Herb Potions Enhance Your Love Life

Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, 
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, 
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,— 
For a charm of powerful trouble, 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

Macbeth, Shakespeare

If you could create a magic potion, what would that elixir do? Vanquish your enemies? Improve your love life?

Let’s go with the latter, enhance your love life. Curl up with Stephanie L. Tourles’s  book  Making Love Potions, 64 All-Natural Recipes for Irresistible Herbal Aphrodisiacs  and learn love life elixirs.

Both playful and serious, Tourles applies science to selecting arousing aromas. She writes, “In clinical studies performed in the 1990s at the Chicago-based Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Dr. Alan R. Hirsch examined the degree to which various scents can trigger sexual arousal in men and women as measured by an increase in blood flow to the sexual organs.”

While individual history and experience can certainly skew results, the researchers found that women were most aroused by the aroma-combination of Good-and-Plenty candy and cucumber. Meanwhile, men preferred a lavender-pumpkin-pie blend. Don’t ask how they determined that or why those mixtures because Tourles doesn’t say. But, Thanksgiving dessert could make for an interesting nap.

Tourles used the research to formulate several recipes for body powder, including one scented with, yup, pumpkin spice and another with lavender. I’m thinking “lavender.”

The book continues with potions for aromatic baths, massage oils, herbal tonics and edible body butters.  Get energized with a ginseng wine or a tingly mint body honey. Chapter 8, Aphrodite’s  Apothecary is a helpful digest of herbs and ingredients.

With 64 recipes, there’s bound to be a magic potion for everyone.

 

 

 

 

Herbal Aromatherapy Encourages Sleep

By Paris Wolfe, Blogmaster, The Herb Society of America

Sleep is a pillar of good health and at least one-third of Americans are getting less than they need. That might result in higher health care costs and lower quality of life. Herbs and essential oils can play a role in the solution.

“When you look at recent research, sleep deprivation can really have some damaging effects on our long-term health,” says Katlyn Hatcher, director of spa and wellness at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. “It affects mood, relationships, work functioning. It can affect your mental health and increase your risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, Long-term studies have even shown that consistent lack of sleep can drop your metabolism up to 40 percent.”

To help people manage sleep-related issues and improve their health, experts at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, just outside Pittsburgh, are pioneering a Sleep Revolution Retreat. Guests sign up for immersive two- or four-night packages that include exercise, yoga, meditation, relaxation treatments, journaling and essential oils. The workshops are conducted at the five-star Falling Rock boutique hotel that’s part of the Nemacolin complex.

“One thing that blew me away is that, in 2015, Americans spent $41 billion on sleeping pills and sleeping aids,” says Katlyn. “People want better sleep, but may not have the tools.”

Among the many tools she offers is aromatherapy, using herbal essential oils to encourage healthy sleep. She says

• Lavender is calming to the nervous system. It lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It can be rubbed on pressure points like the wrist and neck or used in a diffuser in the bedroom.
• Citrus aromas like lemon and bergamot relieve tension and anxiety. At the resort’s spa technicians use lotions with a bergamot scent to finish treatments.
• Clary sage helps with relaxation and some research suggests it has an antidepressant benefit.

 

The spa has a local vendor custom blend essential oils with carrier oils for their use.  Proprietary blends of essential oils are mixed with two-thirds fragmented coconut oil and one-third grape seed for massage oil. “If you want to make your own massage oil, you can add more or less to your liking,” Katlyn advises. “It’s a great thing to incorporate at home. Rub it onto your hands, hover hands over your face and do three deep inhalations.”

Of course, herbal teas have a place in sleep preparation as well. “I think the act of making and sipping tea can be a meditation and very relaxing,” sh says. “Herbal tea can be great for your routine. Jasmine tea has a sweet aroma. Chamomile is great for calming as well.”

“Aromatherapy is great,” she says, “but, you do have to be careful. I don’t recommend ingesting essential oils.”

Perfume for the Room

By Paris Wolfe, Blogmaster, The Herb Society of America

After a soggy ride through the rainy Allegheny mountains of western Pennsylvania, Gary and I slid from the seat of our rented Harley-Davidson trike and slipped off our rainsuits. Fluffing up my helmet hair, I stood straighter, applied Urban Decay’s Rapture lipstick and swept through the door at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in southwestern Pennsylvania.

At that point, I made a mental transition from biker babe to glamourous guest. Once inside, I wanted to wrap myself in the lobby air. It had a clean, herbaceous note that matched my perception of myself as both strong and feminine. I looked around for the perfumed person. I wanted it for my own.

I didn’t see her anywhere as we strolled past priceless art on our way to dinner at Autumn restaurant. That’s when I realized the fragrance was following me. It was actually a signature scent of the property itself. This wasn’t grandma’s potpourri, this was scent sophistication.

So, I got in touch with the resort’s public relations person Mindy and she pointed me to Air Aroma, which provides perfume for the room on a commercial scale. This isn’t a sharp scent with a chemical edge. This is “air couture.”
And how. Nemacolin’s fragrance – White Tea – creates a signature brand. Smell it, think Nemacolin.

Air Aroma’s marketing notes:

Our sense of smell is believed to affect 75 percent of our daily emotions. The close connection between the olfactory gland, which registers smell, and the limbic system, that governs emotion and memories, is the power behind our sense of smell.

Scent receptors in the nose connect directly to the section of the brain that is responsible for memory and emotion. This is why a smell has the ability to transport you to a certain time and place, linking back to a particular memory or feeling.

Humans are able to recognize approximately 10,000 different odors, and what’s more remarkable, we are able recall smells with 65% accuracy after a year, in contrast to only 50% of visuals after three months.

Of course, that’s little surprise to those of us in the herb world. We already know the relaxing power of lavender and the energizing effects of peppermint. Air Aroma takes it one step further. And, I want to take that step with them. I want to go beyond traditional room sprays. So, I’m going to experience. You can do the same by …

For those who are curious, Air Aroma describes White Tea as such …

Fragrance Notes
Top notes: Green Leaf
Middle notes: Rose, Orris, Apricot, Jasmine, White Tea Leaves
Base notes: Musk

To learn more visit Air Aroma

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What’s your herbal fragrance pleasure?