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In this newsletter we will try to help you further
your knowledge and use of essential oils.
Physical
After the Flu or a Cold – What to do with that lingering cough?
by Penny Keay
As this flu and cold season is in full swing many of us that have already had the flu or a
cold may have a cough that just seems to linger on and on. What can you do to help speed this sometimes annoying symptom left over from being sick?
Coughing is a normal and natural reaction of the body to get rid of foreign debris, namely
dead cells and mucous, from the lungs and bronchial tubes. Coughing is not necessarily a
bad thing, but can certainly interrupt our lives as we recuperate. Sleeping and rest are needed
and are so necessary to our health and well being can become very disturbed due to coughing.
Not to mention bothering those around us.
Although essential oils aren’t capable of suppressing coughs, it can help you to have a more
productive cough. If mucous is thick or the cough is a dry tickle using essential oils in a diffuser,
steam room or in a hot bath can often ease these conditions and allow you to get on the road to feeling better.
Some of the best known essential oils to help with coughs and congestion are any of the
camphorous ones,
Eucalyptus radiata and
Eucalyptus globulus being the two most widely known.
But if you don’t like their strong smells you can always use
Cajeput or
Rosemary.
Niaouli is also very helpful when it comes to relief.
Other essential oils that are helpful include:
Sweet Marjoram,
Ravensara,
Niaouli,
Pine needle ,
Tea Tree,
Cypress,
Hyssop,
Thyme,
Peppermint
Frankincense,
Lavender and
Sandalwood.
Myrtle has also been used by a couple of our customers and they have had great results with their chronic and lingering coughs.
We have several synergy blends that are very helpful to help your breathing and congestion.
They also help as expectorants. They include
Pure Cleansing blend ,
Respiratory Blend and
Easy Breathe Blend.
Using any of these in a bath or in a bowl of warm water and inhaled will help make breathing easier
and help relieve your coughing for a little while. If you find an essential oil that works for you, be
sure to carry it in a nasal inhaler and use it whenever your cough gets out of hand. (Drinking a little warm water with fresh squeezed lemon and honey helps too!)
Breathe a Little Easier Blend
Myrtle - 15 drops
Thyme linalool – 5 drops
Eucalyptus radiata - 5 drops
Niaouli - 5 drops
Lavender – 5 drops
Blend well and use one of these ways - Put in about 10 drops in a bowl of steaming hot water and let the steam fill the air
Place several drops on a tissue or use in a Personal inhaler.
Put 3-5 drops in a carrier oil and massage over the chest and back.
This blend is great for children.
Be sure to use our Search Box at the top of this page and our Catalog pages to do searches for other concerns related to
coughing such as bronchitis, colds and influenza, croup, sinusitis and asthma. You may find any number of
other suggestions and recipes that will be helpful to your speedy recovery.
God Speed and get well as the Holidays are upon us and you don’t want to miss out on all the festivities!!
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Emotional
Holiday Stress – When will it ever be better?
by Penny Keay
Everyone loves and maybe even ‘hates’ this time of the year.
Not that they really hate it, but it can be very stressful for some folks.
Often times the stress can be self induced because of the expectations we place on ourselves to
make everything perfect. Of course with the economic conditions throughout the world, financial
concerns can make things worse.
Some things to help include: following a budget. Making homemade gifts can be very special when made
with the love. Simple items that don’t cost much to make can be given to those you have always given to before
when you have limited funds. Most folks will appreciate anything homemade. Making bath salts or a soft scented lotion or hand cream is also easy to do.
Make sure you are eating right. You don’t have to make elaborate meals or spend hours baking in the kitchen.
Have fun during the holidays, involve the kids or your spouse or even invite the neighbors or an elderly relative to help decorate. They would love the companionship.
And invite them for your simple meal.
To spend more time with our family, especially when our kids were growing up, we always made Christmas day a Sandwich day.
I never cooked on Christmas day as it was family time. Playing games and enjoying time together.
So we made large trays with a variety of cheeses and meats. We had lots of fresh finger veggies and
fruits too. And we had whole grain breads – mainly these wonderful Kaiser rolls from our local bakery.
We ate good, healthy foods with little fuss. No one ever went hungry and we ate and enjoyed our time together.
Of course I had baked all the other goodies weeks before that were also our favorites!
The last thing that is so important this time of year is taking time for you and getting enough rest.
With so much activities going on and everything having a deadline you might be pushing yourself way too hard.
Here is where you can use more of these wonderful essential oils. Sit back and diffuse a few of your
favorite essential oils while you are writing your holiday cards and letters. And after a day of house cleaning
(did you remember to add some essential oils to your cleaning bucket?) enjoy a hot bath with some relaxing essential oils like a simple blend of
Lavender and Neroli .
