Calendula infused Coconut Oil with French Lavender

Mary’s Gold: I use Calendula in my super popular Healing Honey Butter.  Why?  Calendula has been used since ancient times for cooking, making clothing dye, and for medicinal use.  The earliest records claim that the tea from the Calendula Officinalis can help with women issues, gut issues, and many others.  Topically Calendula flowers were placed in open wounds to staunch bleeding, help heal and to avoid infection.  It was also used in tinctures and balms to heal the skin, treat acne, reduce inflammation, help heal cuts, scrapes and bug bites to name a few. 

Most everyone is familiar with Lavender.  The soothing scent has been used to reduce anxiety and induce sleep for ions.  It was also used as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory.  I have used Lavender on my skin to help take the sting out of sunburns.  We take the Healing Honey Butter on all of our trips, especially our last trip to visit my Mom in Florida.  Where my Mom ended up with a bad sunburn.  She put on the Healing Honey butter, and while her skin remained red through the next day, she did not hurt or itch at all.  I usually burn one time a year, I know it's bad I don't mean too.  I used my Healing Honey Butter and no longer felt the sting and itching of my damaged skin. Below is a picture of my sunburned shoulder, I posted on Instagram. 

How many times have you seen a commercial that touts their Lavender product will help you sleep, will calm your child and help them sleep, will reduce your anxiety and stress levels?  There's a reason Lavender has been used since ancient times.  It works.  Not the chemically processed versions sold on tv and in commercial skin care and bath products.  Pure Lavender from the actual Lavender plant.  Distilled into pure therapeutic essential oils.  The real lavender.  True and pure lavender.  Essentially and Purely Lavender oil.  Once you smell true lavender, you will be able  to detect the imposters and reject them.  

How do I make this amazing, Healing Honey Butter?

I infuse my Organic Coconut oil with Organic, dried, Calendula Officinalis flowers and beeswax. I like to take my time when making an infusion, I want to get the absolute most out of the flowers I use.  I want to sell my Customers the highest quality product. So I start my infusion and carefully monitor it, stirring the coconut oil to allow a perfect mixture of oil to healing benefits of the calendula flower.  

Once the infusion has reached maturity I then start the process to whip it into a frothy state to keep it from hardening into a big lump that is difficult to get out of it's container.  This has to been done several times as the butter cools and hardens.  After it has cooled sufficiently, I then add the pure French Lavender Essential oil.  Blend and pour into the containers. The smell is heavenly and the result is divine.  I should have named it Heavenly Honey Butter.  

I like to add beeswax as it helps the coconut oil set up and seals in the skins moisture along with the healing power of the Calendula.  By adding Lavender, the skin healing/soothing benefits gets a real boost, plus the scent of lavender is soothing and calming.  Healing Honey Butter has a light fragrance and goes on smoothly.  Your skin will be soft and supple all day long.  Try some today, see how much your skin can benefit from this ultra moisturizing and healing butter.  I promise your skin will love you for it!

I use all the products in my line of skin care.  All of them, I wouldn't sell anything that I don't love. If you would like to make a purchase go to my website: www.essentiallypurely.com or visit my Etsy store.  

Legal mumbo-jumbo:

These Statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, mitigate, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Avoid if pregnant. Avoid if allergic to any ingredients, or if allergic to the Daisy family.  Pictures from Wikipedia, except the one of my shoulder.  That's mine. 

Introducing Essentially Purely™ and a recipe for making your own PureVanilla Extract.

Thank you to all of my friends for the outpouring of support for my new venture!  I started my new company, Essentially Purely™, with the intention of sharing the products God has blessed me to be able to create.  They really work, they are fantastic and I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful friends, and family who are Customers, and to have added Customers who feel like friends.

