THE FLORAL FOODIE EMERGES!

I am a terrible gardener! Everything I feel confident about in a floral, herb or other leafy thing shows up in a brown or blue bottle! I was invited to showcase my new all natural essential oil products at the International Herb Conference a few years back. You have seen the faces of the herbalists when I asked them to tell me what all these plants were! I could tell them by sniff but certainly my brown bottle had hidden from me the leaf formation!! I learned a lot about the oils I love at that show. I also learned, I am NO GARDENER! The entire process takes too long for me!

I love essential oils! Once I started to study them to develop a skin care product, I realized that God has not forgotten a thing we need!The benefits of adding essential oils to a bath, a lotion, a vaporizer or your food have been proven over and over!

As I grow this blog, I will include the history of the oils or the uses or the other oils my favorite oils blend well with as we go. You will be able to find resources, other websites I love, vendors I trust and information as I put to cyber paper what I know about oils.

Some companies online have sought to exploit, in my opinion, our desire to get back to most things natural, healing and organic. These companies have created some hype that points you to only use THEIR oils for certain purposes, such as cooking. They say that only an essential oil labeled "therapeutic" should be used in cooking. I love that as a marketer but I hate that as an aromatherapist. I want to dispel a few myths and share some exciting facts about essential oils.

The truth is there are different extraction methods! the plant or root or grass or wood can be pressed, steam distilled, or by the use of CO2 the oil can be extracted but they all come out essential oils, therefore, THERAPEUTIC!

When you are considering oils you want to choose the best oil you can afford. Use organic whenever possible. Use steam distilled or pressed rather than CO2. I do have a few oils that only are good by the use of CO2 but they are few. When you are considering oils, skip the grocery store offerings. They are great food brokers but seriously, you can't know how old the oil is or how it was stored in transport. Changing weather, varying temperatures all compromise the potency of your oils. They are fragile!! I can relate to that! Not so long ago , so was I! (more on that later)

I am going to offer my advice and expertise as a Certified Aromatherapist. I want to build a library of information and resources. I will be conducting some recipe contests. I will submit some recipes for y'all to try out and review. I am in a unique position because I am not an oil broker! I have no interest in swaying you to buy one product over another except the excellence I have personally experienced with that company or product. I am not a retail anything. I do create and sell products to family and friends but I am not a manufacturer.

The disclaimer is as follows, all the advice I give is for your entertainment. That is to say you should always consult your physician and follow their advice. My advice is not intended to determine any illness or offer any cure.