Aromatic Delights You Can Make Yourself

Aromatherapy, what a wonderful way to make yourself feel good both emotionally and physically. Since the 1980's Aromatherapy has been on the forefront of alternative care and now in conventional care. The use of essential oils seems to be commonplace in the home now. The expense of essential oils can be costly but, there are ways to create your own aroma's using the herbs and spices you have in your cabinet and of course your garden. Because it is fall and winter is fast approaching so we will discuss what we can use in your cabinets. Keep in mind that your local health food store (usually independently owned) will carry a lot of dried herbs, spices, flowers and other plants to create the aroma you so desire. Also, your local craft store will carry these items too.
To keep it simple start with 1 to 3 different aroma's. Once you become familiar with how the fragrances blend together you can always add more and remember some are stronger than others and will take over your blend. To start use a small pan filled with about 3-4cups of water place your desired blend about 1/2 cup in the pan bring to a boil and let simmer. You may add to this as you please throughout the day. Here are a few of my favorite blends - especially for the winter to keep your house smelling fresh, and clean. Some of the blends are great to help soothe symptoms of a cold or flu, to alleviate headaches, increase energy and clarity of mind, or just to give you an overall sense of well being.
1. Rosemary, eucalyptus & sage 2. Cinnamon, orange peels & or nutmeg
3. Lavender & rosemary 4. Rosemary & peppermint
5. Sage, rosemary & thyme (hey, isn't that a song - I know parsley is missing) 6. Marjoram & lavender 7. Patchouli & rosemary 8. Lavender & orange peels 9. Patchouli, rose buds & orange peels
Mix and match as you please and some of these are great aroma's alone. If you have any extracts you may also add to the blend. Remember the extract will evaporate quickly due to the alcohol content. Relax and enjoy - be creative!

Take The Call & Read Your Mail

When starting a business and once you have registered yourself with the state and county where you live your business information is available to everyone everywhere. Be prepared, the solicitations begin. But, I do recommend that you take the time to accept the phone calls and read your mail because you never know who or what information there is to help build your business or even your personal life. I am commenting on this because I took the calls and read my mail and have met a couple people that I do plan on working with in the future. One person in particular that I truly enjoyed our conversation is Glenn Reben of Better Marketing Solutions, Inc. greben@socket.net. During our conversation I discovered that he is a rep for 3 different companies offering all natural, cruelty-free, and vegan compatible products. This is somewhat similar to what I offer in my line of skin care products but, I never considered the vegan compatibility issue. Hmm - food for thought. Anyway..back to the subject. We further discussed the products offered and I came to realize that in Glenn's line there are products that will greatly improve your health - especially for those who live with a disease that compromise the auto immune system. I have a few family members that have such a disease and now I will look further into the products that Glenn offers. Whether my relationship with Glenn helps improve my business or my personal life I am glad that I took the call.

Home Office-Scheduling Your Time

This is what my home office looks like. Well, kind of, I pieced together photos I took. Let me introduce to you Melmo one of our cats. He always likes to work with me.
There are advantages of having a home office. Number 1 is that you can set your own hours but, be sure to try and keep a regular schedule without being too rigid. Allow flexibility - interruptions will always happen when working out of the home especially if you have children. Setting priorities as to what needs to be done first and the remainder may be done at night when the house is quiet. What I found to be extremely helpful is getting up early in the morning at 5:30 am. From 5:30 til 7:30 my home is quiet, I check emails, answer emails, check orders, do any important paperwork that requires my full undivided attention, and check my to-do list for the day. It is amazing what you can accomplish in 2 hours without interruptions. This also sets the tone for the rest of the day - when you feel that you have accomplished something it reinforces the positive aspects of having a home based business and the successes you have created. Enjoy - creating your own destiny!

"Honey", Can we talk?

In years past, honey has been used not only as a culinary delight but also for medicinal purposes. Today honey is now becoming more popular with skin care. Studies have shown that honey is high in antioxidants, helps retain moisture and tightens pores. I offer a skin care product called Body Cream that has honey as part of the ingredients along with other important skin healing & moisturizing properties. Actually, it's a lotion but too thick to put in a pump bottle. The Body Cream is packed in an eight ounce jar that allows you to use all the product with no waste. Another one of my products, the French Green Clay Mask is also beneficial to your skin & when combined with honey the results are amazing. To use the French Green Clay simply place about a teaspoon in the palm of your hand add water slowly to create a paste. To increase the benefits add a small amount of honey apply to your face and let sit for about 20 minutes. Rinse and apply my Facial Butter.