Understanding Aroma Notes for Essential Oil Blending: Base Notes
The art of essential oil blending is a delicate and thoughtful process that I often compare to the individual layers added to a painting. Just as each brush stroke on a canvas gradually builds on the layer of paint underneath to create a harmonious result, crafting essential oil blends applies the same principle. In the world of perfumery and essential oil blending, the three commonly recognized “paint” layers are known as fragrance notes, which encompass top notes, middle notes, and base notes. At the foundation of these blended layers, you will find base notes.
Also referred to as the fixative note, dry out note, or bottom of the aroma, base notes are the rich scents that linger the longest in an essential oil blend. Typically, base notes make up between 5% and 20% of a blend. Although this percentage may sound small, base notes truly make the age-old saying “a little goes a long way” live up to its name.
Mountain Rose Herbs Releases Its 2023 Impact Report
In a world where every action leaves a mark, the question isn’t whether we make an impact but rather how we make an impact. Enter the realm of “impact reports”— a transparent lens where companies provide a comprehensive overview of their operations, initiatives, and contributions. It’s not just about the triple bottom line — it’s about revealing the full scope of their footprint. This transparency helps bridge the gap between intention and action, ensuring companies build strong relationships by following through with commitments to responsible business practices.
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.
Sprouts: Grow Sustainable Food on Your Countertop
Eating sprouted seeds is an easy, delicious way to capture a botanical’s nutrients, minerals, and vitamins at their peak. Depending on the sprouts you choose, they can be an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, folate, beta-carotene, calcium, vitamin C, and also vitamin K, which is a key vitamin for bone growth and blood clotting. They add flavor and texture to a wide variety of foods: salads, sandwiches, bagels, stir-fries, soups, frittatas, scrambled eggs, and more! These days they’re easy to find at farmers markets, natural foods stores, and in the produce section of many grocery stores, but did you know they are remarkably simple to grow right on your kitchen countertop? All you need is a jar, a sprouting screen or cheesecloth, seeds, and water.
Blind Herbal Taste Test with Erika Galentin
Our senses can tell us a lot about herbs. They can indicate freshness, give us clues about how they work in the body, and if you listen closely enough, how well they align with our individual bodies. Our dear friend, Erika Galentin, came for a visit to our headquarters in Eugene, Oregon to share how a practice of blind taste testing can be a powerful tool in getting to know our botanical allies, even when we think we already know them. She takes us through the process of using each sense and offers helpful prompts for us to consider along the way.
Valerian: From Farm to Apothecary
We always look forward to the brisk autumn afternoons when we visit our farm partners in Washington to join their annual valerian harvest. They have been growing organic valerian for more than 30 years. Harvesting and milling the roots to preserve their botanical integrity is a process that requires both passion and skill, as well as specialized equipment. This combination of experience and technology makes it possible to produce the top-shelf botanicals that Mountain Rose Herbs customers rely on for their health and wellness. Today, think of the health supplement you took, a meal you ate, or tea you drank, and imagine all of the farmers who helped to bring that experience to you. Let’s take a moment to honor their work and commitment.
Meet The Makers: Featuring Kevala Ayurvedic Skin Care
It was not until I found Ayurveda that I began to understand that the things I disliked about myself were the very things that made me perfect and were a beautiful representation of who I was meant to be—a driven, compassionate warrior goddess. Ayurveda gave me permission to love myself and teaches that we are deeply interconnected and yet so uniquely divine!
We are connected not just in spirit, but also to the universe and all its elements. We are vibrant like the sun, we are spirited like the air, and we are patient like the earth. The energies of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha govern the way we look, our likes and dislikes, our tendencies, our careers, hobbies, and so on.
Wild Lettuce | A plant walk with jim mcdonald
We recently spent a day with jim mcdonald (@herb.craft) going on plant walks and seeing what familiar botanicals we could find around Eugene, Oregon. When we found wild lettuce, jim identified it right away based on several clues: it’s gray-green color, it’s twisting leaves, and it’s soft prickles beneath the leaves.
Wild lettuce—a botanical cousin to our beloved salad lettuces—has a long history of use as a nervine, a bitter, and to support restful sleep. There are at least 10 wild species of Lactuca spp. in North America that provide beneficial constituents in their leaves, stems, seeds, and the milky white latex called lactucarium that comes from the plant when it is wounded. We invite you to learn more about this herbal ally.
Mountain Rose Herbs Is Furthering Its Commitment to Sustainability In 2023
People often assume that sustainability is not compatible with the tenets of successful business management. However, Mountain Rose Herbs is an excellent example of how a company can be guided by the principle of putting people, plants, and planet before profit and how business decisions can successfully consider both the environmental and social impact of operational choices and costs. Keeping sustainability at the core of our business practices means we are aware of the full cost of doing business and we make decisions consciously to minimize any negative impact that our company might have on our community, ecosystems, and ultimately the planet. With a history rooted in environmental and social activism, we cannot imagine operating a business any other way.
Cultivating Goldenseal: The Quest to Protect an At-Risk Herb
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is one of the most at-risk plants in North America. It was used by First Nations peoples for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived and by the 1830s was also a favorite of herbalists and practitioners of Eclectic medicine. Today, due to relentless wildharvesting and habitat loss, this age-old herbal ally has been reduced to scattered remnant populations and is at risk in much of its native range.
