What's In A Name...

White Sage by S. Varga   2015

"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

-William Shakespeare

It began in 1998 with my first farm to face company.

Lillly's Essential Products blossomed from a small plot of land and a renovated mudroom. The first product came to me while driving across the Berkshires.  I remember opening the glove box and grabbing a scrap piece of paper and writing:

Blue Pearl

Evening Primrose Oil

Lavender

Rose

I heard these words whispered as I rode along absorbing the scenery.
Blue Pearl has been a bestseller ever since.

Fast forward 13 years...after a career pioneering Oncology Massage my heart broken from another loss my husband asked - "if you could do anything right now, what would it be?".

Aromatic Traditions™ was born in that moment.

My passion for aromatics and need for a tradition of self-care rooted in Mother Earth birthed a brand dedicated to the beauty way. To walk in balance with all things. 

Today may I walk out in beauty.

With beauty may I walk.

With beauty before me, may I walk.

With beauty behind me, may I walk.

With beauty above me, may I walk.

With beauty below me, may I walk.

With beauty around me, may I walk.

It is finished in beauty.

-Navajo Beauty Way prayer

The Way to Get Started...

Easy-Bake Oven, circa 1960's

"The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing."

-Walt Disney

Tucked inside my bedroom closet. No adults please! Just grounded and my brand new chemistry set removed from my room - I create.

This is how Aromatic Traditions™ began...

Out of the box go the baking mixes.  Into the pans go my mixes. 

Crayons, candle wax, flower petals from my beloved Peonies.

Somewhere in my heart, I knew what I came here to do.

Didn't you?

I would love to hear about YOUR earliest passions...

and how you stay true to them.

Let's start a list.

1. Follow your heart. Listen to the voice that whispers to you (HINT: it never raises its voice).

We Are Here and It Is Now...

A visit to Mark's Stills in Newburg, OR  2015

"We are here and it is now.  Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine".

--H.L. Mencken

It all started with a conversation at the local Helvatia Lavender Festival.  A few sniffs later and I've purchased a beautiful bottle of Lavender Absolute.  You know, no stems and seeds that we don't need - just the flowers.  You'll find it in my Blue Pearl Face Serum.

Moments after the purchase I notice a woman wandering off with a jug of lavender hydrosol which was just poured off from the steam distiller.  Hmmm...

A few phone calls later, jugs loaded in car and we are off on an adventure which takes us rambling through the beautiful Willamette Valley of central Oregon.

We arrive at Mark's Stills and Dad Butch greets us as well.  An olfactory adventure begins as we are introduced to not only Lavender, their specialty - but Cedar and Sequoia.

"The best kept secret is Yamhill County" Butch says.

I agree.  I left with a quart of THE most amazing Lavender Grosso essential oil.  Soon to be blended in our products.

Love me some local color...and you...

Deep In Their Roots...

Calendula officinalis harvest.  Oregon 2015

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.

-Theodore Roethke

Today I cleared my drying baskets.  Two months on the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River and the harvest is abundant.

Calendula is a well known medicinal herb also known as the Poor Man's Saffron.  At Aromatic Traditions I infuse cold pressed Organic Sweet Almond Oil with dried blooms and add it to many of my products.  It imbues a gorgeous golden (think sunlight) color and our skin takes in its healing properties.

Here is a simple recipe that you can try at home...

Calendula Salve Recipe

1/4 cup dried Calendula Flowers

1/2 cup Organic Olive Oil

1/8 cup Beeswax pastilles or Candelilla Wax (vegan)

10 drops of healing essential oil of your choice (ie. Lavender, Chamomile, Orange)

I like to use the solar infusion method...place dried flowers in mason jar, cover with oil and let sit in sun for several days until oil is a golden color.  To do on stove, gently heat oil and add dried flowers. Turn heat off and let infuse until oil is cool.  Strain flowers from oil with cheesecloth.

To make salve, warm infused oil gently to a temperature that allows the wax of your choice to melt.  Blend, cool, add your essential oils and pour into container(s).

Enjoy.

If You Do Not Change Direction...

Hot Summer Harvest                    Portland OR 2015

If you do not change direction you may end up where you are heading.

                       -Lao Tzu

How do you embrace change?  I would love to hear from you in the comments below.  We can join as community in celebration of letting go and inviting in the new, delirious, exciting, and challenging moments that cross our paths daily as we define ourselves.

Blessings.

Cheers to My New Adventure

*p*O*p  open the bubbly --  May 20, 2015

NEW! logo, NEW! labels and best of all -- I've made it to our NEW! location in Scappoose, OR.  As promised Aromatic Traditions is open for business.

(Truth be told, I never did close, orders and customer visits happened while traveling cross country.)
What can I say, I love working with you all and helping you make your dreams come true!

Cheers to our new adventures!  *p*O*p

Awe on the Water

Giant blooms of Calendula from floating garden. May 2015

My heart feels like crying today.  Aromatic Traditions opens tomorrow as promised from our new floating oasis in Scappoose OR.  So grateful for all of the help along the way. More pictures and stories to come of my amazing journey. Just wanted to say "Hi" to everyone and let you know that I miss you every day and hold your goodness in my heart.  From my heart to yours...