The ABCs of Essential Oils: Patchouli

Pogostemon cablin

Patchouli is one of those things you probably love or hate. And while I've met those who adore patchouli, it feels like the general public is wary of the scent. If you want to make perfumes, trying to find a way to use the oils you don't like is invaluable.

Patchouli has a reputation as a "dirty hippy" scent, and with its earthy odor, that might feel apt the first time you sniff it. It does have a strong scent, and if your first reaction is to wrinkle your nose up, try diluting it. A lot of essential oils are too strong in their pure state, so diluting it will help you appreciate it better. If you're still thinking "ew" after diluting it, don't give up hope.

Like other oils, you can find patchouli as an essential oil, CO2 extract, and absolute. I am a huge fan of CO2s and absolutes, which often have odor profiles quite different than the essential oil. While I haven't sniffed patchouli absolute (at least not too recently), the CO2 has a fresher scent that you might find more appealing than the essential oils. For the essential oils, you can seek out different distillation methods. I've seen double distilled, which removes parts of the essential oil, such as iron. "Light" patchouli, which is distilled in stainless steel, has not only a lighter color than dark patchouli, but a lighter scent as well. And then you can also explore aged patchoulis, with their richer, deeper scents.

Still not feeling the patchouli love? Time to move on to blending it. Add a small amount to a different single oil, like rose, and evaluate what it does to the rose scent. Split a blend in half, add a drop or two of patchouli to one of them, and leave the other aside. Go back a day later and sniff out the differences.

Arctander says, "Patchouli oil is used so extensively that it is hardly possible to specify its field of application," and goes on to list as "an important ingredient in Oriental bases, woody bases, fougeres, chypres, opoponax bases, powder-type perfumes, etc." As such, anyone who wants to work with fragrances beyond narrow subsets should learn go appreciate this oil. While you don't need to love it, rise above the hate, and expand your creative potential.

Previously:
Orange Blossom
Nutmeg
Mandarin
Lavender
Kewda
Jasmine
Immortelle
Ho Wood
Ginger
Frankincense

Eucalyptus

Davana

Coffee

Bergamot

Anise

One Dozen Roses Sale & Update

First, the exciting news (for those who want to buy some rose oils, at least): I am selling the 4ml roll-ons at 50% off while supplies last. I will be switching from plastic to glass roll-ons, so all plastic roll-ons are on sale. Quite a few are gone already (4, 5, 9, 11, and 12), and some are low stock, so if you've been waiting to buy any of the scents, now is the time.

My last complete set of One Dozen Roses sold in December, and while looking to restock some of the oils, I noticed a few were no longer available for purchase. The following 5 scents will no longer be included in the set:

1. Ruh Gulab Monsoon- Rosa Damascena- India- Ruh

2. White Rose Otto- Rosa Alba- Bulgaria Essential Oil

3. Rose Enfleurage- South America- Enfleurage

4. Russian Rose Otto- Rosa Damascena- Russia- Essential Oil

6. Chinese Tea Rose- Rosa Odorata- China- Essential Oil

I personally love some of these, and hope to bring them on as additions so those who haven't experienced them yet will get a chance to in the future. I also have my eye on some rare and precious roses that might not work for the set, but would be available separately as limited editions.

These will be making a return in the set, along with sample vials and 4ml roll-ons available to purchase separately.
5. Rose Gallica- Rosa Gallica- Moldova- Essential Oil

7. Rose Apothecary- Rosa Gallica- Russia Absolute

8. Rose de Mai- Rosa Centifolia- Egypt- Organic Extract

9. Rose de Mai Absolute- Rosa Centifolia- Egypt- Absolute

10. White Rose- Rosa Alba- Bulgaria- CO2

11. Moroccan Rose- Rosa Damascena- Morocco- Absolute

12. Rose Anatolian- Rosa Damascena- Turkey- Absolute

I will be adding the following to the One Dozen Roses set:
Rose Damascena - Bulgaria - CO2
Rosa Alba - Bulgaria - Absolute
Rosa Damascena - Bulgaria - Essential Oil
Rosa Rugosa - China - Essential Oil
Rosa Centifolia - Russia - Absolute

I hope to have new sets available within a few weeks, so you can treat yourself or someone you love to One Dozen Roses for Valentine's Day.

