itchy scalp remedy

[Savage Daughter]

One thing I forgot to mention - at the risk of sounding even more long-winded @Zany_in_CO LOL - is that you can also put your essential oils into your witch hazel spray bottle. Shake well before using, do *not* an an emulsifier. You can even infuse your witch hazel with the dry herbs in a quart jar along with your essential oils. Just keep out of light & away from heat while infusing for a good 30 days. Top of the fridge is not a good spot A cool, dark cupboard is perfect. Give it a good shake now & then to help the infusion along. GLASS only! No plastic or metal.

Anyways, I am back to gold leafing & bejewelling shells for a wedding gift basket of my products I need for tomorrow....not as fun as it sounded this morning, 12 hours ago, when I got 'inspired' and started. Actually, thinking about @KiwiMoose's stunning creations were the initial inspiration, and then I lost my d@mn mind & went into overdrive hahaha

Next time this kind of stellar idea smacks me upside the head, I will be using gold spray paint! Gold leaf is evil stuff, I tell ya

 

[Savage Daughter]

@QuasiQuadrant Whew! That was quite a read. Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge!


View attachment 74213

Actually, that was very basic stuff!

You're welcome

 

[Shelley D]

One thing I forgot to mention - at the risk of sounding even more long-winded @Zany_in_CO LOL - is that you can also put your essential oils into your witch hazel spray bottle. Shake well before using, do *not* an an emulsifier. You can even infuse your witch hazel with the dry herbs in a quart jar along with your essential oils. Just keep out of light & away from heat while infusing for a good 30 days. Top of the fridge is not a good spot A cool, dark cupboard is perfect. Give it a good shake now & then to help the infusion along. GLASS only! No plastic or metal.

Anyways, I am back to gold leafing & bejewelling shells for a wedding gift basket of my products I need for tomorrow....not as fun as it sounded this morning, 12 hours ago, when I got 'inspired' and started. Actually, thinking about @KiwiMoose's stunning creations were the initial inspiration, and then I lost my d@mn mind & went into overdrive hahaha

Next time this kind of stellar idea smacks me upside the head, I will be using gold spray paint! Gold leaf is evil stuff, I tell ya

I love the "folk method" for infusing oils ~ hadn't realized it could be done with witch hazel (clapping hands with glee!) Time to rotate out my larger glass bottles that are more than half empty into smaller bottles so I can start new infusions!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Zany_in_CO LOL - is that you can also put your essential oils into your witch hazel spray bottle. Shake well before using, do *not* add an emulsifier.

I like that idea!

Actually, thinking about @KiwiMoose's stunning creations were the initial inspiration,

When I asked if she used a template, she replied: "No I don't use a template for my work, I just start with a middle dot, and go from there." I was gobsmacked!

As a recent recipient of one of her stunning creations, I just stare at it and wonder... How does she do that?!

This work of art was painted on a 45 RPM repurposed vinyl record. The label on the reverse side says: "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini". Makes me LOL

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Actually, that was very basic stuff!

I know! Unfortunately, there are very few herbalists that frequent SMF and their posts are mostly ignored. I didn't want what you wrote to receive the same fate.

While not nearly as extensive as yours, my research and experimentation with herbal remedies occurred when I was a member of the Southern Soapmakers Yahoo Group (now defunct). Over the years, I've had some soaping buddies that enjoyed making herbal soaps and home remedies using herbs and/or essential oils.

My investment of time was cut short for 10 years (2007 - 2017) while making soap for a few wholesale customers to sell. Not much time to play during those years, although I did develop some products for arthritis and pain relief for sore muscles and aching joints that I still make today.

 

[Savage Daughter]

I like that idea! View attachment 74254

When I asked if she used a template, she replied: "No I don't use a template for my work, I just start with a middle dot, and go from there." I was gobsmacked!

As a recent recipient of one of her stunning creations, I just stare at it and wonder... How does she do that?!

View attachment 74255

This work of art was painted on a 45 RPM repurposed vinyl record. The label on the reverse side says: "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini". Makes me LOL View attachment 74256

Wow, that is freakin' gorgeous! OMG! That is super inspirational!

