Ida's Soap Box

Aromatherapy is the use of aromatic plant essences like essential oils to support wellbeing and help maintain the balance of the mind, body, and spirit. There are a variety of ways to add a bit of aromatherapy into your life using essential oils. Each oil offers a range of unique aromatherapeutic properties, uses, and effects. Different oils can also be combined to create a synergistic blend with its own unique benefits.

Hydrosols are the pure and natural waters that are produced during the steam distillation of plant materials such as leaves, flowers, peels, berries, wood, stems and roots. They are produced during the same distillation process that also extracts the essential oils. While hydrosols are less concentrated than their essential oil counterparts, they can offer subtle aromatherapy as well as their own therapeutic benefits.

Over the years we have received numerous questions as to the safety of lavender and tea tree oils. The questions are prompted by information circulating around the internet that these two essential oils have been shown to mimic estrogen, or contain hormones. So, let's explore the research.

Essential oils are temperamental to work under any circumstance. While a natural essential oil scent blend may change a bit when combined with virgin oils in a cream, these blends are especially unpredictable when making cold processed natural soap. Why doesn't my new soap bar smell the same as the last one? After all my years of soapmaking in never ceases to amaze me just how much the actual soapmaking process changes the scent of an essential oil blend.