Elderberry Ginger Simple Syrup and Mocktail Recipe
Fruity fizzy drinks are a staple in my household. As much as we love water, there is something extra satisfying about a fizzy beverage— the sound and sensation of carbonation bring a kind of magic and celebration to the very mundane act of imbibing. My partner and I have even taken to adding agave nectar to flavored sparkling water to satisfy both our craving for effervescence and our sweet tooth. This simple method of creating a bare-bones mocktail inspired me to try my hand at crafting an herbal variation to bring a bit more glamour and some seasonal wellness to our fizzy drink routine.
Herbal simple syrups are incredibly easy to make, and once you have some on hand you can use it with the same ease that you would agave or maple syrup. My favorite thing about herbal simple syrups is the vast array of different flavor combinations and actions that can be utilized. It is a decidedly whimsical way of incorporating beloved herbal allies into daily life. For this recipe, I wanted to use herbs that will help support my loved ones and I as we venture into the damp and chilly months ahead. Elderberries and ginger both offer health-supporting qualities for the immune system and are a delicious and warming flavor combination. If chilled drinks during the cooler months aren’t your thing, try adding this syrup to teas, mulled ciders, or toddies!
DIY Sheet Mask Recipe for Dry Skin
Sheet masks are one of my favorite at-home spa skin care recipes to make. For those of you who may not have heard of them before, sheet masks are a skin care treatment that uses a piece of fabric soaked in a solution that is intended to bring a host of benefits to the skin. They can be found in just about any store that sells skin care products, but they come at the price of additional preservatives for shelf stability and single-use packaging. They also range in price, with the inexpensive ones including less than natural ingredients and the expensive ones being well…expensive! This is why I opt to make my own.
They are shockingly easy to make and are customizable for all skin types and needs. Sheet masks often feature hydrosol, herbal infusions, skin care oils, vegetable glycerin, and in my home spa, raw honey from my apiary. The key to a good sheet mask is to craft it so the mixture of water-based ingredients and oil-based ingredients is balanced.
Watery ingredients like hydrosols, herbal infusions, and vegetable glycerin are light and help to evenly coat the cloth. They are also easily penetrable and absorbable in the skin. In this recipe, I called upon rose hydrosol which is gentle and refreshing. I will also sometimes use cucumber hydrosol if I’m seeking an even gentler mask experience. I also added vegetable glycerine because my dry skin likes this inclusion. Vegetable glycerine is a humectant, meaning it helps the skin retain moisture.
How to Make Vegan Wax Melts + Stress Support Essential Oil Blend
Since I started sharing recipes for my aroma melts, people have asked me for a beeswax-free version. I was initially reluctant because the vegan wax alternatives can be a bit finicky, and I have always had great luck with beeswax. I finally decided to accept the challenge and took a retreat to my creative space to formulate a vegan wax melt recipe. After a few dozen rounds of trial and error, I discovered that carnauba wax is my preferred beeswax alternative. It has no aroma and is a much harder wax, so I don’t have to use as much of it as I would in a typical wax melt.
The hard part was finding the golden ratio to get the melts to stay solid at room temperature while also having them melt in store-purchased wax melters! And by golly, I have done it! It took hours of testing different ratios and combinations, but I finally came up with a core recipe I feel good about.
If you think “watching grass grow” is hard, you should try “watching carnauba wax melt.” Luckily, I have done lots of that for you so you can just jump to the fun part!
Natural DIY Hair Spray with Rosemary and Mint
I recently spent a night at a hotel with an outdoor saltwater soaking pool. I didn’t see much of the hotel itself because I could not convince my body that there was even one good reason to leave the buoyant 102°F saltwater paradise. I braided my hair ahead of time with the—in hindsight ridiculous—idea that maybe I could keep it dry, but by the time I finally conceded I needed to go to bed, it was thoroughly wet. So I toweled it dry-ish, ran a brush through it, and fell into bed for a deep, restful sleep. I woke up in the morning to voluminous hair that had fabulous waves. As I stood in front of the mirror blinking in confusion, it dawned on me that I had inadvertently given my hair a sea salt treatment… which reminded me that I could do this at home for significantly less money with DIY sea salt hair spray!
Because sea salt hair spray mimics seawater—working its way inside hair cuticles, absorbing moisture, reducing frizz, and enhancing natural waves—a DIY salt spray is an easy way to embrace the kind of beachy volume and texture you get after a dip in the ocean or a walk on a windswept Oregon beach with salt spray blowing through your hair.