Neroli is very good to help you distress but of course there are others. More oils great at helping with stress include:
Ylang-Ylang ,
Eucalyptus (specifically Eucalyptus citriodora ),
Roman Chamomile ,
Geranium ,
Clary Sage,
Sandalwood,
Petitgrain and
Mandarin .
Other oils such as: Bergamot ,
Melissa,
Rose ,
Vetiver
Jasmine ,
Nutmeg,
Frankincense,
Grapefruit,
Lemon,
Sweet Marjoram,
Bay laurel ,
Yarrow and
Litsea Cubeba, , can give varying degrees of stress relief also.
Try this blend to help with Mild Holiday Stress
Sweet Marjoram - 15 drops
Ylang-Ylang - 15 drops
Mandarin - 15 drops
Neroli – 10 drops
Mix in an glass bottle. Diffuse as needed. This blend can be used in a
Personal Diffuser such as Terra Cotta Disc
or Terra Cotta Pendants in a
fan diffuser or
tart warmers .. This is a very uplifting blend.
Don’t forget, you don’t need to stress over the Holidays.
They come each year and you know what you need to do. Make your lists, check them twice and soon you’ll be all ready to sit back and enjoy the end of the year with less stress.
Take a deep breath and inhale your favorite essential oils and relax.
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Beauty – Skin Care
Dry Chapped Skin
by Penny Keay
Winter has entered the picture and so has the problem of chapped skin.
For most folks the two areas that are most commonly affected are their hands and their lips.
Protection from the cold is very important but even if you take precautions you could still experience chapping.
Al and I recently got two darling little puppies. Agate (Aggie) and Tanzanite (Tanzi) are Papillion’s
and are 4 months old. Now, I don’t normally have any problems with chapped hands even though while working
our Aromatherapy business I was my hands many times a day.
But now with two new puppies that require me to wash my hands even more frequently I have noticed that my
hands are more susceptible to chapping. Winter has arrived this past week and with the cold temps the humidity in our home has also dropped considerably.
One of the most important solutions to dry skin problems is to make sure you are drinking enough water.
When it’s cold, many folks lose their desire to drink cold drinks and water is best when served cold.
So, it only holds true (and it is with me too) their water consumption drops.
I knew a very wonderful and healthy ‘Finnish’ (Scandinavian) Lady that would drink plain hot water this time of the year.
I always thought it was a little odd, but she knew she needed to keep herself hydrated. Just like most of us she didn’t
like cold water in the winter and didn’t drink coffee or tea. So she drank hot water (she actually heated it on the stove in a tea kettle).
She usually drank it plain but once in a while she added a little fresh squeezed lemon juice and a little honey. She had the most beautiful skin.
The next thing is to try to keep the ‘moisture’ locked in your skin. The best way to do this is to apply moisturizing lotions and creams.
You can always add a little of your favorite essential oils such as Lavender or Rose .
Both of these are great at helping your skin stay healthy as both have great skin healing properties.
If you have specific problems with your skin there are many other essential oils that may be more beneficial.
To help heal and encourage the growth of new skin cells you should apply a cream or oil that has one of two
of the following oils added.
Lavender,
Carrotseed,
Geranium ,
Neroli ,
Rosemary,
Sandalwood,
Roman Chamomile ,
Jasmine ,
Rose , and
Rosewood. A little
Peppermint added to your lotion will help stimulate the skins own oil glands to produce more oil.
So the 3 most important things to do for Chapped Skin are:
1) Protect it as much as possible from extreme temperature changes.
Exposure even for a few minutes to subnormal temperatures can cause damage.
2) Help prevent moisture loss by applying a good lotion or body oil. You don't necessarily
need a lot, but you should try to apply something to help "lock" in the moisture.
3) Also, remember to drink plenty of liquids. Many folks forget to drink plenty of fluids
in the cooler winter months. Did you know that in the winter, you can become dehydrated very fast?
The best thing to drink? Plain water. Yeah I know you've been told it before, but Water really is the best!
Once the skin is dry and chapped, you will really need to protect it from further damage. My favorite choice is using my
Penny’s Cream de La Creme.
It is made with a blend of Jojoba, Rosehip seed oil and Sorbolene cream and other lotion components along with
Lavender
and Rose oils added to help heal. I use this blend at bedtime and by the morning my hands are healed and ready for another day of hand washing!
Now, as for the puppies, they are very cute and of course Al and I have our hands full as it’s been nearly
20 years since we have had puppies in the home! We still have our one Yorkie –
Pearl who really doesn’t care for these ‘intruders’. Can’t blame her as she is nearly 16 years old and definitely a grand old lady!
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Around the House and Garden
A Quick Fix for the Carpet when you don’t have time to Shampoo it!
by Penny Keay
The holidays are just around the corner and time is running short. What can you do quickly to freshen that carpeting?
A quick and easy fix is to sprinkle some baking soda or borax crystals mixed with a few essential oils.
