Category: Ingredients

We're in the thick of winter right now. We're battling mountains of snow, and its' cold. It's FREEZING, and the air is dry. This can put your skin through the ringer and may require some extra TLC. Not to worry, there are a few carrier and essential oils that can help sooth and heal dry, cracked […]

What is a Hydrosol? A by-product or co-product obtained from the distillation of essential oils or other plant material.  Also called Hydrolats and Floral Water, however only water obtained via distillation should be referred to as a hydrosol or hydrolat.   If an essential oil has been distilled then a hydrosol potentially exists.  However, only a […]

Essential oils have long been used as natural pest control for flying and crawling bugs, but what about more scary bigger creepy crawly reptilians such as snakes?  Here in Canada we only have a few venomous snakes such as the Massasauga Rattlesnake (Georgian Bay region of Ontario), Prairie Rattlesnake (Saskatchewan, Alberta), Western Rattlesnake & Desert […]

In our latest installment of Fly, Fix or Fail, this is a timely review of a few hand sanitizer formulations or recipes floating around out there on the social media school of making lousy products.  In my opinion it is very important to expose these types of products  for being ineffective and due to their […]

The Seven Essentials of First Aid. So, summer is in full swing and the great outdoor, weekend warrior, extreme sports enthusiast inside you has been awakened. The warm sunny days have triggered that primal need to get outside, fix that fence, spruce up the gardens, water-ski, cannonballs off the dock or just get on a […]

St. Johns Wort Oil - Hypericum perforatum Many herbs have the dubious distinction of being both powerful natural healing medicines throughout history yet somehow become a nuisance, invasive, toxic or harmful species which threatens our industrialized world in modern times.  St. Johns Wort is unfortunately on that list. First off, a brief history of this […]

Sweetgrass - Hierochloe odorata The origin of the name sweetgrass emanates from the Greek word "Hieros" which means sacred or holy, and "Chloe" which simply refers to grass.  This grass grows abundantly in many parts of the world particularly North America but  several other species are found in Greenland, Iceland, Northern Asia and Europe.  It […]

Cedar Leaf Hydrosol - Thuja occidentalis Also known as  arborvitae, white cedar or  "Tree of Life".  The cedar tree is part of the  cupressaceae botanical family which includes both red and white cedars which is native to Canada and other parts of North America.  Although commonly called cedar, it's not actually part of the cedar […]

Greece has olive oil, France has grapeseed oil but Canada has something better.  Sunflower oil.  Created as the byproduct of manufactured flour, this rich, nutty oil is exquisite in it's  simplicity.  Pure, unrefined, organic.  We're not talking about that cheap hydrogenated refined oil you find in the grocery store. sold by the gallon.  Our oil […]

"It’s not easy being green… " I hum this with an impressive Kermit the Frog imitation all the time. I've been making natural plant based products since well, before most consumers realized that it might be important, trendy or fashionable; using ingredients like essential oils, minimal preservatives and plant based emulsifiers that most conventional chemists […]