Aromatherapy • Oct 10, 2025
Rosehip Seed Oil: A Regenerative Gift from Nature
Botanical, medicinal & therapeutic background Rosehips or rose haws, are the fruit produced by all types of rose of the Rosaceae family, this includes the common English dog rose, (Rosa Canina) which can be found growing in the wild amongst hedgerows and waysides in the countryside as well as in cities. The beautiful, rich-red rose […]
Aromatherapy • Apr 2, 2025
The Benefits of Citrus Essential Oils: Focus on Lemon
Citrus essential oils are some the most popular and therapeutically beneficial of all botanical aromatics. Uplifting, bright and cheerful, their sweet-fruity scents are well suited to the Spring season when all of nature is beginning to burst into bloom. However, I love using citrus-scented oils all year round as they always add a ‘lift’ to […]
Folklore • Apr 3, 2024
The Scent of Spring: Rebirth, Renewal & Regeneration
April is all about rebirth and renewal. All of nature is waking up: the woods are full of swathes of pure-white wood anemones, there are fresh green leaves on the trees and more hours of daylight to enjoy. It’s the moment when Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, returns from her sojourn with Hades in the […]
Aromatherapy • Jun 6, 2023
Roses & the Aromatic Herbs of Shakespeare
‘I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine…’ – Oberon: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1 Elizabethan Gardens The plays of William Shakespeare reflect his great affinity for flowers and aromatic plants. Elizabethan […]
Aromatherapy • Feb 13, 2023
Focus on Eucalyptus Oil: A Traditional Folk Medicine
The Eucalyptus Genus The Eucalyptus genus belongs to the Myrtaceae botanical family, along with many other important aromatic plants which produce essential oils, such as the Melaleuca genus which includes tea tree oil as well as Myrtus, which includes myrtle oil. There are over 700 species of eucalyptus of which at least 500 produce a […]
Aromatherapy • Feb 14, 2022
Myrtle: Symbol of Love & Beauty
The Common Myrtle (Myrtus Communis) is a small evergreen tree with dainty aromatic leaves, bearing an abundance of sweetly-scented, star-like, white flowers throughout summer. Primarily native to the Mediterranean region, myrtle is commonly found growing across Southern Europe since it is well-adapted to the dry soils and temperate conditions found there. The common myrtle also […]
Aromatherapy • Jan 20, 2022
Mood, Memory & The Language of Flowers
Rather than making New Year resolutions this January, I have found myself having New Year reflections instead. The start of the year is always a time for creating new daily patterns and I found myself thinking about the influence that certain plants and scents have on our lives … and how we can utilise them […]
Aromatherapy • Sep 6, 2021
Focus on the mint family: Practical home tips
While walking in Pembrokeshire along the coastal paths recently, my daughter and I came across swathes of wild mint growing in the hedgerows near St David’s. There are about 14 or 15 species of mint growing in the UK, most of which have very aromatic leaves but I couldn’t be sure which hybrid this was: […]
Aromatherapy • May 5, 2021
The Perfect Springtime Boost: Focus on Fragonia
Fragonia is one of my favourite essential oils and seems to be ideally suited to Spring with its lovely bright-citrusy aroma and its excellent immune-stimulant and naturally purifying qualities. There is quite a story behind this essential oil because a few years ago, great swathes of the plantations where it is grown in western Australia […]
Aromatherapy • Dec 17, 2019
Myrrh: Myth & Medicine
‘A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits: camphire and spikenard, saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes with all the chief spices.’ The scented garden as described in the Bible in the ‘Song […]
Aromatherapy • Aug 21, 2018
Mountain Treasure: Aroma-therapeutic Benefits of Juniperberry
Here in Colorado, on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the trees need to be tough to survive the hard winters and the parched dry summers of this high- altitude terrain. The highest-known juniper forests occurs at altitudes of over 16,000 feet in south-eastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree-lines […]
Aromatherapy • Oct 10, 2017
Jojoba Oil: Your Skin’s Best Friend
Jojoba Oil is extracted from Simmondsia chinensis, a small shrub native to the warm, dry regions of south-western North America, with broad thick waxy leaves, small greenish-yellow flowers and bearing oval brown nuts. It was originally named Buxus sinensis due to a botanical misunderstanding that it came from China. The premium quality oil is cold […]
Beauty • Jun 6, 2017
Rose: The Eternal Fragrance of Love
“No perfume without rose” This old perfumery saying sums up the popularity and enduring appeal of the rose. Often hailed as the ‘Queen of Flowers’, the rose has held a prominent place in the mythology of cultures both in the East and West for thousands of years. It is widely recognized across the world over […]
Aromatherapy • Apr 19, 2017
Remarkable Properties of Organic Argan Oil
I would like to introduce our new range of six organic carrier oils, including the remarkable argan oil! Argan oil makes a superb, 100% natural moisturizing and nourishing agent for the skin and hair! The exceptional health giving properties of this precious oil, which is extracted from the nut of a small tree native to […]
Aromatherapy • Aug 8, 2016
In Praise of Lavender
I am writing this having just returned from Tuscany where the scents of the mountain herbs and statuesque cypress trees permeate the warm air. Still fresh in my mind, their soft fragrance has reminded me of the vast variety of plants we have adopted from the Mediterranean region and how much we owe to this […]
Aromatherapy • Dec 1, 2015
Focus on Frankincense Oil
Frankincense essential oil is extracted from the oleo-gum resin of a small tree, native to the Red Sea region. Frankincense is best known as one of the gifts offered to Jesus at his birth, along with myrrh and gold, which indicates how highly prized it was in the ancient world. Indeed, this precious substance has […]
Aromatherapy • May 27, 2014
White Sage and the Tradition of ‘Smudging’
I am writing this in Crestone, a small community nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The terrain here is very dry and virtually desert-like, but in early summer a multitude of high-altitude flowers erupt from the sandy soil like so many jewels. Most prolific amongst the aromatic species found on these […]