BATH BAG HERBS At natural food stores you can get little muslin bags that can be used to hold the herbs. If you can't find them, sew one up yourself, or just place the herbs in an old sock tied up at the open end, or a washcloth with the herbs tied into a bundle. These herbs can be mixed together and presented in a jar with directions for use. 1 Tbsp. dried lavender blossoms 1 Tbsp. dried rosemary 1 Tbsp. dried mint, your choice 1 Tbsp. dried chamomile blossoms Mix the herbs together and place in a bath bag, closing tightly. Put the bag in 1 quart of boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let the bag sit in water until cool. Add the infusion and bag to a tub of running warm water. Soak in the tub and inhale the aroma, using the bag of herbs as a washcloth.	BATH SALTS (Herbal essential oils are distilled directly from large quantities of individual herbs. They are very concentrated and must only be used in very small quantities. Using more essential oils than what is stated in any recipe can result in irritation to the skin. Despite being called oils, essential oils are quite volatile substances that evaporate when exposed to heat and air. It is safest to use essential oils diluted in another substance. In this recipe they are diluted in salt to be dissolved into bath water. Do not confuse herbal essential oils with fragrance oils, which are synthetically derived.) 1 cup sea salt or coarse salt 20 drops of herbal essential oil or oils of your choice (A good choice would be essential oil of lavender, rose geranium, ylang-ylang, or rose. A mixture of more than one essential oil can make a lovely scented bath salt. Examples of a mixture to use would be lavender and lemon, rose and lemon, ylang-ylang and orange. Use your nose to help you decide what smells the best.) Place the salt in a glass bowl or measuring cup. Add the essential oil a drop at a time. Stir after each addition of essential oil. Cover and let the mixture sit for 2 hours, then stir again. Cover and let it sit again for 2 more hours. Store the bath salts in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. To use, pour º cup of the salts into the running water of your bath tub. After the salts have dissolved, get into the tub for a fragrant soak.
AFTER BATH OIL I do not like to call this oil "bath oil" because I do not approve of pouring the oil in the bathtub. It floats on top of the water and coats your skin as you get out of the tub where you promptly rub it off with a towel. Then, the leftover oil coats your tub when the water is drained out, making it slick and hazardous for anyone getting in and out of the tub. This is an easy recipe to make and the quality of the oil is much better than most commercial products. 1 Tbsp. base oil (sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, avocado oil, whichever you choose, or a combination of two or more of the oils.) 4 drops of herbal essential oil of your choice Mix the two ingredients together. For gift giving, mix up a larger quantity of the two ingredients and place in a decorative bottle. Pierce and squeeze the contents of 2-400 IU Vitamin E gelcaps to the mixture as a natural preservative. To use: Rub the oil into your skin before a bath or shower so that the warm water will help the oil to absorb, or massage into your skin after a bath or shower. This oil can also be used as a massage oil.	OATMEAL FACE MASK Oatmeal is a common kitchen product that is completely overlooked for body care. This recipe uses oatmeal as a face mask. It is good for just about any skin type and is particularly soothing to dry itching skin. 1 Tbsp. ground oatmeal 1 tsp. ground dried herb of your choice (Good choices for skin are lavender blossoms, thyme leaves, lemon balm, sage, or calendula blossoms.) A coffee grinder is a good and easy way to grind up herbs to be used in this recipe. Mix the two ingredients together. Add water a teaspoonful at a time until the mixture is spreadable. Spread on your face and let it dry, then rinse off with lukewarm water. For gift giving, put the oatmeal and ground dried herb into a container and attach instructions for use.
BODY POWDER Several old standbys can be used in this recipe for body powder. Arrowroot powder is a silky white powder that I like to use as my base. It has a nicer feel than cornstarch, which is in many body powder recipes. Clay is added to prevent the powder from clumping. The baking soda adds to the powder's ability to absorb odors. 1 cup arrowroot powder 1 Tbsp. white clay 1 Tbsp. baking soda 5 drops of herbal essential oil of your choice Mix the arrowroot powder, clay, and baking soda together. Add the essential oil of your choice and mix well. Let the mixture sit covered in a glass container for several hours. This gives the essential oil a chance to be absorbed into the powder. Put the powder into a shaker container. Store any leftover powder in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. To package these products for gift giving, be creative. Save old decorative bottles and jars. Many containers can be found at garage sales and flea markets for very little money. Make up several of these body care products and put them into a basket that you found at that last garage sale you went to before the weather turned cold. If you're crafty, a simple drawstring bag can be sewn up and used for gift giving. Use your imagination& the sky's the limit!	DO YOU KNOW...HOW TO BEAT A COLD? Echinacea (purple coneflower) is truly an "American Beauty." Lovely to behold as an ornamental flower, this herb is native to the prairies of North America, and for centuries Native Americans relied on it for more medicinal purposes than any other plant. Today, echinacea is highly regarded for its antibacterial and antiviral activity, as well as its ability to stimulate the immune system. It's widely used to boost resistance to colds and flu viruses, and to help heal infections. If you feel like you're catching a cold, taking echinacea could well minimize the symptoms or cut the duration of the cold in half. I used echinacea myself last year when the temperatures were fluctuating during the changing seasons, and for the first time in years I didn't catch a cold! Christopher Hobbs, AllHerb's chief herbalist, says echinacea is thought to work most efficiently when taken in cycles of two weeks on and one week off, or ten days on and four days off. People with AIDS or chronic auto-immune ailments, such as lupus, should NOT take it. Echinacea side effects/ contraindications/ interactions.