KPFA, Soap, and Dusk

Ivre de Fleurs will be selling at the KPFA Crafts Fair this year! I went to this show when I first moved out to the SF Bay Area, and I've been there a few times since, including last year. My husband and I bought so many presents there last year. I'm a bit sad it won't be 3 blocks from where I live this year, but crossing the bay is worth it.

I've just poured some soap- it smells great, and it has so many amazing things in it- blueberry, cranberry, and acai powders, but I have to admit, it's not looking so pretty now. I do intend to sell it, since if it all works out well it should be a nice bar of soap, but it won't be a looker. Which isn't so bad when you think about it- soap washes away to nothing, leaving no trace of its beauty or lack there of.

And it's not like it's the ugliest soap I've ever made.

On to dusk. I don't even really know how to describe how I made it- it just kind of guided itself, in a way that I don't normally make scents. Oftentimes I have an idea, and I just add a little here and there to complete the idea. With this one, I just kind of went with the flow, and the result is a fragrance that reminds me most of dusk- the darkest stage of twilight. There's a good dose of patchouli in the base notes, which probably gives it that feeling. There's a heavy dose of florals and some spice, but no overwhelming note. This scent is really more of a feeling than an idea, with things of beauty barely visible, awaiting the darkness to come.

The Lab #6 Dusk is available from Ivre de Fleurs and Etsy for $20.

The Lab # 5 Lavender

This started out as an idea for a lip balm flavor- lavender, anise, and vanilla. When I did my flavor tester (I made a zillion of those), I wasn't impressed. I took the scent blend and put it in some soap, which was rather lovely. It did make the soap turn dark due to the vanilla in it, so it wasn't the prettiest soap, but it did smell nice.

This scent is an expansion of that idea- vanilla at the base, lavender at the middle and top (lavender absolute and essential oil), and anise at the top. Vetiver, patchouli, and clary sage bring some earthiness to it, and black pepper spices up the top. I also added some yuzu absolute to brighten it up- that stuff is hard to find and rather pricy for a citrus note, so once this fragrance is sold out, there will be no more of it. Perhaps a slightly different version, but unless I can get my hands on some more yuzu absolute, I won't be able to make any more.

The Lab #5 Lavender is available at Ivre de Fleurs and Etsy for $15.

Davana

Davana is an odd scent. Kind of fruity, and to me, kind of boozy. It reminds me a bit of cough syrup sometimes. It is also a bit of a chameleon, and can smell differently on different people. Of course that's true of all (or at least many) fragrances, but when creating this scent, I couldn't stand it in the bottle, but liked it on my skin.

I wanted to emphasize the fruitiness of davana, so I added Roman chamomile. Frankincense and Peru balsam at the base added additional sweetness and some citrus. At this point, it seemed like it could be a sugarbomb of a fragrance, and while there is a market for that, I don't want that to be the end result.

Back to the middle notes, I added rose geranium and ylang ylang. This probably didn't help with the sweetness, but adds a small touch of floral. For the top notes I went with spice (black pepper and juniper berry) and some floral woods- petitgrain and rosewood. The scent definitely isn't a fruity floral- the floral aspect is pretty quiet.

Lab #4 Davana is available from Etsy and Ivre de Fleurs for $10.

Also new on Etsy are blended floral balms. There are currently three different blends- Trio Blend, which leans towards jasmine but with hints of rose and tuberose; White Flowers, a blend with jasmine, neroli, and tuberose; and Mimosa Neroli, a honeyed scent with an orange flower twist. These are $10 for each .15 ounce jar.

Vanilla and More

New Gardenia and Sandalwood Fragrance

Before we get to Lab #3 Vanilla, I'd like to introduce Gardenia Sandalwood Natural Fragrance, available in our Etsy Store. The gardenia is infused in apricot kernel oil, and while sweet and beautiful, the scent doesn't last long on the skin. I added some sandalwood so there would be something there once the gardenia was faded, and it provides soft, lingering back up to the gardenia.

