The FRESH FACE of Aromatic Traditions

FRESH FACE for Aromatic Traditions™ 2017



After a brief hiatus working in the corporate world for a local manufacturing company, Aromatic Traditions is back with a new look and mission.  Take a look at our "About" page to get a feel.

Aromatic Traditions™ is a botanical skin care formulating and consulting company for natural and organic skin care product companies.  Our clients include luxury retail artisans, high-end spas and massage therapists.  Aromatic Traditions’s top-quality, result-driven products are free of hash chemicals and manufactured to exacting standards.  Allow our award winning expertise to develop your brand and take it to production.

WE TAKE YOUR BRAND BY THE HAND FROM CONCEPTION TO PRODUCTION

Launched in 1998 with our fabulous “Blue Pearl” moisturizer, Aromatic Traditions transitioned from a retail formulator/manufacturer to a private label/custom consulting and manufacturing business.

Combined with over 20 years of perfume and herbal experience, Aromatic Traditions™ is able to provide our clients with both expert scent consultation as well as natural/herbal formulations.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS:

• We believe in your BEAUTY AND HEALTHY
• We promote and utilize ORGANIC AGRICULTURE, FAIR TRADE AND SUSTAINABILITY
• We utilize as much as possible LOCAL and MINDFUL HARVESTING OF RAW MATERIALS.
• We believe in charitable giving back to our communities and the earth.

OUR MISSION IS SIMPLE:

“To create elegant and natural products that nourish your innate beauty”

New Niche and Business Sustainability

Working through the vision.  Aromatic Traditions™  2015

After I read Paul Hawken's book The Ecology of Commerce back in the early 90's, I started to think about his term "restorative economy".  At the time I was applying some of his thoughts to my own businesses - a healing studio, a store which featured items made from recycled materials and my own body care business.

At the time I had a small farm and was very focused on creating the best soil so that I could take advantage of the short growing seasons in northern Pennsylvania.  I was also a massage therapist with a message.

Restoration.

Restoration of self , community and eventually planet.

As I see myself now going forward I am working more and more towards the goal of restoring myself, then community, then planet.  How? Slowing down and taking an assessment of my energy drains in my personal life.  I've decided that I can no longer foster relationships that are not reciprocal.  I had to take a close look at lip service versus acts of friendship and kindness.

For my community, I keep my company production "close to the bone" as I like to say.  I know where my raw materials come from by working with companies (some of whom I have had a relationship with for over 15 years) who are committed to transparency and ethical sourcing.

Waste and packaging is another consideration.  I was thrilled to be one of the first employees working for a co-op who took the sustainability model seriously -  from raw materials in the door to waste out the door and nothing, yes NOTHING went into a landfill.  Now, there is a role model.  I recycle and take good care when sourcing my packaging materials.  I re-use, recycle and refill.

This is just the beginning as we all need to know  how to trim off the fat in our production and use.

How "big" do I want to get?  I recently read an interview with another maker which echoed a friend of mine's business policy. Both expressed the idea of keeping it small and manageable.  This way they as artists can keep their hands in the creative mix and not lose integrity of what they are making to mass production.

And for that matter - mass consumption.  Another issue of our society.  We don't need all this stuff.

Over the next few months I am excited to explore some other small, niche manufacturers to see how they are using efficiency models and how I might want to set up my business statement to reflect sustainability.

As always, I am open to your comments.

Blessings.

Bestseller Blues

Blue Pearl - bestseller since 1998.  Aromatic Traditions™

Tonight I'm feeling bittersweet.

I'm bottling up likely the last Blue Pearl Face Serum batch for who knows how long.

The formula certainly has had a few versions since 1998.  I can still remember when I "got" the recipe. We were driving through the Catskills and I "heard" the formula.  I had to open the glove-box to get a piece of scratch paper to write it down.

I've been making it since 1998 and I know the formula has a few fans.

The base will soon become a staple for my spa-maker© series.  In a few months I plan to launch a new niche servicing spas and massage therapists who make their own products.

I'm looking forward to the transition.  I am also a bit sad cleaning out my lab to make room for this new venture.

Its like a birth.  I'm fluffing up the nursery to prepare for the new baby's arrival.

I can feel the energy building and it is a bit of a challenge to contain it.

I'm grateful to those of you who love these products and who have remained faithful to the brand.  You won't be forgotten.  And if you get stuck and haven't stocked up during my upcoming sale.  Well, you know where to find me and I'll make sure to get some to you.

