Perfumes, air fresheners & SCENTED GIFTS
Making your own gifts this year? Share your herbal love with your friends and family. Make perfumes, natural air fresheners and both relaxing and uplifting soaps and bath salts.
Scented rocks
For a modern alternative to potpourri, try these fragrant ‘rocks’. Mix together ½ cup plain flour and ½ cup salt. Add 2/3 cup hot water and ¼ teaspoon of your favourite essential oil, and mix well. Add food colouring, if desired. Shape into ‘rocks’ and allow to dry. Place in a shallow bowl and use to scent a room.
Herbal bath milk
This relaxing and skin-softening blend will have you purring with content.
Ingredients • 2 cups milk powder • 1 cup cornflour • ½ cup dried herbs
Mix together milk powder and cornflour and place in blender. Add dry herbs and blend until smooth. Add ½ cup to your bathwater.
Shower wash bag
This makes a pleasant shower scrub. Use peppermint or eucalyptus if you want a more invigorating scent. Use in the shower when there is no time for a soak in the bath.
Ingredients • ½ cup oatmeal • ½ cup dried herbs (such as lavender, rose petals, mint) • ¼ cup grated castile soap
Place ingredients in a cotton bag and use as a washcloth.
Bathroom air freshener
Scent and disinfect your bathroom with this fragrant air freshener. Keep it beside the toilet and use in place of commercial sprays.
Ingredients • 500ml distilled water • 12 drops lavender essential oil • 12 drops bergamot essential oil • 12 drops lemongrass essential oil • 6 drops sage essential oil • 6 drops thyme essential oil • 6 drops cinnamon essential oil
Fill a pump-spray bottle with 500ml of distilled water, then add the essential oils. Shake before use.
DIY reed air freshener
Reuse an old diffuser bottle, or find a suitable glass container with a narrow neck and of a height where the sticks are twice as tall as the container. Use new reed (bamboo) sticks as old ones may become oversaturated with oil and lose their effectiveness.
Ingredients • ½ cup carrier oil (such as sweet almond or olive oil) • 10 drops of your choice of essential oil • glass bottle • bamboo skewers
Pour carrier oil into your container. Add essential oil and stir. Add bamboo skewers and leave for an hour. After an hour, flip the reeds over so the saturated ends are exposed. Then flip the skewers every day or every second day.
Chocolate-scented soap
Make this delicious smelling soap for special gifts.
Ingredients • 350g grated soap • 150ml water • ¼ cup cocoa powder • ¾ teaspoon chocolate fragrance oil
Place soap and water in a saucepan over medium heat. When the soap has melted, add the cocoa powder and chocolate fragrance. Stir to combine, then pour into molds and allow to set.
Uplifting bath salts
These make great gifts, or use them yourself for a pick-me-up.
Ingredients • 1 cup Epsom salts • 1 tablespoon baking soda • 3 drops lavender essential oil • 3 drops rose geranium essential oil • 3 drops bergamot essential oil • 2 drops frankincense essential oil • purple or pink food colouring (optional)
Combine the Epsom salts and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the oils. Pour the oils and food colouring into the salts and mix well to combine. Store in a glass jar.
Quick & easy passion perfume
Ingredients • 300ml vodka • 3 drops passionflower oil • 3 drops neroli essential oil • 2 drops ylang ylang essential oil
Pour vodka into a jar. Add the oils and shake well. Leave for 1-2 weeks before using.
Romantic mood enhancer Get into
the mood with this sultry fragrance. Place a couple of drops of jasmine, ylang ylang or patchouli on a light bulb in your room to set the mood. When the light is turned on, the heat will disperse the scent. These oils are considered aphrodisiacs.