On to the vanilla. When I first started studying fragrance, I loved vanilla. It's a nice scent after all. But as I continued, I started using a greater variety at base notes, and at times I didn't even have any vanilla absolute or CO2 on hand. Once I realized I wanted to make something with vanilla but didn't have any, I made sure to get some. Plain it may be, but it's still useful to have around.

This fragrance starts with a vanilla infusion, with vanilla CO2 added for more depth. Peru balsam, which has some vanilla notes to it, was then added. At that point I left it alone for a long time, and wasn't sure what else to do with it. One day after sniffing it, I decided it needed some wood notes, and so I added Himalayan cedarwood and some sandalwood. As with the Neroli Rose, this fragrance has no top notes. It is available through the Ivre de Fleurs store for $15 for a 4ml roll-on bottle.

The Lab #2- Neroli Rose

Neroli Rose is another simple blend- middle notes of neroli and rose absolute, with sandalwood for some longevity. I skipped a top note for this fragrance. I understand their importance, but I wanted the focus to be on these two flowers. Sandalwood blends seamlessly into it, quietly sitting in the background.

I don't think I'll build off this fragrance in the future, though it's likely I'll create a blend at some point with all three oils. There are so many ways this scent can go that it's hardly a starting point. This would be a good scent to layer with your favorite perfumes, to add some floral notes.

This scent is only available through the Ivre de Fleurs website, with only three bottles available. Samples will be available soon on Etsy.

New Limited Edition Fragrances!

Fragrances #1-#5

The Lab fragrances are limited edition perfume that explore different ideas in scent. Each silver roller ball holds 4ml and costs between $10-20, depending on the essences used. Each perfume is naturally scented, including some with rare and expensive oils. All of them will be available through the Ivre de Fleurs website, and #4-#7 will be posted to Etsy soon. I will also add sample sizes for sale on Etsy.

I will be writing about each of the fragrances in separate posts, starting with #1 today.

The Lab #1- Wood
When I started making perfume, I loved all the florals- rose, jasmine, neroli. I still love them, but over time I have come to appreciate pretty much all of the scents out there. Except for clary sage, but I do like blending with that one. I just don't like it alone.

I love the various wood scents out there, in particular rosewood and sandalwood. Sadly, these face endangerment, but I hope with increased attention, there will be a way to protect these trees and obtain their beautiful oils. I know for rosewood that some distillers use the branches, and I've seen it distilled from the leaves as well.

 Virginian cedarwood is pretty far down my list of woods. It turns out it's not even from a cedar tree, but from a juniper tree (Juniperus virginiana). It has a scent like a pencil, which can still be nice and useful, but it's not my preferred cedar. For this fragrance, I decided to use Himalayan cedarwood, a real cedar (Cedrus deodora). It creates a nice bridge between the top note rosewood and the base note sandalwood.

In the future I might build off of this fragrance- I thought about adding agarwood, but that stuff is expensive, and I wanted to keep these relatively affordable.

In the Works and Such

I was really hoping to write more once I no longer had my day job, but I just haven't felt like writing as much as I should. I've had so much other stuff to do, and still more I can do, that I haven't made blogging a priority.

I've been working on some new perfumes, and quite a bit of soap. I'll be coming out with fall/Halloween soaps hopefully in the beginning of October. It can take so long for soap to cure, and since I've gone palm free and soy free, I'm finding it trickier to make a hard bar. I don't think the hydrogenated soy helped much anyway, but even with sodium lactate, I've found some batches hard to remove from the molds. I'll also be working on winter/Christmas soaps soon. As much as I love fall, I truly love winter. The scents, the colors- everything is perfect and beautiful. I really want to capture the freshness of newly fallen snow. It's too bad I'm not likely to see any this year, and haven't seen good snow in a long time. Last year I did see a few patches of old snow in Ohio, but that's not exciting.

I'll be writing more about the perfumes as I post them for sale. I've been having lots of fun with fragrance lately, and I'm even delving into home fragrance! Home fragrance is tricky though- essential oils don't seem to want to blast you in the face the way some people might want them to, so it's taking some time.

Hydrosols

Lately I've been researching hydrosols- water that has been used to distill a plant for its essential oil. While they are usually a byproduct of essential oil distillation,  sometimes the distillation is done specifically for creating the hydrosol. They are often cheaper than the essential oil, perhaps always, but I haven't looked too much into it yet. The scent is lighter, and often quite different than the fragrance of the essential oil.

