Homemade Perfume from Flowers and Herbs from my Garden

Have you ever wanted to create your own perfumes or stylized scents?

 I have. And I've always loved the aromas of flowers cut fresh from my garden.  Hyacinths in the spring are hard to beat. With their sweet and spicy scents that are overpoweringly pungent - you'll have to love or hate them.

And the wild hyacinths grow like weeds around here. I just love the pretty blue bells. But lilacs are my favorite with their sweet floral notes and soft hints of vanilla. So of course, I have  them all in my garden. And, I thought why not make my own liquid floral scents?

Here's how to do it:

1.  Picking blossoms for perfume is just like picking grapes for wine or berries for jam, pick them early in the morning when the oils, flavors and juices are at their peak of perfection. Blooms just getting ready to open hold  the richest most powerful fragrance. Blossoms that have already bloomed are already losing their aroma.
2. Pick the petals from the flowers and put them in a zip-lock storage bag then lightly tamp the petals with a rubber mallet to stimulate the petals, which will make them release their oils.
3.  Put the petals in a mason  jar and cover with oil. You can use any oil (including olive) but you might prefer the sweet nutty aroma of almond oil mixing with the floral scents. Shake the jar to mix the oil around.
4.  Put the jar in a sunny spot to give the petals plenty of time to soak in the oil--24 hours is best. Then shake  the contents gently and strain the petals with cheesecloth. Toss the old petals, unless you want to let them dryout in a cool, dark location.
5. Pick  new petals and follow the  procedures above--only cover the petals with the previously used oil. Repeat  this procedure for 3-5 days or until you've achieved the fragrance you enjoy.
6. Keep your mason jar filled with  oil in a  cool, dry location. Feel free to use your freshly created fragrance as a perfume.

And, if you make  some perfume of your own, please tell me about it. I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.  Kim

ECO AWESOME-Earth Friendly Friday

We all have to wash our hair so why not love the planet and our hair at the same time? It's easy and organic! Going green doesn't mean giving up style. You can get gorgeous with a shampoo that has 71% organic content, no parabans, no artificial colors, no synthetic fragrances, and no sodium laureth sulfates. Plus, the tube is 50% post consumer recycled material. So check out Bed Head's Eco Awesome Shampoo and Conditioner.

Sometimes all it takes is looking a little to find healthy, earth-friendly options.

And here's one review of these particular products from a college kid who tried it for me and then let me know what she thought of it:

About the shampoo:

I really love the scent!!! The mint kind of wakes me up in the morning. It's kinda like aroma therapy in your shower :D and I love that it's mostly organic!

The only downside is that after I'm done rising, my hair doesn't feel as slick right out of the shower as I'm used to, but I think it's because I'm going really lightly on the conditioner.

(Thanks Mackenzie)