I understand the zone she gets into, believe me, as that's the zone I get into with plants. If anyone saw how I interact with plants, how I meditate with them, how I sing to them, how I become emotional with them, how I become absorbed in working with them, harvesting them, formulating with them, it would border on watching an insane person, I am sure I truly love what I do in a way I cannot describe, which is soul work, and am infinitely grateful for having this connection

But I have yet to turn out something like what @KiwiMoose does. This is also the kind of work that comes from the soul, from complete & total absorption in what a person is creating, and I say that very seriously. It's like a personal dimensional shift. When someone truly loves doing something, it comes through in pieces like this. The creation is them, and they are the creation. That's exactly how I feel with my own creations.

I save photos of her work for times when I feel stuck, needing a boost of personal inspiration

 

[Savage Daughter]

I love the "folk method" for infusing oils ~ hadn't realized it could be done with witch hazel (clapping hands with glee!) Time to rotate out my larger glass bottles that are more than half empty into smaller bottles so I can start new infusions!

When infusing with hazel, be sure to read your ingredients labels, MSDS sheets, whatever the case may be, always Know what is IN your witch hazel before starting, other than witch hazel. Much like 'aloe vera' you buy in the store, it can be full of a lot of other garbage. I buy gallon jugs of alcohol free witch hazel from New Directions Aromatics because I know what's in it. I would suggest keeping your main container of witch hazel infusion in the fridge once you have strained the dry plant material you used to keep it fresh as long as possible. Just keep a small bottle out for day to day usage & refill as necessary. This is not necessary if using just essential oils.

Make sure your herbs are dry as well until you understand how to work with fresh plants. It can be done, I make infused honeys this way, but I know what I need to do with fresh plants. I infuse fresh dandelions, cotton wood buds, St John's Wort & other plants into oils, but this is something you need to understand how to do properly.

Understand that no preparation which is made naturally - without preservatives / emulsifiers / stabilizers & so on - is meant to last forever. If it's going off, that is the plants letting you know that what you have extracted / infused is no longer in optimal condition for usage or that you have not stored it in an optimal manner, which means it's time to harvest fresh plants, dry them, and make a new batch.

Be sure that you understand that this is for home use. What I use at home on a regular basis, for many years, often does not end up on store shelves, simply because I know that preserving it in a manner which makes it 'stable' long-term does not result in what I consider a safe, non-toxic product. I can make a fresh batch of water / witch hazel based infusion for myself at any time. I can also keep these products in my fridge at home if necessary, and I sometimes do. I am not yet satisfied that my water-based decoctions or witch hazel infusions can be stabilized with natural ingredients / preservatives that are non-toxic, which would allow me to sell them to my local stores. That's still something I'm working on as it's my goal to keep all of my products non-toxic as well as shelf-stable.

Most importantly, enjoy the process, do your research, buy books written by authors such as Matthew Wood & many others & have fun learning

 

[Savage Daughter]

I know! Unfortunately, there are very few herbalists that frequent SMF and their posts are mostly ignored. I didn't want what you wrote to receive the same fate.

My neighbour calls me 'medicine woman'. I was stunned the first time she called me this I have never called myself a herbalist because people have preconceived notion of what a 'herbalist' is, and often that 'real' herbalists have some kind of piece of paper which bestows upon them that label. This is absolute nonsense. There are many kinds of people who work with plants for the purpose of healing, including grandmothers & mothers who make herbal remedies which their grandmothers passed on to them for their own grandchildren. I am making use of my ancestral knowledge, and continuing to educate myself because I love working with plants in a way I cannot possibly explain. They are life, they are sacred, they are healers, they were put here for our use to maintain our health & wellness, in all ways.

People have been taught to fear plant medicine, sadly. Or to despise it & deride it, strangely. This is THE original medicine, used safely & effectively for thousands of years. Even 'poisonous' plants have their use in natural medicine, and even in pharmaceuticals. With these, it is the dose which is important, and some plants should NOT be used by just anyone at home. That's why we used to have village healers, those who were highly skilled & knowledgeable - most of whom had no formal 'education' - who are now called 'quacks'. If it wasn't effective or safe for all of those years, none of us would be here today. We would have killed ourselves off. Western medicine is a very new thing, yet people put their faith in pills, injections, being irradiated & sliced & diced before they would ever go to a herbalist, naturopath or homeopath, before they would ever go out & eat a handful of dandelion blossoms or chew up some plantain or comfrey.