Witch hazel is one of the most common hydrosols, and you can often find it at your drugstore, mixed with 14% alcohol as a preservative. You can sometimes find rose or orange blossom waters in the baking section.

The problem with hydrosols is that since they do contain water, they can go bad. If you're buying small amounts for personal use, it's probably safe to keep it in your refrigerator and use them quickly.While looking into hydrosols, I also started looking into preservatives, since I wouldn't want to sell anything that could go bad easily. While I didn't want to use preservatives in my products at first, after doing some research, I've found some that I would be comfortable using in my products. If the tests turn out well, I might have some hydrosol products available for sale soon. There is also alcohol- a good amount of high proof alcohol also acts as a preservative (see witch hazel, above).

I have bought several small bottles of hydrosols, and while I plan on moving forward with using some of them, others were not so appealing. Yarrow is almost gag-inducing. There are also some fruit hydrosols out there, which can be used to create natural fragrances with strawberry, apple, and other fruity scents.

Ideas (perhaps too many)

I've had a hard time falling asleep lately. No matter how tired I am, as I try to sleep my brain runs wild with ideas for things to make. I've had issues with insomnia in the past, though I think it's mostly that I'm a night owl living in an early bird world.

The problem is that I have too many product ideas- probably more than I can ever make. I'm inspired by all sorts of things. Some ideas start as making unique versions of products that already exist (such as hair oils). A lot of ideas start with a single ingredient though- I read about something, and then I have to see how it works. I had read broccoli seed oil is good for the hair, but I haven't seen many people selling it. So I bought some broccoli seed oil, and Broccoli Shine Hair Oil was created. This created some interesting design problems- namely, how to mask the scent of the broccoli seed oil. I used some of the same oils I add to my other hair oils, and then added some powerful essential oils. The end result is a product that helps your hair and does not smell like broccoli.

The Everywhere Oils are a result of my testing several oils for how they feel- I wanted to find ones that you can put on without feeling greasy. Camellia seed oil works great, and I started using it regularly on my face and hair. I wanted to keep the product simple, so I used only one essential oil for each variety- lavender, rose, and ylang ylang. 

I have several new products I need to add to my store. I also need to figure out which ideas in my head are worth pursuing. I am so easily intrigued by the various ingredients out there, and I need to stop myself from buying and trying all of them.

Soap making- Pros and Cons of the Different Methods

Note: If you're interested in the soap making methods below, The Nova Studio in Point Richmond, CA offers classes on most of them.

I've tried a lot of the different kinds of soap making out there, so I figured I'd write about the different types, for those interested. I'm making some at the moment, so it seems like an appropriate time.

A lot of soap you buy in the supermarket isn't really soap, but a detergent bar. Soap involves the reaction of lye and fats to make a solid. Those who buy or make handmade soap are probably most familiar with cold process or melt and pour soaps. I'll start with cold process.

Cold process isn't totally cold- when you add lye to your water, it heats up rather quickly, you also need to melt your oils and butters, and then when the soap is in it's mold, it's probably creating heat as well. I know that's probably obvious to a lot of people out there, but I still feel cold process is a bit of a misnomer. Safety is a bit of a concern, but with proper precautions (goggles, gloves, and covering yourself up, plus keeping your lye away from children & pets), it can be a safe and fun way to make soap. I'm admittedly not too good at it, though that's more to do with my experimental recipes thickening up to quickly. Impatience also doesn't help, since I might combine my lyes and oils too fast.

The advantages to cold process include freedom to choose your own oils & liquids and creating beautiful designs. You're also starting with raw ingredients, so it's totally handmade. I'm honestly in awe of what some people do with cold process soap- amazing swirls, fancy layers, and beautiful colors. There are a few disadvantages, which can be avoided to a degree. Start with good instructions and a good lye calculator, and you've avoided a lot of them. Using tested recipes from a trusted source also helps when you're beginning. One of the biggest issues is a bad batch, at which point you have to either toss a lot of soap or rebatch it. You're also a bit limited in scents you can use. With fragrance oils, buy them from a store that mentions any issues that can come up from using the oils, such as ricing, seizing, or accelerating trace. Some of these problems can arise from using essential oils as well. And while I've seen recipes calling for sandalwood and rose essential oils, this would be impractical for many people. This would cost a lot of money, though it would make for a lovely soap.

