Lavender is well known as a traditional cottage-garden flowering plant, with its violet buds held high on spikes above the gray-green foliage. This beautiful, fragrant herb has been used since the middle ages for a variety of purposes including culinary, medicinal, and cosmetics. This aromatic herb offers a floral and elegant flavor to baked goods, desserts, salads, soups and a variety of dishes. Flowers can be candied and are sometimes used as decorations on cookies and cake, or infused into sugar to impart a subtle flavor. In the summertime here in Kelowna, the Okanagan Lavender Farm offers delicious scones, jellies, cookies, and more in their cute café. Medicinally, lavender can help soothe nerves and is known to ease mild depression and possess mood-elevating effects….

  Allantoin is an ingredient useful in products such as cosmetics, toothpastes, shampoos, lipsticks, lotions, and pharmaceuticals. In cosmetics its use is mostly as a moisturizer and to assist in removing upper layers of dead skin cells. This leads to smoother skin and provides a soothing effect. History Allantoin is a minor ingredient found in the comfrey plant. The plant and its root have been used in the past to cure ailments related to skin and bone problems (the plant has common names such as boneset, bruise wort, and healing herb, an attestation to its use). Greek doctors used it stop bleeding, in wound healing, and in helping to mend broken bones. Current uses Allantoin can be extracted from the comfrey plant or synthesized. It…

  Regaining My Inner Balance Like most busy moms, I am constantly on the go. It takes a lot of work to pack up the kids and all their supplies for the day. However, I consider myself to be lucky as I can usually fit in some kind of “me” time on most days, such as gym time, tennis, lunch or coffee with a friend, or some quick shopping. Since the mornings are so busy, most days I am lucky to get a five-minute shower and quickly put on mascara and lip gloss before heading out the door. A typical day for me means that I can have either good hair, good makeup, or a good outfit: two out of three means I am meeting…

There is perhaps something symbolic about spring, a time when the snow starts to melt, when we can start to feel our better selves emerging after a bone chilling, soul crushing length of winter. Spring is a time for renewal, rebirth and rejuvenation. Although the roads are a mess and the walking trails are muddy, I can sense a freshness in the air and finally, finally, I feel the familiar uplifting feeling of hope: Hope that this year, I will make smarter choices, be healthier, be more patient with the people around me, and just generally “be” better. Yet how can a busy parent achieve this? So many times, I have sat down to write a new blog post, only to become paralyzed by the…

The 30 Days of Love Challenge Well we are 30 days away from Saint Valentine’s Day. Although it is primarily a celebration of romance and romantic love, I think it’s the perfect time to celebrate all aspects of love. Many of us are in such different stages in life, may it be happily married or trying to feel love again for their partner, a new parent overflowing with love, a teenager experiencing their first love, devastated after a breakup and trying to feel self-love or a new relationship that is in the initial stages of bliss. All of these situations present the opportunity to celebrate love. It is said that the frequency of love vibrates at 528 Hertz, which is higher than the frequency of…

Benefits of using a Sugar Scrub Take a second to think about all the products you have used in your shower over the years. There have likely been items such as fragrant hair products, silky body washes, and even foamy shaving cream. But have you ever incorporated a fabulous sugar scrub into your weekly repertoire? A regular sugar scrub is an absolute must for silky smooth, luminous skin. Our face is not the only place that can benefit from regular exfoliation Sugar scrubs are more than a sumptuous treat for the skin and can actually improve the health of your skin. As we age, our skin cell’s turnover rate slows down causing it to look dull and feel slightly rough. A sugar scrub is a…

  One of my favourite scents is that of the rose. To me, its scent is intoxicating and alluring. Just conjuring the image of a rose in my mind leads way to thoughts of romance, love, freshness, and exquisite beauty. I knew I had to formulate a product line that featured the aromatic virtues of the beautiful rose. Crystal Love is a feminine scent that signifies the very essence of romantic love. Sixty thousand petals are needed to make one ounce of Rose Absolute. This pure, opulent essential oil goes into each product in the Crystal Love line. The essential oil of rose helps one to express their femininity and passion. The enchanting scent also stimulates desire and can inspire confidence of a sensuous nature. This essential oil is also…