Brightening Berry and Honey Face Mask & Exfoliant
This year, I set out to create a natural skin care treatment for my dull and dry winter skin. So I took to my crafting space to work on a mask and scrub that was brightening and cleansing. After several iterations, I created one that I’m quite excited about, and I think you all are going to enjoy it, too.
When creating new skin care recipes, I generally formulate them with ingredients I can use for other things. I especially like it when the core ingredients can be used internally for health and wellness, as in this recipe. Here are the ingredients that inspired this recipe, along with reasons they are good for the skin and other ways to use them.
DIY Dry Shampoo Recipes for Dark & Light Hair
There has been a lot of buzz lately around DIY and natural hair care. In the previous weeks, we’ve shared no-poo recipes, DIY hair rinses, and fermented rice water treatments. A perfect pairing to all those homemade hair care products is having a dry shampoo to get you in between “washes.”
Dry “shampoos” are created to work without water, and there has been a long history of people using powdered herbs, grains, and natural cosmetic clays to remove excess oil and dirt build-up. These ingredients naturally absorb oils and can then be brushed out without causing damage to the hair or scalp. Dry shampoos can also be a good option for folks who want to shampoo once or twice a week, using powders between washings to keep hair fresh, full, and manageable. They also come in handy when packing for camping trips and outdoor festivals!
We’ve created two different powders, one dry shampoo for dark hair (made with cocoa or carob powder) and another for lighter hair colors, but you can adjustment ingredients to suit your needs. Both shampoo blends are built around a base of organic tapioca powder, a super lightweight starch that becomes pretty much invisible once applied.
Organic Rising: Demystifying the Organic Movement
Nowadays, we are all aware of the term “organic,” but what does that really mean in the world of agriculture? Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a film screening of “Organic Rising,” the first feature-length documentary to demystify organic agriculture for the consumer. This event was organized by several Oregon nonprofits, followed by a panel discussion with the film director. I am excited to share groundbreaking insights and community reflections with you.
The documentary opens with a sweeping exploration of the American agricultural landscape, highlighting the contrast between two predominant farming methods—conventional and organic—and how they impact human health and the planet. Expert interviews, scientific studies, and real-life cases are seamlessly woven together to paint a comprehensive picture of the impact of each method, delving into the critical choice between chemistry and biology.
Interviews on Herbal Radio with Thomas Dick | Featuring Ruby Daniels
This week’s episode of Herbal Radio features the botanical spiritualist, conservation-focused farmer, and owner of Creasy Jane’s herbal remedy store, Ruby Daniels. As a young girl, Ruby spent many of her summers in West Virginia roaming around the outdoors and crafting herbal concoctions with plants she’d find along her adventures. Inspired by her grandmother, a wise herbal healer in her community, Ruby was intrigued to unlock the spiritual connection between humans and the botanicals surrounding us. Today, Ruby is an advocate for sustainable farming and wild harvesting practices through her soil conservation work with USDA, along with sharing Afrolachian history and herbal remedies through her business, Creasy Jane’s, which was inspired by her grandmother and many other herbal healers in her community.
DIY Detangler & Anti-Frizz Spray Recipe with Marshmallow Root
Whether your unique mane coils into bouncy ringlets, twists into wild waves, or cascades down as straight as a pin, you’ve undoubtably experienced bad hair days. On too many occasions to count in my life, I’ve stumbled out of bed in the morning and glanced into the mirror to find a sight only explainable by a bird crafting a nest out of my frazzled locks overnight. After reaching for every fancy spritz and spray buried in my cabinets, I’d more often than not be left with relatively tamed frizz, greasy roots, and a wafting heavy perfume fragrance that was less than desirable. Inevitably, I would succumb to the classic slicked-back ponytail or throwing my mop of hair under a big hat on days such as these.
Sprouts: Growing Sustainable Food On Your Countertop
Eating sprouted seeds is a relatively recent culinary trend in the U.S., even though they are ridiculously easy to grow and can be an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, folate, beta-carotene, calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin K. These days, bean sprouts, grain sprouts, and salad sprouts are readily available at farmers markets, natural foods stores, and in the produce section of many grocery stores. But I grow my own because it’s easy to do, saves me money, and I like to keep control over the process to ensure that the sprouts I feed my family are safe and at the peak of flavor and nutrition.