While not necessarily a problem, cold process needs several weeks to cure, during which time some water evaporates out (leaving you with a harder bar) and the lye fully saponifies. Which brings us to hot process soap. There are a few ways of doing hot process soap, but I make mine in a crock pot. Your soap essentially cooks, leaving you with fully saponified soap that's ready to use (though it can benefit from curing time as well). There are fewer fragrances you can use, since anything with a low flash point will not survive the high heat. You don't need as much as with cold process though, so it can save you a little money. Colorants are a bigger issue, since some of them don't work well in hot process. It's also much thicker than cold process soap, so when it comes time to pour, it's harder to make nice designs. I still like making it though, since there are generally no surprises once you pour it into the mold.

Melt and pour is a good beginner's soap- you can pick up supplies at a craft store, making it more accessible. If you really like it though, better supplies are available online, and you'll save money that way, too. It is what it says it is- you cut up and melt your soap base, add colorants/scent/additives and then pour it into a mold. While you don't get to choose what your soap is totally made of, since you're starting with a base, you can use all sorts of colorants and scents, and create fancy designs in pretty molds. It's also safe for kids to make, since you're not using caustic ingredients. It's a nice way to get into soap making, if you're not sure if you want to try making cold process soaps. One big disadvantage is that it can sweat if not packaged properly, leaving clear beads all over your soap. This isn't very attractive, though wrapping it in plastic wrap seems to help keep this at bay.

Want a real challenge? It's possible to make your own melt and pour from scratch. I have never done this, though I've learned how to in a class. Too me it seems like a lot of trouble for something that you can more easily buy, I guess that can be said of all soap making. It's more complicated than cold or hot process soap, and involves extra ingredients. The soap I saw made wasn't crystal clear, though the sample I did melt down and I was able to pour it. It could be worth it for someone who wants to make translucent soaps from scratch.

Another challenge is liquid soap- this is a longer, more drawn out process, and requires potassium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide. I make this every few months for personal use, starting on a Saturday night and ending on a Sunday afternoon. You start by making a soap paste, which you then add to distilled water to get your liquid soap. I've had mixed results, though with some experimentation and research, I can sometimes get a nice thick gel. Other times it's a bit runny, and every time it's a dark yellow color. Insoluble ingredients fall out, so if you don't want that to end up in your finished product, you need the soap to sit for several days before pouring into your bottles. I also use a recipe that starts off lye heavy to make sure all the fats are saponified, and then I need to adjust pH once it's dissolved in the water. Some scents don't mix well with the final product, so that requires testing. While I probably won't ever make it to sell, since I find the end results unreliable, it is nice to make a liquid soap for less money than what you buy at the store. And I feel great when I do make a nice batch.

As mentioned in cold process, one more way to make soap is rebatching or hand milling. This involves grating up your soap, melting it down (in a double boiler, in an oven bag in your oven, or in a heat proof bag in a crock pot of water), adding your scent/colors/additives and then pouring into your mold. Often the melted down soap is more of a paste, so it's usually more like glopping it into your mold. You can create your soap specifically with this in mind, or use it as a way to possibly salvage a botched batch of cold process soap. It gives you more freedom in terms of scents and additives. I am making rebatched soap today- one that I using soap specifically for this purpose, the other using a batch of funky soap. Should the first batch come out nicely enough, I will be selling it at some point. It's has chamomile powder and lemon essential oil. The color isn't the nicest, since the chamomile powder turned it a muddy yellow, but I'm hoping the benefits of the soap out way it's appearance. The funky batch is currently melting in a double boiler. Even if the final result is better than the initial soap, it won't be for sale, since I don't want to risk selling a bad bar.

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

These gift ideas would work for any time of year, but with Valentine's Day vast approaching, these items in particular would make a nice change from chocolates and flowers.

