Hypnotizing Hydrosols – step 1 gather fresh herbs

Many of you probably don’t know, but we make many of the hydrosols we use from scratch. We make chamomile, lavender, rose, geranium, gardenia and rosemary. We pick the ingredients from our garden and start the long process of distilling them until they turn into magical, fragrant waters with healing properties.

What is a hydrosol?

It is a byproduct of extracting essential oils from plants. It is fragrant and contains tiny molecules of essential oil dispersed in a water solution. These oils hydrate the skin, nourish it and hold healing properties within each spray.

Step 1: Gather fresh herbs to go into the still.

Here we are collecting lavender for our latest batch.

   

Our next post will include a step by step description of the distillation process.

DIY Moisturizing Mask

Does your skin need a pick me up? This fresh, moisturizing mask is easy to make and tightens the skin, shrinks pores and reduces redness.
All you need are a few simple things from the kitchen.

1/4 organic avocado
1 tbsp raw honey
1-2 tsp of Silk Herbal Mask (if you don’t have this at home then substitute 1 tsp ground oats and 1 tsp egg whites)

Blend together until creamy.
Apply and leave on for 20 minutes or as long as desired.

Want a vegan version?

Use agave or brown rice syrup instead of honey and skip the egg whites!

A Few Benefits:

• Avocado is deeply nourishing and rich in essential fatty acids.

• Raw honey draws moisture into the skin and gently exfoliates the top layer of the skin.

Check out all of our organic skincare products!

It’s Make your own Mask Monday!

Unfortunately I LOVE the sun and could not get enough of it growing up. Now I have some sun damage that needs to be corrected. Not to fear, there are plenty of all natural, powerful herbs and plants that can do the work for us. No toxic hydroquinone needed!

Here is a simple DIY mask for brightening sun spots.

2 strawberries (pureed or mashed)
1 tbs raw honey
1 tsp champagne
1/8 tsp vitamin c powder (I suggest camu or acerola cherry powder, but a good old vitamin c tablet or powder will do)

I always add 1 tsp of our Illuminate Herbal Mask (optional, but packs an extra punch)

Leave the mask on for 20-45 minutes and rinse with warm water.

Natural Power:

Strawberries lighten the skin along with the vitamin c.
Champagne is rich in tartaric acid to promote cellular growth and gently exfoliate the skin.

Illuminate Mask Product Features:

• Shiitake contains kojic acid, which lightens the skin naturally and is antioxidant rich thus preventing premature aging.

• Hawthorn berry is used topically to block excessive pigmentation of the skin and to reduce the appearance of age spots.

• Fullers Earth clay purges impurities from the skin while also lightening the outer epidermal layer of the skin. Fullers Earth clay is also beneficial for reducing acne, scars, blemishes, and age spots.

Remember stay covered up and use an effective, non-toxic sunscreen. Our favorite is Elemental Herbs. Our review here.

Calming Calendula

We have just harvested our calendula from the garden and it is gorgeous! Calendula is one of our favorite floral herbs. It smells heavenly and is such a beautiful color! Calendula have been used medicinally for centuries and is especially useful in organic skincare.

Beauty Benefits:

calms chapped, irritated skin
antibacterial
stimulates the production of collagen
minimizes scarring

DIY Cooling Calendula After Sun Spray:

2oz Organic Aloe Vera Juice
1 tbs calendula flowers
3 drops organic chamomile essential oil
3 drops peppermint essential oil

In a small glass bowl combine calendula flowers and aloe juice.
bring the juice to a boil.
steep for 10 minutes, strain, then add essential oils.
store in a small spray bottle, preferably glass.

Calendula is found in our Purify Herbal Steam and Refine Herbal Healing Serum.

Enjoy!

Bridal Beauty

So I am getting married in June and according to all of the magazines, I should have started prepping my skin for the wedding around the same time as when I picked out my dress! This seemed a bit absurd and now as the big day gets closer and closer, I wish I had started a beauty regime a few months ago.
I still have time though, right?

The next few months will be filled with posts of fresh masks, herbal treatments and food for the skin, so stay tuned!

This is what I have been doing so far:

raw (manuka) honey mixed with our Illuminate Herbal Mask
three times per week
20-30 minutes

results: softer skin and faint reduction in hyper-pigmentation!

I have hyper-pigmentation and tend to tan easily so I must be careful while in the sun. This could be especially problematic with a wedding in Jamaica, but oh well. Between covering up and my FAVORITE sunscreen I am hoping to keep my face freckle-free.

