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”

The Chicken is in the Oven and Everything is Alright

Comfort food, rituals and making it all cozy.

Tonight I came home with a farm fresh chicken.  I grew up with access to farm-raised meat, milk and eggs so I look for the same locally.  My cousins had a farm and the chicken coop was my favorite place to play. (I bet a few of you can say the same)

For me the smell of a chicken roasting in the oven gives me comfort, warmth and a sense of home.  I know it does for my family.  I come from a long line of chicken-raising, chicken-cooking women.  I clearly remember my Great Grandmother preparing chicken and waffles.

My mother always roasted a perfect bird.  I found a recipe that I truly love by Ina Garten.  Here it is if you want to cook a chicken that will woo your loved ones...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/engagement-roast-chicken-recipe.html

Yep,  I remember telling my boys that they were having engagement chicken when they were young.  I kind of believe that they will compare all roast chicken against this recipe.

But...

this isn't the whole story.

I want to talk about what it takes to make a home.  

To step up to the plate, to go the extra step and put your day aside and make the home warm and cozy for your family.  I believe that there are many people out there that do this for their family.  I don't care if you only have a bowl of rice or a can of beans (believe me, I've been there).  There are just people who know how to make it special.

I love the old trick I heard from a wisened girlfriend.  She told me "I always slice up some onions and put them in a pan when I hear my family come in the driveway".

I don't know what it is about making a house a home.  Must be in our DNA to have something roasting by the fire.  We get a sense of security and that everything is alright.

Tonight I am doing it more for myself.  I miss my family.  I miss my Mom and her home cooking
AND I want to be a good Mom to my kids.  I want to give them sensual memories of home.  Something that they can tap in to when the going gets tough.

Maybe something that they can pass on.

We all need a touchstone.

Blessings

Crafting Fire Cider with My Friends

It's a tradition for me to make Fire Cider with friends.  It is a great way to share recipes, stories and the best part - laughter.

Have you tried it?  I love to have some around to add to soups, stews and salad dressings.  It adds zip and is a powerful decongestant.  There are a lot of great benefits.  It depends on what you put in it.  It is particularly beneficial to have on hand during cold and flu season.

So let's get this party started...

Get your favorite people together and start prepping.

Fire Cider Ingredients:

-fresh grated organic ginger root

-fresh grated organic horseradish root

-fresh grated turmeric root

-chopped onion

-organic garlic, peeled and crushed

-organic jalapeno peppers sliced lengthwise (any kind of hot chili pepper will work)

-zest and juice of an organic lemon

-sprigs of fresh organic rosemary

-organic apple cider vinegar

Find a container that you want to use to pour or store.  Make sure it is clean.  Once you have all of your vegetables prepped start adding them to your jar.  I like to loosely fill a quart size mason jar.  Once you've selected the ingredients that you like fill the jar with organic apple cider vinegar.

If using a mason jar with a metal lid, place a piece of parchment or wax paper between the lid and jar.

Screw lid on tightly and shake.

Store in a cool, dark place for 30 days.

Strain using cheesecloth and squeeze the pulp to get the goodness out of the roots and enjoy.

Some people like to add a little bit of honey (get the good kind) and enjoy it as a tonic.

Fire Cider fixin's.

Best of all...have some good laughs while you're making your tonic.

Laughter is the BEST medicine.

Is "Green" Really the New Black?

Transparent since 1998.   Aromatic Traditions™ 2015

I remember vividly a conversation I had with the owner of a very large essential oil company back in the 90's.  He told me that my company would never make it because I used precious essential oils and plant extracts in my formulations.  15 years later I'm still doing it.  I didn't listen to him.

Now creating with the benefit of plant-derived materials vs. synthetics is mainstream. 

(Heck, synthetics have only been around for a short period of time on the space/time continuum).

I like to stick pretty close to the Earth.  How about you? 

First I pay attention to my soil which is amended with compost.

Soil is the heart of my line.

My son is experimenting with composting now for my floating garden.

Yes! We have a floating compost pile.

(He has also won a scholarship to the Conserve School in Wisconsin.  I can't help but think all of my direction - pleasant word for broken record demands- toward composting and recycling made an affect.  Proud Momma moment.  Thanks for listening.)

So back to is "Green" Really the New Black?  I can't say that I take offense to green-washing as it brings to light (in contrast) conservation and spotlights ideas that so many of us stood for many years ago.  I am talking the 60's and 70's.  Some of us risked a LOT not to sell out and to take a stand for Mother Nature.

