Happy Detox Bath

Whether you have been working out, traveling a bit too much, or carrying kids all around town, sometimes muscles get really sore. Detoxifying baths can be a quick and easy way to pamper yourself and restore your body. In this post, we’ll talk through the benefits of a detox bath, and I’ll share a recipe on how to make one using activated charcoal, Himalayan pink salt, lavender flowers and essential oils.

Let’s Talk About the Ingredients

Himalayan pink salt contains very high levels of minerals. Minerals are absorbed across the surface of skin. Many people choose to use Epsom salts in baths because magnesium chloride is well-absorbed. Pink salt is a great choice because it not only contains magnesium, but also calcium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, and zinc. Through a process called reverse osmosis, Himalayan pink salt removes toxins from the body. It is also deep cleaning, muscle soothing and relaxing.

Activated charcoal is also powerfully detoxifying. In addition, it deodorizes, purifies and is anti-bacterial.  The lavender and frankincense essential oils are amazing for the skin. And don’t worry. Activated charcoal is water soluble and easily rinses away.

Lavender increases a sense of well-being and reduces the emotions of frustration and anger. Frankincense has a relaxing aroma, and the resinous aroma pairs well with the floral aroma of lavender. You can also rub lavender buds on the skin to gently exfoliate.

Here’s a hack! If your bathtub is built this way, use a piece a cheese cloth to catch all the lavender flowers so they don’t go down the drain!

Happy Detox Bath

Ingredients

1/2 cup Himalayan pink salt

1/2 cup activated charcoal

1 tablespoon lavender buds

6 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops frankincense essential oil

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Store at room temperature. When ready to use, add from 3 tablespoons up to a quarter of a cup to a bath. Relax in the bath for 20-30 minutes.

What is your favorite recipe for a detox bath? Comment below and let us know what you like to use in your bath routine.


Love making bath DIYs? Come check out this post on another detoxifying DIY, the green clay face mask.

Want to learn more about common questions about essential oils? Come check out my book, Essentials: 75 Answers to Common Questions About Essential Oils and Supplements!

On Travel: A Travel Reflection

A few years ago, I was a frequent traveler to the South of France from London. On July 14, 2016, a terrorist drove a car into a crowded town square in Nice. I had dozens of people reach out to me, concerned that I was in Nice at the time. After the incident, a had a lot of people ask me if I planned to cancel future travel to Provence and the surrounding areas. My answer was a resounding “No.” I will continue to travel to France. In fact, I will continue to travel a lot of places people perhaps think I shouldn’t. That people perhaps think are dangerous. That people tell me I have no business going to on my own. To that I say: Thank you for your concern. The universe has my back. Please allow me to indulge in this travel reflection.

On Expansion

My family has been in Alabama since approximately the late 1790s, and most of them are still there. While I have relatives in a few other places: Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, the majority of my family remains in Alabama for generations. When I was a child, I dreamed of moving to New York City. I was raised in my early years in a small Southern Alabama town called Dothan, and when we would come to Birmingham, I thought it was the biggest city I had ever seen. When I first went to New York at age 13, I was in awe. I didn’t know how so much could be packed into such a small area.

I don’t know where the desire to travel, see and do came from. When I was a teenager, my grandmother said “What do I wanna go to Europe for? I’ve never wanted to go to Europe.” I was astonished. I dreamed of seeing every European country, of experiencing cultures older than American culture, of learning languages, and eating all kinds of food from every corner of the earth.

I always wanted more than just living where I had always lived. My mother sometimes accuses me of this making me uppity. Too good for Alabama. That’s not it. I just have always wanted to understand more about this great big world than what I have seen in the past.

When I moved to San Francisco for pharmacy school, my family was (for the most part) horrified. They could not believe that I was choosing to move that far away from home. That I would do something so different. I don’t know why, I always felt the astonishing desire to expand my surroundings.

On Perceived Danger

Since my travels started in my early teens, and really picked up in my early 20s, so many people ask me if I ever get nervous traveling. I can’t say that I never get nervous traveling: I was on a plane that almost went down in 2015. Not fun. I have rounded alleyways at 3 am to find throngs of 6’5″ men in Amsterdam. About-face. I have been on my own for weeks in foreign lands. I have been in groups of people who barely spoke English, where I was the only American, where I was the only white person, where I was the only woman, or the only person without her head covered.

