant parts, and oils kept in a decorative covered container. When you want the fragrance of the mixture to scent the air, you remove the lid for as long as it takes to achieve the desired desired effect. At other times you keep the container closed to conserve the fragrance. But potpourri can please the eye as well. Those made of colourful dried flowers and plant parts show off to a good advantage in a glass container; those made by the wet method can be kept in an attractive opaque container.

Although rose petals are the traditional ingredient of a potpourri, any number of other flowers, plant parts and oils can be combined to make for unlimited variety of scent and appearance. Roses have the advantage - shared by only a few other flowers, including lavender, lemon verbena, rose geranium, and tuberose - of not losing their scent with drying. Other flowers can be dried and then scented with their own volotile oils, or they can be used in the potpourri for colour and bulk. Other plant parts - leaves, roots, fruit rinds, etc. - can also contribute fragrance or add interest by providing variety of colour and form.

You can make your own potpourri by either the dry or the wet method. The dry method is easier and more common, and has the visual advantage of preserving the ingredients in something like their live state. The older wet method-often called "sweet jar" - actually accounts for the name potpourri, which comes from the French term pot pourri, meaning "rotten pot". Perhaps you'd rather not have been told that little tidbit but it's true: the ingredients, mixed with salt, do actually rot into an aromatic caked mass. Some claim that the fragrances are extracted and retained better in this method; but the wet potpourri is also more likely to take on a stale or musty odor with time. The dry potpourri tends to have a lighter more subtle scent.

To make dry Potpourri you can use a combination of any of these items which White Witch has in store:

Calendula, chamomile, cornflowers, linden, violet, jasmine, lavender, orange blossom, peppermint, rose buds, acacia, meliot, garden daisy, lemon balm, basil, bay leaves, thyme, lovage, sage, marjoram, meadowsweet, angelica root, tonka beans and tonka powder, rose petals.

You can also thinly slice lemons, mandarins and oranges and dry them slowly in a warm oven and use these to add colour and perfume to your mix. Spices such as cloves, mace blades, cinnamon quills, cardamom seeds and corriander seed as warmth and variety.

Fixitives include: Ambrette seeds, tolu balsam, benzoin, labdanum, myrrh, orris root, sandalwood, cedarwood.

You can uses any combintation of essential oils or concretes to add a stronger scent such as; jasmine, tuberose and rose.

Mix your flowers and leaves first and then your powders before finally adding your oils. Add your oils sparingly and carefully as carelessness at this stage could ruin a good potpourri blend. Experiment with small amounts.

Pot pourri mixtures can be divided up into pretty jars and covered with a lid. The fragrant mix can also be sewn into muslin sachets for hanging in your wardrobe or leaving in your drawers. They make wonderful natural gifts at Christmas time.

Here is a simple recipe for a potpourri sachet

• 50g of dried rosemary leaves
  
• 50g of dried lavender flowers
  
• 1 tablespoon of orris root powder
  
• 2 drops of rose geranium (optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients together and stir well before adding the essential oil. Then place in a sealed container for 6 weeks. Then sew small squares of muslin together on three sides and place a tablespoon of the mix into each one. Sew the fourth side of the muslin square to seal the sachet. Use to scent your drawers, linen cupboards and wardrobes.

Rose Bowl

• 100g of dried rose petals or buds with a good strong scent, damascena is best.
• 2 tablesppons of orris root powder
• 1 dessert spoon of ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon of crushed cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon of crushed cloves
• Dried orange peel and lemon peel
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla powder
• Dried vetivert root
• 1/2 teaspoon of rose geranium essential oil

Directions: Mix the first six ingredients together very well, then add little bits of dried orange and lemon peel, vanilla bean, vetivert root. Add 1/2 teaspoon of geranium oil, stir well; add a little lemon verbena oil if it appears on the dry side. Seal in a jar for 6 weeks. Open and stir well, add more rose petals if you like. Periodically close the jar for a period of a month so that the scent can become strong and permeate the new petals.

NATURAL COTTON PERFUME TESTING BRACELET

Materials
Thick cotton string and Scissors

1. Measuring: Take one end of the string and hold it between the thumb and fore finger of the right hand. (left if you are left handed) Pull the string down to the elbow twice. (Basically the string you need is twice as long as the lenght from the tip of your middle finger to your elbow)

3. Cut: Cut the string.

4. Fold: Hold the string in the center and fold in it in two.

5. 1st Knot: Make your first knot allowing a loop of 5mm wide

6. Subsequent knotting: Line the right side of the thumb of your right hand up against the first knot. Tie the second knot and line it up with the left side of your thumb. Continue untill you have seven knots tied. For larger sizes tie 8 knots still using your thumb as a guide.

7: To wear: Wrap the bracelet around the wrist of your left hand, or right hand if you are left handed. Push the last knot you tied through the loop. You may pull another knot through the loop if you wish to tighten the bracelet or have the perfume in closer contact with your skin.

If you made the loop too big the bracelet may become undone. Experiment with a few until you get it right. When you are happy with the size, make a bunch of bracelets.

When you are ready to sample a blend and using a glass pipette to apply, soak each knot with the perfume blend.

You may wear immediately or place inside a cello bag for later. Or to send to a friend!!!