Happy New Year, friends! I’m just poking my head out of my hibernation cave to offer the first “hello!” of 2015. As is my nature, I am hunkered down in contemplative mode making plans for the new year, assessing strides against last year’s goals, and tending to…
As a treat for the holidays, I’m sharing some recipes to help you craft natural, handmade gifts for friends, loved ones, hostesses, and distant cousins… Today, it’s all about herbal body powders… First, your BASE recipe (aka natural body powder!): Combine Arrowroot powder and…
So simple to make and so incredibly amazing. Hurray for wild and wise, natural and intentional, pure and simple goodness for our faces! Compared to over-the-counter cleansers laden with long lists of complicated, synthetic ingredients that tend to strip skin, the natural and organic facial cleansers offered…
Few DIY projects are as easy as making your own aromatic melt-and-pour soaps — just about anyone can do it, you don’t need many special supplies, and the resulting products are superior in quality and fragrance to most store-bought soaps. You can create unique blends…
No elderberry syrup in your house? The best day to make it is yesterday: you want it on hand for sniffles, sneezes, and the almost inevitable immune fatigue that comes in colder weather. This little kitchen witch loves elder for its many offerings (wood, flowers, berries)…
Free recipe time! I’m sharing my recipe for my all-time favorite lotion bars with my most popular essential oil combinations. Choose from a simple lavender scent or sweet, floral fragrance… or go with our savvy traveler’s secret weapon: a lotion bar perfect for the airplane and airport with its antimicrobial,…
It’s the holidays. Time to start handmaking ALL the things, y’all. This recipe is pure indulgence–and the perfect treat for an early morning shower for the mocha or latté lover in your life. This Vanilla Mocha Coffee & Sugar Scrub smells soooooo yummy: coffee, sugar, vanilla-infused…
It’s dark by 4 PM and the paths are crisp and frozen. Seasonal creeks are still and the lake rests quietly at an edge deep from its summer banks. The garden sleeps like a bear, quietly holding seeds and promise for next year under a…
Sister moon, so bright and high Casting shadows here and nigh Swallowed swift in shadow burning Red with blood and boiling yearning. Fear of change and angst resurface Struggling blind to grasp my purpose Thrashing forth and back by years Standing still in age old fears. Mystic quiet…
There’s LOTS to love in the world of aromatherapy and herbalism. While I always have “favorites”, I find myself turning to new essential oils at different times depending upon both my mood and my clients’ needs, new books turn up that capture my attention and “old”…
Did you know that Tamanu (Calophyllum inophyllum) oil (also called Foraha) is a different color dependent upon the season it was sourced? The oil can range in color from a deep, muddy green to a bright, caramel orange. Tamanu is exceptionally supportive of skin healing and balance. It…
first, about “storytelling” One of the core tenets at the heart of Untamed Alchemy holds that we have responsibility for the quality of our lives. The philosophy emphasizes that we are all creators who work with seemingly mundane ingredients in everyday circumstances to yield something wholly new that…
NOTE: The post that appeared here is being vetted with industry experts, membership organizations, and colleagues as it’s clear now that there were a number of clarifications needed, corrections required, and inadvertent omissions in the original post. The post will be back when the kind souls…