What I do find difficult is that so many people have jumped on the bandwagon - yeah and now green, organic, local-ingredients, etc is becoming banal.

adjective

1.

devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite:

a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier.

Yes, that's the word I heard at a recent conference.  How do we differentiate, stand out, if we use the same words to describe what we do.

I can't help but think - I've been waiting for this! and now it is passe?

For some of us who really do make an effort to plant, harvest, dry, infuse and amend.  Who follow the laws of nature and abide with respect - what?

Maybe I'm not understanding the question.

Perhaps this blog isn't clear.

I want to hear your thoughts?

I'm interested in a dialogue.

Thanks,

Sue

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.

In the Garden of Spirit

Plein Air Botanical Painting     Aromatic Traditions 2014

After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Communication Design - a fancy name for Graphic Designer - I found myself designing and drawing things commercially like trucks, abalone cutters and yes, I designed a logo for a condom company.  A gentle feather with a bit of a tilt at the tip.

I cut my chops at a Mom and Pop printing shop on upper State Street in Santa Barbara, CA.  The head designer the wife and the head of the print shop her husband.
Every day was pressure packed as I typeset, rendered drawings and cut and paste pounds of galleys and images to boards.  Yes, this was the old method before desktop computers.
 We had a lot of fun and we worked our asses off.  Some big name accounts used our services as well as walk-in customers.

Needless to say, I found Graphic Design boring.

Years later I decided to take a leap and signed up for a botanical painting class at my local arts center.  I immediately fell in love with the teacher's style.  She was quiet and each time she said something about what I was painting it had meaning and I could immediately move to the next step.  She became my painting guru.
I decided to sign up for private lessons and my love of botanical painting began.

Tiger Lily©            S. Varga  2014

It felt fulfilling to sit in a spot in the garden, take a deep breath and begin to paint what I felt.

Although botanical painting calls for a bit of perfection - you have to catch the spirit of the plant or flower.  In the moment.  They change by the minute as the sun shines and they start to bloom or fade.  You have only a small window of time to paint.

Part of the Aromatic Traditions™ logo contains a drawing of White Sage.  A plant that is dear to me as it is used often for smudging prior to ceremonies. (I always smudge my laboratory before I begin any product).

Here is a bit of blessing for you...

White Sage©  S. Varga 2014

May you always walk in beauty.

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

"Fake It 'Til You Make It"

Soul Sister Reunion          Morning Glory Cafe  1999

On a rainy day in Flagstaff, AZ, I looked out my window to see a bear naked little boy jumping up and down in mud puddles.  His blonde curly hair flying and his feet stomping.  It was a moment of sheer joy, a perfect photo op - I went next door to ask permission to take a picture of my neighbor's son and a restaurant was born.

We had now clue what we were doing.  We had a vision. And both, from indigenous backgrounds (both Native American in part but coasts apart), wanted to share our roots.  I loved gardening and wild-crafting.  Maria loved her incredible heritage and the ingredients dear to her from New Mexico.

We started literally from a dirt floor up and created an amazing place, not so much a restaurant but a place of incredible heart where people of all nations and beliefs could stop by for a bite.  And most certainly a chat.

Maria was bigger than life, I was shy and willing to work behind the scenes as an advocate.  We certainly needed one.  We were two young woman starting a business in a man's world.  Inspectors, landlords, permits, construction.  We handled it all.  We were harassed, adored, challenged and loved.  Best part of it all - we did it.

Every day we would tackle one problem or another and our battle cry was always "Fake it 'til we make it."

It gave us perspective and certainly an appreciation of the deep mystery of not knowing what the heck to do in any given moment.  We sure trusted that the answer would come -- eventually.

Not always in the package you would expect.  And always better.

Today the Morning Glory Cafe thrives - 30, yes, 30 years later.  The wonderful ladies who run the place, whom I've yet to meet in person, but support via social media, have still got the spirit.

The spirit that endures.  Making something with love for y'all to enjoy.

That's what I'm still doing at Aromatic Traditions™ and if you are ever in Flagstaff, AZ.  Please take a moment and stop by the Morning Glory Cafe and tell them that Sue sent you.

You can check 'em out here: http://morningglorycafeflagstaff.com/

Blessings.

In honor of Maria Delores Nelson Ruiz RIP my dear soul sister.

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.

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.