Instead of a dozen red roses that will wilt and die within a few weeks, why not try our One Dozen Roses, a set of twelve vials each containing the essence of a different rose. These are all single notes, at 20% strength in clear jojoba. The rose essences come from around the world (South America, Europe, Asia, Africa), cover a few species, and various extraction methods. Some of the rose essences are incredibly rare, such as the enfleurage from South America. The roses lined up together make a colorful set, with the different roses and extraction methods creating a range of colors- some are clear, others more yellow, a few are green, and some are orange. The vials are packaged in a tin, nestled in a ring of paper roses. The set will come with information on each type of rose, and would make a great gift for any rose lover.

For a gift that's better shared, we also have our Rose & Vetiver Massage Oil. A woodsy rose, this is a scent that can be easily enjoyed by both men and women. Made with apricot kernel oil, the massage oil will absorb into the skin, leaving your skin soft afterwards, not greasy. This can also be used as a moisturizing body after you get out of the shower.

We have also marked down all of our Massage & Lotion Bars, including sets, now through February 14. More moisturizing than our massage oil, these are warmed in your hands with the resulting oil massaged into the skin. They also come in a wide variety of scents.

Our Perfume Balms would also make great gifts- they come in six different floral scents- Jasmine, Mimosa, Neroli/Orange Blossom, Plumeria/Frangipani, Rose, and Tuberose. All are available in .25 ounce jars, and all of them except for Plumeria are available in 1 ounce jars.

The perfume balms and the Rose & Vetiver Massage Oil are also available as options in our 3 item and 5 item sample sets. These sets give you many options for trying out new things, and would be greater for a smaller gift.

Coming Soon

I've started working on a special project for Valentine's Day- or any day really. But I've had a particular idea in mind for a product involving roses, and releasing it in time for Valentine's Day seems as good as time as any. I'll have more info once everything is ready to go.

I am also working on a massage oil. I already sell Massage and Lotion Bars, but for those who prefer an oil that starts as a liquid and not a solid, the massage oils will work better. For those who have never used a massage bar, it's a mix of butters, oils, and wax that melts in your hands or rub directly onto your body, creating an oil that you can use either as a moisturizer or a massage oil. Our massage bars work great as an intensive moisturizer for dry winter skin. The massage oil will be a lighter weight oil and will come in a glass bottle, so you can just pump some out.

New Year's Resolutions (of a sort)

I'm not big into New Year's resolutions- a lot of them are thought up with good intentions, but hard to follow through with. I do try to think of what I need to do to make the coming year better though.

On a personal level, I feel my life is pretty good, but I'd like to work on a few things. I don't really like my shopping habits, and so I need to work on that. I'd also like to get back to tracking my weight each week- I did that for awhile, and I think it helped, but then slacked off. I don't feel much of a need to lose weight right now, but I'd like to make sure I don't put any more on.

On a business level, I feel like the main thing I want to work on is refocusing my brand. My products feel kind of scattered now, which might not seem obvious, but when I was selling at the SF Holiday Bazaar, I felt like I was a little too scattered.

Since scent is what I care about most, I am going to start by making natural fragrance the center of my brand. While I love trying exotic ingredients, most customers seem to have little interest in the strange and wonderful things I add. So I'll be sticking to more basic (but still awesome) ingredients, while working on exotic scents. I still have a few interesting ingredients to use up, so if you do like trying the latest and greatest, keep an eye out on my Etsy store for limited time items.

Frankincense & Myrrh

At my booth at the San Francisco Holiday Bazaar, I had two small plates out, one with frankincense, and one with myrrh. I figured that this was something a lot of people haven't seen before, and it'd be a good chance for them see it, touch it, and smell it.

While some people had definitely seen them before (quite a few people said they burn frankincense at home), and some people said they had smelled frankincense in church, a lot of people have never seen either. Several people didn't know they were real.

Frankincense & Myrrh Mixed Together.

As someone fragrance-focused, I really wanted people to get a chance to smell these two things. It is easier to smell them when you rub them between your fingers, and most people were willing to do that. I guess some people just liked being able to see them for the first time. The myrrh was a bit hard to smell, but the frankincense would give off a beautiful odor when people picked it up. Having these at my booth allowed me to share something I'm passionate about (scent) with a wide variety of people.

