Extremely Dry Weather in the Pacific Northwest Effects the Wild Herbs too!

It has been unusually hot here in the Pacific Northwest this Summer. Summer officially started on June 20th, but around here, it normally doesn’t get hot till late July!  So when the temperatures are hot and the rain is nowhere to be seen, it also effects all of my herbs that grow here on the farm, cultivated and Wild.

Todays Harvest of Wild Red Clover!

The season is on for harvesting wild blackberries, wild blueberries, mints: peppermint & spearmint, as well as some other beneficial herbs such as Wild Red Clover! I use the Wild Red Clover in my teas, as well as sell it in bulk.

It is helpful for the following reasons:

♦It helps the body get rid of excess fluid, in turn clearing the lungs of mucous. This may be helpful for allergies associated with runny noses and congestion!

♦it improves circulation and helps clear toxins from the liver. This can in turn provide extra energy as the liver is the workhorse of the body that needs all the help it can get!

♦It is also helpful for women who are needing additional estrogen in their body, as it acts this way in the body.

♦In the ways it helps, please consult your Dr. if you are already taking a diuretic or Estrogen replacement.

So today, I was excited to get some of the Wild Red Clover picked for drying! You can purchase some already dried in bulk here on my website. You can make the tea in large quantities in a mason jar or get a stainless steel tea ball here on my website to use on a cup-per-cup basis.

Please leave a comment answering the question………………..

HAVE YOU TRIED WILD RED CLOVER TEA BEFORE?

No Lye = No Soap

Jasmine Soap

Over the years that I have been making soap, there have always been questions customers have for me about my products. Today I am addressing the most frequent question I receive about my SOAP!

“Do you use LYE to make your soap?” My Answer is YES!

Yes, I use LYE to make my soap BUT the soap no longer contains Lye once it has combined with the oils and cured!

Without LYE, also known as Sodium Hydroxide, you cannot have soap!! Even glycerin bars, melt & pour bars, liquid soap…….ALL SOAP requires either Sodium Hydroxide(LYE for bar soap) or Potassium Hydroxide(LYE for Liquid soap) to make it soap. You see, Sodium Hydroxide is a chemical that is harmful ALONE! When you combine it with the right ratio of oils & water, it binds to the molecular structure of each producing a COMPLETELY different element, SOAP!

The end result is no longer, Lye, Oils OR water, but a combination of all to produce the soap!

The Babylonians were the ones who invented soap at 2800 B.C. when the mixing of animal fats & ashes produced a cleansing product used for utensils & skin conditions. Even today, Lye CAN be made from ashes, rock and hay in a large wooden barrel. Now, Lye is produced commercially so it can be calibrated for modern recipes using exact measurements, thus refined for exactness. It is still a caustic substance that can harm you if touched!

Do not approach Lye lightly. ALL precautions MUST be taken when handling it and making soap. The Saponification of the Lye & Oils, (chemical reaction that creates soap) happens over time.

Here I am mixing the Lye into the water wearing ALL of my protective gear!

Here you see me mixing the Lye with the water. I am wearing protective eye wear, long gloves and an apron. I am also mixing on a newspaper lined table in my work station AWAY from children, pets and distractions! This is the MOST important!

Getting the right temperature before combining the Lye into the oil!

After the Lye has come to the 100-98 degree temperature, I then mix it with the oils of the same temperature. It immediately starts swirling in the pan, showing me that the two are combining.

The oils & Lye start combining!

I then stir and “mix” with my immersion blender. This helps speed things along. You CAN use just a spatula or spoon to stir, but it does take much longer, as I have tried this method, before learning about the immersion blender 🙂

“Pudding” like consistency tells me it is ready to pour!

Then after it has produced a “pudding-like” texture, I pour it into wooden molds lined with freezer paper for easy removal once it is set.

Clay Tea Tree Soap Just poured into the mold!

It sits, covered, for 24-48 hours before being cut. It still MAY contain some traces of Lye in the water molecules left in the soap, so I handle WITH my gloves on!

Clay Tea Tree Soap Curing

They then are exposed to air for 4 weeks minimum, being rotated every day for even drying. They are then ready to use, OR the best option would be to let them dry/cure longer!