In all of this, I choose to (mostly) ignore what most people see as danger. I have met so many amazing people throughout my travels, and I have lost the ability to see race, ethnicity, clothing, facial hair, religion, or even angry words as a threat. Don’t get me wrong, I do my very best to make good decision

On Choices

What I have learned from all of this is that I choose to believe that people in this world are generally good. I choose to believe that we are all children of a powerful and loving universe, God, divine. I choose to see race, while accepting that we are all just variations on a theme in the eyes of God. I choose to acknowledge clothing as a representation of culture, and not as a threat to me.

Basically my travel reflection is to walk through this world with my eyes open. I share love and peace as often as possible. I pray that the love I give brings love back to me, and amplifies love all around the world.

How do you choose to share love with those around you?


Love this travel reflection? Want more glimpses into my mind? Check out my reflection on 2018.

Peaceful Pup DIY

According to the American Kennel Club, fear, separation, and aging are the three main causes of anxiety in dogs. From loud noises, trips to the vet, separation from owners, changes in routine, and the physical and mental effects of aging, your dog may sometimes need a chill pill.

Back in July, my mom’s dog was freaking out because of the fireworks. While my parents use essential oils, they aren’t as over the moon convinced that they work miracles like I am. This day changed all of that!  I took the dog and placed one drop of lavender in my hand. Then I placed the pad of each paw in my hand. The dog calmed down so quickly and thoroughly, that we were amazed. Since then lavender has been a part of all of our canine car routines.

Check out this Peaceful Pup blend that can help calm your dog naturally.

Peaceful Pup Blend

Vanilla essential oil

Orange essential oil

Lavender essential oil

How to Use It

Diffuse

This is a great blend to put in your diffuser. Simply add 3-5 drops of each of the oils to your diffuser and diffuse near your pet’s kennel or bed.

Spritz

Combine 1-2 drops of each essential oil in a 2-oz. spray bottle. Fill the remainder of the bottle with distilled water. Swirl gently to mix before spritzing on your dog’s back, bedding, or kennel. Be careful to avoid spraying near the face. Dogs sniffers are 400 times more sensitive than humans, so a little bit goes a long way.

Looking for information about the using oils for your pets? Check out this post about the Safety of Essential Oils in Pets.


Ravintsara? What is that For?

Sometimes Essential Oils Can Be Confusing

I mean there are so many options out there, where does one even begin? Especially when the name of the essential oil gets complicated too. I mean what even is ravintsara?

Let’s Geek Out on Some Chemistry

Ravintsara is an essential oil distilled from leaves of the cinnamonium camphora plant. The primary chemical constituent is 1,8-cineole, and it also contains high levels of alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, beta-carophyllene, alpha-terpineol, terpineol, terpenyl acetate, and trace amounts of other compounds.

1,8-cineole is also known as eucalyptol, so the predominant aroma is similar to eucalyptus. Yet, ravintsara is more camphorous smelling.

Phew, Enough Chemistry, How Do I Use It

Because ravintsara smells a lot like eucalyptus, you can use it in very similar ways as you use eucalyptus.

  1. Ravintsara is great for the chest. Check out this DIY Chest Rub that is perfect to apply before a workout, during the winter months, or before taking a flight.
  2. Add to himalayan pink salt or epsom salt for a bath. A long day at work can be exhausting. Or maybe you just need to treat yoself to a spa day at home. Simply combine 1/4 cup of salt with 4-6 drops of essential oil and add to a hot bath. Soak for 20-30 minutes. Bonus challenge: do it in silence with no cell phone!
  3. Summertime means that we are outside in the heat more often, and this Itch Stick is perfect for when you come back in from the heat.

But What about Safety?

There are some concerns about essential oils that are high in 1,8-cineole, especially for people with seizure disorders or in children. Check out this post if you are concerned, check out this post about eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils in children. There is information about 1,8-cineole that also applies to ravintsara.

Have you used ravintsara?

What is your favorite way to use it? Leave a comment below with your most creative way to use ravintsara.

Want to read more about specific essential oils?

Come check out these posts about peppermint, lavender, and tea tree essential oils!