Let it sit for a little while, then with a clean bag in your vacuum cleaner vacuum the rug thoroughly.
Here is a recipe to use. But you can always pick one of your other favorite recipes
you use to clean around the house or pick one from the many found in our
Aromatherapy Recipes Using Pure Essential oils Volume 1 Book
Please keep pets and children off the carpet after you have applied the powder mixture and until you vacuum it up.
Carpet Cleaning and Deodorizer
6 Tablespoon Borax or Baking Soda
3 drops Lemon
1 drop Clary Sage
5 drops Lavender
1 drop Grapefruit
Mix all ingredients and sprinkle on carpet.
Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes and then vacuum thoroughly.
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BIRCH HILL HAPPENINGS NEWS
Hello Everyone,
Season Greetings this end of the year Holiday Season!!
Wow!! Have we been busy! Not only have we been busy shipping out your orders but we have been busy creating new products for you too.
But before I get going there I need to let you know what else has been keeping us occupied.
As you read above we have two new puppies. We really weren’t planning on getting any but well,
we couldn’t resist. As many of you might know we have been pet owners all of our lives.
We have had Yorkies for the past 20 years. Our oldest Yorkie Pearl is still around, but at 15 ½ she
is really showing her age and although active she is slowing way down.
Well, we had a meeting for Coffee and Conversation with a few of our Customers in the
St. Cloud MN area back the first part of November. This meeting was a great success and
we plan on having more throughout Minnesota over the next few months. We also have many
customers in Wisconsin and may try to set up something similar there too. Anyway, we were
there for the weekend getting a little R & R before the Holiday shopping season started for our online sales.
I couldn’t resist and of course we went to the Pet Shop in the Mall there. Oh boy, they had 3 little Papillion’s.
Two of them were little girls and I wanted two females – either Yorkies or Papillion’s. Well.
Al said when I was sitting on the floor playing with them; he knew right then and there they would be
coming home with us! He named his Agate as she has a ‘band’ of color across her back – kind
of like an Agate does. And well, sticking with our Gemstone theme of naming dogs and my love for the
Tanzanite stone, I named mine Tanzi for short.
So after 20 years since a tiny puppy was in our home we had to get set up to bring them home.
We were in St. Cloud for the weekend and of course had to go ‘baby’ shopping. Crates, house
training aids, toys, blankets, etc. Anyway, they are making our lives full of joy these past few weeks as
we learn all those things about owning puppies. They are tiny – at 16 weeks they are only 3 ½ lbs and 4 lbs. So they are our babies!
Okay, now on to the new products we have been busy with for you. Many of you have requested large
r bottles of our massage oils and also to have some put into Roll-on bottles. SOOOOO…
We have done that. We have also changed the carrier oils in our formulas so they will have a
longer shelf life. We still recommend you use them within one year but if they are left unopened they may be fine after that time.
Don’t forget too, that all our Massage oils etc are mixed FRESH for you when you order.
There is one exception and that is the Bug Away Sprays that comes from one of our suppliers.
But all the other blends are made FRESH for you!!
We have NEW Blends for Labor & Delivery, Super Back Rub, Super Muscle Rub, Foot Rubs, Hair Tonic and many
more so be sure to check out our NEW Fresh for you Blends!!
We have new Scented Aroma Beads
in a small covered decorative Glass Jar.
They are dainty and are great for gifts too. We tint the beads with a little bit of colored
dyes to make them bright and cheerful. We have started with several of our Synergy
blends for choices but if you would like to see a different scent just let us know!
There are two new Blenders Kit.
There is a larger blender’s kit and a starter blender’s kit.
Either kit is useful and has something for those just starting out and another for those very
serious about their blending of aromatherapy ideas.
The Aromatherapists Dream has also been revised.
Many of you have asked for there to be larger
quantities of some of the essential oils. The new Dream kit still is great for those wanting to really
delve into their new found hobby. You do get a nice savings over purchasing individually and of course it ships for free!
We have added two new Ceramic Warming Pads.
They are a Marbled Green and Marbled Burgundy,
two popular colors this time of the year. Please check out the Copper – punched tart warmers all metal diffuser
They use a light bulb to melt the wax. They are beautiful and durable.
Please visit our WHAT'S NEW Page for other new items since our last newsletter or What’s new announcement.
And before we forget, we wish you and yours the Happiest and Joyous Holiday Season ever! A
nd may the New Year bring goodness to you and good Health throughout the years.
As always, if you have suggestions, questions or comments please feel free to send us an e-mail to
bhhinfo@birchhillhappenings.com
and
we will get back to you as soon as possible.
‘til next month,
Yours in Aromatherapy,
Alan and Penny
E-mail us at bhhinfo@birchhillhappenings.com
CLICK HERE TO Start SHOPPING!!!
CLICK HERE to SEE WHAT'S NEW!!
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