I've been making making my own deodorant for years.  I started my search for a natural deodorant about 16 years ago, after my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  The lump was caught in the very early stages and thanks be to God, she is 100% ok. After the surgery and the treatments, she was told not to use commercial deodorants.  She was advised to find a natural deodorant that didn't contain aluminum or other harsh chemicals.  That really triggered a "WHY?" Response in me.  I have always been that person who needs to know why?  When I found out how some of the chemicals in our deodorants can negatively affect our health, I was appalled.  That is probably the root of why I have been so persistent in my search for natural/organic things for my family and myself.  How can the FDA approve such things to be used, when they know what kinds of awful side effects they can cause.  Serious problems, such as cancer!!!!  It's not ok.  A couple of examples:

Aluminum Chlorhydrate is found in most antiperspirants, it is used to close the pores.  Doctors have found links to that and Alzheimer's disease as well as breast cancer and other illnesses.  (Check out article: http://side-effects.owndoc.com/deodorants-and-antiperspirants-side-effects.php)

Triclosan is an endocrin blocker, it's found in deodorants, toothpaste, anti-bacterial soaps, soaps, shampoos, it's bad but it's FDA approved for you to rub on your body, and use in your mouth.  Here is an excerpt from a great artical on the dangers of the ingredients in commercial deodorants. 

"Triclosan

Triclosan is an artificial antimicrobial chemical used to kill bacteria on the skin and other surfaces. Triclosan is a skin irritant and may cause contact dermatitis. Recent studies suggest this chemical may disrupt thyroid function and other critical hormone systems. The American Medical Association recommends that triclosan and other “antibacterial” products not be used in the home, as they may encourage bacterial resistance to antibiotics that can allow resistant strains to flourish." (http://www.naturalcosmeticnews.com/toxic-products/dangerous-chemicals-in-deodorant-antiperspirant-a-detailed-review-of-the-chemicals-research-avoidance-tips/)

I could go on and on and on! Please take time to take ownership of your health and look up what the chemicals in the products, you use everyday, are capable of doing to your body.  With that said, make sure when you find something natural/organic that you do your research on that.  Everything that claims to be natural, may be labeled natural because the FDA says it was, at one point, from nature.  For example, Artificial Vanilla Flavoring.  How can that be labeled natural and have the word artificial in it?  Here's an excerpt of an artical from Dr. Mercola (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/02/vanilla-flavored-processed-foods.aspx)

"Anal secretions from beavers, which beavers use to mark their territory, smell, ironically, like vanilla. These secretions, called castoreum, may be used as vanilla flavoring in baked goods, pudding, chewing gum and more.1

Here's the rub … you certainly won't see 'beaver anal secretions' on your food labels, and you probably won't see 'castoreum' either. All that has to be listed is vanilla natural flavor, because, after all, beaver anal secretions are natural.

It's clearly absurd that food manufacturers can describe secretions from beaver anal glands as natural vanilla flavor. This isn't a huge health issue, especially because beavers are not a bred animal, and the total consumption of castoreum is thought to be around just 250 pounds a year.2" 

(Refer to the article link above to see the references used)

So, this is an example of how deceptive the FDA approved ingredients can be.  I don't think they use  Beavers Anal secretions that much anymore, since I'm sure they have found a slew of chemicals to mimic the taste.  My question to YOU (yes you),  why not make your own?  I can tell you how.  And you can use it over, over and over again.  

Pure Vanilla Extract:

2-3 Vanilla Beans (you can order them organic, or not, on the web)

A clean, empty glass bottle with a lid

a small bottle of vodka, rum, or any liquor that doesn't have a strong taste.

Slice the beans on a cutting board and drop into the bottle

Pour in the vodka/rum/ To cover the beans. 

Seal tightly

Place in a cool dark place for about 6 months

After each use, refill and shake.  Store in dark, cool place, like your cabinets. 

Bam.  Pure Vanilla extract.  

Don't worry about the liquor, it gets burned off when you cook or bake with it. Doesn't add a liquor flavor if you chose one that doesn't really have a strong flavor. 

As you can see there are many reasons we should know and understand exactly what is in our beauty products, as well as, our food.  I do a lot of research to find out what organic and truly natural products, can benefit us and be used in my deodorants and body care products.  I try each of them on myself and then I have friends, who try to them as well.  I hope you all enjoy my products as much as we do.  I will be using this blog for both "Hey Paw™" recipes and for "Essentially Purely™" blog posts.  

Thanks ever so much for your support.  Please visit www.EssentiallyPurely.com and give us a try. I'm sure you will be so happy you will keep coming back again and again!

Remember! Take ownership of your health!