As one customer and friend said "just package it in any old plastic tub and send it to us".

Thank you all for your loyalty and we'll be hearing from you soon when we announce our upcoming sale.

Be well.

Switching My Niche

Spa-Maker© series coming soon.  Aromatic Traditions™ 2016

Do what you love and everything else will follow.

Aromatic Traditions™  is 4 years old.  Our anniversary was 11/11/15.  Usually I throw a nice party at my studio and people stop by to visit, shop my retail shelves and snack on delicious local goodies.  This year I was busy packing up the final pieces for a natural baby line and prepping bulk orders for several spas.

You see, my focus has changed.

Changed because my customers asked.

I had no idea when I started that I would be doing Custom Manufacturing and Private Label.  I put a few pages up on my website and the rest is word of mouth.

Organic.

The best referral is from other customers.  The learning curve has been a little steep.  However, I like a good challenge and found that I love formulating and creating in my lab.

It is quiet, focused and creative.

I am also co-evolving with several of the spas who were my first customers.  As they grow, so do I.

It felt natural today as I cleaned up my creative space and started to de-stash bottles and jars.  I really do not have much overstock so my inventory is changing as well.

I have created several gift sets for the holidays and I am feeling a little bittersweet saying goodbye to some of my favorite products.

I will soon offer a first-come-first-serve discount to my online retail customers.

These formulas will now be available for my new niche - spas and massage therapists who make their own products and have reached a point where they want someone else to produce for them.

It is a niche I am familiar with as I was a massage therapist for 25 years and know the industry.  I also love working with spas.  I love people who pamper and encourage others in the tradition of self-care.

I'm excited for this new chapter in Aromatic Traditions™ life.

Enjoy the holiday discounts online and call me if I can help your spa or massage practice.

Blessings.

Renew, Revive, Nourish & Guide Yourself

NEW Product - 4 Self-Care Ritual Boxes             Aromatic Traditions™  2015

Thrilled to launch these new and thought-filled "Self-Care Elemental Ritual Boxes".

Our first box: Renewal - Elemental Water Ritual is packed to the brim with our farm-fresh products, a detachable ritual instruction card and a sweet little one-of-a-kind talisman designed by Linda Lee at Dragon Hill Studios in California.

You can check it out here:

Elemental Water Ritual - Renewal  Aromatic Traditions™  2015

http://www.aromatictraditions.com/collections/organic-holiday/products/self-care-rituals-elemental-water-ritual-renewal

I love our ritual card.  Each ritual is care-fully designed to lead you deep into a state of total relaxation and self-care. 

We will continue our blog series with inspiration to fill your cup.

Blessings.

For the Love of a River

Pine Creek Canyon     Wellsboro, PA

Water represents emotion in my tradition.  Moving water - flowing emotions.  Stuck water - stuck emotions.

Dark water - things are not so clear.  Clear water - yeah, you get my drift.

I was born on a river.  Our cottage, the Lazy Lodge, literally hung over the river pictured above and I could hear it day and night.

My grandfather taught me how to fish, swim and live off the river.  He dried mullein stalks and we later soaked them in kerosene and lit them like torches and walked along the railroad tracks at night.  Very primal.

Our place was right below the one rapid - Owassee rapids.  We learned about the bounty of the river as we saved those who had overturned in the rapids and gathered coolers, six-packs and river booty as it floated by our cottage.

My grandfather also taught me about the strength of the river and death.  He took me by the hand and walked me the half mile or so along the tracks so that I could see a woman who had died while navigating the river.  I remember her almost blue body underneath a rock.

Later in life, I chose to follow a friend and work on the Snake River in Wyoming.  I became an official whitewater guide.

Here is a pic, I am in the back and my crew has just hit the hole that they call the Big Kahuna.  We didn't get enough speed to get through the rapid without "hitting" it hard.  You get used to that as a guide.  You can encourage (a gentle word for not yell so hard) to paddle and then you just have to let go and ride it out.

The "Big Kahnua", Snake River, Wyoming USA

Now I am back on the river.  This time the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River near Portland, OR.  My husband and I are renovating a floating home from the river up.  I wake each day to the river flowing right by my front door.  Cormorants, Bald and Golden Eagle, Great Blue Heron and Osprey are my constant companions.

Once I guided on the river, now the river guides me.  