I have a few of these for sale on my Etsy page. They come in little flowery gold pouches, so that those who want their gold, frankincense, and myrrh in one can sort of them together. The flower petals on the bag are there mostly due to my love of flowers.

Patchwork Show this Sunday!

As stated on here and a few other places, I will be selling at the Patchwork Show in Oakland this Sunday! I will have all of the products featured on my website and my Etsy store. We have six flavors of lip balms, including the Blood Orange & Juniper Lip Balm featured in Conscious Box this month. Our five floral balms will also be available, along with our foot balm.

We are also launching three new products at this show! These will be available online once the show is over.

New Products:
Pumpkin Seed & Cocoa Body Butter- Limited run for November, this is a decadent body butter that is solid in the tin, but melts easily in your hands. While it is made only from oils and butters, it doesn't leave you feeling greasy.

Hair Oils- We have four scents- Lavender Herbal, Geranium Floral, Soft Woods, and Ylang Ylang & Sandalwood. Containing argan oil, camellia seed oil, and shea oil, these oils nurture you hair without the use of any silicones.

Everywhere Oils- Available in Rose Otto, Lavender, and Ylang Ylang. The oils are lightweight, and can be used on your face, hair, or body. The primary oil used in these is camellia seed, a rejuvenating oil filled with antioxidants.

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Conscious Box Giveaway!

Last month I made 5000 Blood Orange & Juniper Lip Balms to be distributed in November's Vegan Conscious Box. It was a lot of work, especially since I had only made 50 lip balms at a time in the past. But now the boxes are being mailed out, and we're giving away three boxes, so you can win a box with the Blood Orange & Juniper Lip Balm along with other eco-friendly samples.

Our Blood Orange & Juniper Lip Balm is a sophisticated take on orange, and features the same premium oils  as our other lip balms. It uses the essential oils of blood orange and juniper berry for its flavor.

Want to buy the lip balm? For November, Ivre de Fleurs is offering the lip for $7.50, 25% off the normal price of $10. We offer this along with our other lip balms in our new shop- checkout the Ivre de Fleurs Website to buy directly from us.

Want to try Conscious Box? For 25% off your first month, go to Conscious Box and order your first box. You can choose between the classic box, vegan box, or gluten free box

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New Products, New Stores

I have two new lip products that will be available for soon- a moisturizing lip gel and a lip butter.

There's very little wax to the lip gel, so it has a soft texture and no waxy feel to it. It comes in a little pot with a silver lid. It uses sunflower wax, meadowfoam seed oil, castor oil, and extracts of evening primrose and orchid. I flavored it with fresh ginger and ylang ylang essential oils, giving it a spicy and exotic flavor.

The lip butter uses rice bran wax and mango butter, but otherwise uses the same extracts and oils as the lip gel. This one is flavored with rose geranium. It's softer than a normal lip balm, but not as soft as the lip gel- basically a nice middle ground between the two. It comes in little pots as well.

Unfortunately, the lip butter pots were overfilled, so all the tops got squished down once the lids were put on them. This brings me to the new stores part- I will be opening a seconds shop on Storenvy this weekend, where I will be selling products with packaging issues at reduced prices. I will be selling the Rose Geranium Lip Butters there. While the lip butters themselves are great, I'm not satisfied with the way the tops look after I put the lids on them.

I will have several Mocha and Lemon Cream Lip Balms for sale on Storenvy, since the original packaging doesn't really work- the labels on the boxes don't stay down, so they don't look that nice. There will be one Rose Otto Lip Balm available, since the box on that one has a small scratch, and one Jasmine Balm where there's a small dent on the lid.

I will also have products for sale on my website soon, as opposed to buying through Etsy. I will still have some products on Etsy, just not as many. Once my new website is up, I will be introducing two new promotions- one product will be sold for a reduced price, and a monthly limited edition product.

For the month of November I will have Blood Orange & Juniper Lip Balms on sale for $7.50- it's a new lip balm flavor, a sophisticated orange. The limited edition product will be pumpkin seed body butter. It won't smell like pumpkin, because there is no pumpkin essential oil, but it will have pumpkin seed oil and extracts, providing your skin with a plant based Omega-3 boost.