**Why CURE soap?**

There is a reason for “curing” the soap. This is to allow the traces of lye that may remain in the left over water found in the soap to evaporate. The longer the soap sits, the better! It will harden up nicely and last much, much longer!

Did you know that the longer it sits, the better it gets?

Soap is not going to “go bad”, it will actually get BETTER! For example, there is one bar from last year that I found in my toiletry bag used for travelling. When I used it recently on an overnight outing, it lathered up MORE than before and was VERY hard! Even though I used it frequently for a few days, it looked as though I had not used it at all!! This just goes to show that the longer it sits, the longer it lasts 🙂

Organic Cinnamon Roll Soap

*So the take away from this post is:

~Without Lye you do not have soap of ANY type!

~4 weeks minimum is needed before soap is ready to use.

~The longer it sits the better it gets!

~Keep soap well drained & dry in-between uses so it lasts longer! *************************************************************************

I will be covering different questions that are frequently sent to me about my products!

♦Do you have any questions about my products that you want answered?

♦Do you understand the basics of soap making and how LYE is on every soap?

Please leave your comments below!

Honey Bee Holistics Wellness Series continues: Your skin is what you……..PUT ON IT!

How often do you think about how the products you put on your skin affect your overall health?
There is actually quite a bit of research tied in with how the products you put on your skin DO affect your health.
Check out the information provided by the David Suzuki Foundation who is a leader in the Green Living ways here on the Dirty Dozen Toxic Ingredients found in conventional beauty products!

The Foundation reports that “One in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. Many products include plasticizers (chemicals that keep concrete soft), degreasers (used to get grime off auto parts), and surfactants (they reduce surface tension in water, like in paint and inks). Imagine what that does to your skin, and to the environment.”

I would like to conduct an experiment with you right now!! Go into your bathroom and pull out a bottle or package of one of your favorite products you use everyday and check out the ingredients. Does the ingredient list contain any of the following:
♦DMDM hydantoin
♦diazolidinyl urea
♦imidazolidinyl urea
♦methenamine or quarternium-15

If so, then you are applying a formaldehyde containing preservative to your body! It not only is absorbed into your skin to then be included in your bloodstream, but slowly off-gasses so you then breathe it in too! Check out this article to go deeper in the explanation of this.

The harm is that when they slowly release small amounts of formaldehyde, you are exposed to cancer causing components.

Did you find any of THESE ingredients in the list?
♦Paraben
♦Methylparaben
♦Butylparaben
♦Propylparaben

These preservatives are known to be endoctrine disruptors and can cause allergic reactions in some individuals!

Why is it so important to consider WHAT you put on your skin? Lets talk about a skin pore for a moment and how it relates to the body!

The skin is your bodies LARGEST organ that is mostly overlooked as a possible entrance into the body and its health.
Check out this graphic of a skin pore and how the hair follicle is directly linked to your bloodstream!

source

It may be said by some manufacturers that , “A little bit won;t hurt you and give you cancer”. Maybe not, but a plethora of products ALL COMBINED over the course of a day, even a lifetime adds up. Your skin absorbs the toxins, then it is filtered to your liver. When your liver can no longer handle the toxic overload from all of the perfumes, preservative containing products AND environmental toxins you can do nothing about, it has to go SOMEWHERE??

A lot of toxins are stored in our body fat to make sure it is far enough away from our vital organs for preservation of the body to continue functioning. Just consider for a moment all of the products you use on a daily basis. Make a list if you feel inclined to do so, then start with ONE product replacement.

WHAT do you use instead?? This is one of the BIGGEST questions I asked myself when I started my journey to whole wellness. I didn’t start out making ALL of my products I use everyday, but started with ONE and added on as I felt ready to do so!
Here are a few ideas for you!

♦Start with changing your deodorant to one without aluminum. Here is the one I make that is my BEST SELLER!

♦Start with changing your body lotion! This is my Best Selling one for the whole family!

♦Start with changing the Soap you wash with! Bar soap has just as many suds as the liquid body washes do when you rub it in circles on a pouf! Check out my soaps here!

NOW tell me in the comments below : WHAT ITEM ARE YOU STARTING OUT WITH CHANGING FIRST? WHAT WOULD BE THE HARDEST TO CHANGE AND WHY?

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