Floating Home on Multnomah Channel

Wish you were here.

Working for The New Farm

"Out, standing in her field."    Aromatic Traditions™ 2015

The New Farm magazine was published by Rodale Press and the Rodale Institute from 1979 to 1994.  During my Fall semester of 1980 at what is now called Kutztown University, I became the first photography intern at Rodale Press.

I wanted to combine my love affair with the environment with my passion for the camera.  I worked this internship until I got it.  (I believe it still exists?, I'm not sure though.)

No sooner than I was given the internship I was assigned many menial (but meaningful?) tasks.  You see, photography interns did not exist before I came along.  Frankly, I don't think they knew what to do with me.

I was fascinated by the studios, test kitchens and a particular food stylist who made the most amazing presentations with hands gnarled by rheumatoid arthritis.  I started to make friends and stay late utilizing the facilities to take pictures that would later fill my portfolio.

It felt great to be part of Rodale Institute.  I loved that they were "back to nature", exploratory, sustainable and family run.  I was part of a family.  I am still part of that family today.  Farms turn me on.  I love the smells, the sounds, and most of all the people that I meet a long the way.

I remember one particular photo shoot trudging in my "wellies" through pig sh*t carrying about 80 pounds of photography equipment.  Anything for the perfect shot of a well run rural farm.

Later I was sent out on assignment.  Looking back through some of the old books and magazines published by Rodale I still see pictures and know that is my hand holding the growing frame lid up so you can see the tomato starts.

Although the memory of that time drifts into my mind in bits.  The passion for farming remains.  The passion for sustainable farming in small places.

Here is a pic of the first day of my floating garden on the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River.

I grew several pounds of Calendula (Calendula Officinalis) flowers this year.  Quite a yield.

Here is one of my favorite products made from the blooms:

http://www.aromatictraditions.com/products/carrot-calendula-eye-creme

Gardening is an Instrument of Grace

Floating Garden    Aromatic Traditions 2015

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.  Gardening is an instrument of grace.

-Mary Sarton

When all else fails - I go to the garden.

Picking my first red, ripe tomato.  Boy, I had to be patient waiting for just the right moment to pull this one off the vine.  P-a-t-i-e-n-c-e.

I still grow tomatoes. So does my father.  His father, my grandfather, did too.  He would walk every night to his tomato plant down the hill step by step until his last day.  I often wondered if he planted that far away as inspiration to get up and move.  To remain a farmer.

Gardening is in my blood.

Before I moved to Portland, I fantasized about building a floating garden like the Aztec gardens you read about when you were a kid.

I salvaged an old swim platform and began to plant.

The first to thrive - Calendula Officinalis, a major ingredient in my products. (Check out this blogpost for a Calendula Infused oil: http://aromaticpassport.blogspot.com/2015/07/deep-in-their-roots.html)

The blossoms were huge.

We both found a home to be nourished and thrive.

Grace.

Self-Care Ritual Box: Water Renewal

Self-Care Ritual Boxes              Aromatic Traditions 2015

So what is Self-Care?

Self-care is any intentional action you take to tend to your emotional, physical, mental and spiritual well-being.  Buzz word -- intentional.  We need to initiate something for ourselves.

Not so easy for most of us, don't you agree?

Like the "shoemaker's son" I am guilty of putting off my personal needs for the needs of others; family, neighbors, customers, etc. and find myself at the bottom of the barrel.

The bottom is dry - not juicy.

The bottom feels empty - not full.

The bottom seems dark - not light.

Creativity gets stagnant - lacks flow.

Have you noticed that doing one small thing a day can turn these feelings around?

Something as simple as lighting a candle and soaking in some fine bath salts.  You know that "Ahhhhh..." when you slip into the water and feel your muscles sigh in relief.

You let go, you surrender.

And with surrender, your heart opens and into it flows all the juiciness, full-filling and lightness the world has to offer.

Here is a postcard which is included in one of my four Ritual Boxes:

Feel free to substitute any of the products that you have around your home and create a Water Renewal Ritual for yourself.

Blessings to YOU!

We've launched our first box -- Renewal, Elemental Water Ritual -- check it out here:

http://www.aromatictraditions.com/collections/organic-holiday/products/birch-pearl-botanical-soap-sampler

Shhhh...each box contains a one-of-a-kind talismans designed by artist Linda Lee of Dragonhill Studio

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).

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.

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