BTW: I just noticed a scar that I have had for about a year and a half is now totally gone!
Thank you Illuminate Herbal Mask and Renew Serum!

Another crucial part of my daily routine is our new Awaken Cleanser (coming soon). It is a blend of two Chinese herbal formulas and gently “lifts” the skin as well as your spirit.

Minka and I on her wedding day!

Toners – are they necessary?

This might be one of the most common questions that we get.

Yes!

Toners are an important step in the skin care process for a variety of reasons.

They help close the pores that have been opened during the cleansing process. They also help restore the skin’s natural pH balance. The skin creates a barrier called the acid mantle, which is controlled by the sweat glands and the sebaceous glands. This barrier protects the body from diseases invading it through the pores. We often strip the acid mantle with the use of harsh soaps and chemicals when trying to cleanse the skin. This is counterproductive because bacteria, makeup and pollution are allowed an easier passageway into the body. The body then has to overwork to re-create the acid mantle producing extra oil, which can lead to acne and/or dry skin.

All in all, toners help the skin create a harmonious balance. Whose skin does not need to be harmoniously balanced?

Here are some of the roses in our antique copper still right before they are distilled into rose hydrosol – a main ingredient in our toners.

Aren’t they beautiful?

Ingredient Spotlight: Glorious Gojis

• Goji berries are one of the highest sources of vitamin C, which is essential in collagen production. They contain more than 20 trace minerals, are rich in beta-carotene, are the precursors of human growth hormones and are at the top of the list on the ORAC scale. The ORAC scale measures antioxidant levels in substances. Antioxidants fight free radicals and are some of the most potent natural anti-aging substances on Earth.

Gojis are wonderful ingredients in skincare as well as the perfect snack! They make a great addition to cookies, trail mix, scones and other baked goods! Stay tuned for a gluten-free scone recipe with goji berries.

Golden Path Alchemy products that cotain goji berries:

Goji Glow Exfoliating Mask

Renew Toner

Support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010

If you know us at all then you know we are extremely passionate about keeping toxins out of skincare!

There is actually a bill out there now that can help protect all of us against toxic chemicals in our skincare. Please take one minute to send this email off to your local representative. It is so easy – all you have to do is fill out this tiny form – your name, address and zip code!

The effects are long lasting and who wants cancer causing chemicals in your skincare anyway? Just click on the link below for the full scoop and to send in your support for the bill to pass.

Act Now – Click Here

Here is the full story via Campaign for Safe Cosmetics : Federal Legislation.

You know we don’t have any of these chemicals in Golden Path Alchemy’s products!

No parabens, laurel sulfates, phthalates, petrochemicals (mineral oil, paraffin, 1,4 dioxane just to name a few), pesticides, propylene glycols or any of their many derivatives. No irradiated herbs, GMO’s, soy, wheat, synthetic fragrance, urea, EDTA, artificial colors, alkoxylated amides (such as TEA, DEA, MEA and MIPA) mercury, placenta, lead acetate, hydroquinone, synthetic emollients (such as PEG compounds), synthetic alcohols, silicones, artificial colors or synthetic preservatives.

Ashley & Minka

Chemicals in Cosmetics

Chemicals in Cosmetics.

This is a great list of chemicals to avoid created by the Breast cancer Fund. Check it out!

Also stay tuned for a new documentary coming soon called Acceptable Levels!

Scents of Peace

I just finished making a fresh organic rose hydrosol with the first blossoms of summer. I walked around the garden picking the petticoated petals steeped with their heavenly scent.

As many of you know we distill our own floral hydrosols to make Golden Path Alchemy Toners and Alchemysts. Some of the flowers we grow organically to make these hydrosols are chamomile, geranium, lavender and of course the lovely rose. We pick each flower at its peak selecting only the purest most beautiful blossoms to create our exceptional hyrdosols.

It is such a wonderful experience to walk through the garden collecting blossoms. Then packing them into our hammered copper still where the rich flowers are transformed into an incredible alchemical healing mist.  Every drop of hydrosol (also know as floral waters) is infused with the essence of the plant material, including the essential oil. Rose hydrosol has been used for thousands of years as a beauty elixir and is a perfect toner for all skin types. Rose hydrosol is also known for its peaceful properties calming the mind and reducing anxiety. The intoxicating scent is known the world over as an aphrodisiac. Rose essential oil has the highest frequency of any oil. It calms the mind and the skin, reduces redness, soothes broken capillaries and revives tired, aged skin.

You can find this glorious handmade garden rose hydrosol in our Renew Toner.