While not nearly as extensive as yours, my research and experimentation with herbal remedies occurred when I was a member of the Southern Soapmakers Yahoo Group (now defunct). Over the years, I've had some soaping buddies that enjoyed making herbal soaps and home remedies using herbs and/or essential oils.

Those are some of the people who have a more recent ancestral background in using plants as home medicine. I would love to sit down with these people & learn from them, learn from each other. Very glad to know that there are pockets of us everywhere

My investment of time was cut short for 10 years (2007 - 2017) while making soap for a few wholesale customers to sell. Not much time to play during those years, although I did develop some products for arthritis and pain relief for sore muscles and aching joints that I still make today.

Yes, unresolved pain - of all sorts - is one of the biggest issues people talk to me about, and which their doctors have had no answers for. I have been making plant-based salves for myself for many years for various issues, most of which will never see store shelves. To be honest, I don't care. Having a product on a store shelf is not my measure of 'success', even though I enjoy making products for stores. These things have helped me & family members / friends immensely. People know what helps them in terms of improving their personal quality of life. They are not stupid.

 

[Kiti Williams]

My neighbour calls me 'medicine woman'. I was stunned the first time she called me this I have never called myself a herbalist because people have preconceived notion of what a 'herbalist' is, and often that 'real' herbalists have some kind of piece of paper which bestows upon them that label. This is absolute nonsense. There are many kinds of people who work with plants for the purpose of healing, including grandmothers & mothers who make herbal remedies which their grandmothers passed on to them for their own grandchildren. I am making use of my ancestral knowledge, and continuing to educate myself because I love working with plants in a way I cannot possibly explain. They are life, they are sacred, they are healers, they were put here for our use to maintain our health & wellness, in all ways.

People have been taught to fear plant medicine, sadly. Or to despise it & deride it, strangely. This is THE original medicine, used safely & effectively for thousands of years. Even 'poisonous' plants have their use in natural medicine, and even in pharmaceuticals. With these, it is the dose which is important, and some plants should NOT be used by just anyone at home. That's why we used to have village healers, those who were highly skilled & knowledgeable - most of whom had no formal 'education' - who are now called 'quacks'. If it wasn't effective or safe for all of those years, none of us would be here today. We would have killed ourselves off. Western medicine is a very new thing, yet people put their faith in pills, injections, being irradiated & sliced & diced before they would ever go to a herbalist, naturopath or homeopath, before they would ever go out & eat a handful of dandelion blossoms or chew up some plantain or comfrey.



Those are some of the people who have a more recent ancestral background in using plants as home medicine. I would love to sit down with these people & learn from them, learn from each other. Very glad to know that there are pockets of us everywhere



Yes, unresolved pain - of all sorts - is one of the biggest issues people talk to me about, and which their doctors have had no answers for. I have been making plant-based salves for myself for many years for various issues, most of which will never see store shelves. To be honest, I don't care. Having a product on a store shelf is not my measure of 'success', even though I enjoy making products for stores. These things have helped me & family members / friends immensely. People know what helps them in terms of improving their personal quality of life. They are not stupid.

I agree with all you have posted. I use a boat load of Plantain leaves every year. Salves, lotions, and just as an edible. It is a wonderful herb.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I agree with all you have posted. I use a boat load of Plantain leaves every year. Salves, lotions, and just as an edible. It is a wonderful herb.

And I'm dreadfully allergic to it when it's in season - I get bad hay fever ( y'all say allergies)

 

[Kiti Williams]

And I'm dreadfully allergic to it when it's in season - I get bad hay fever ( y'all say allergies)

Now that is a new one for me. This weed is a low growing plate shaped plant. I wonder if we are talking about the same plant.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Now that is a new one for me. This weed is a low growing plate shaped plant. I wonder if we are talking about the same plant.

yes - it's the same one: Plantain
And this describes my allergic reaction perfectly: https://www.thermofisher.com/allerg...eas of,hay fever) and allergic conjunctivitis.

 

[Savage Daughter]

And I'm dreadfully allergic to it when it's in season - I get bad hay fever ( y'all say allergies)

Yes, we all have our allergies, for one reason or another. That's due to an imbalance in a person's physical & even emotional life. If we treat the imbalance, the allergy ultimately disappears. My youngest son blew up with allergies, completely unexpectedly, one year as we were driving in the car. Scared the living %#! out of me. I drove him straight to our homeopath when I saw the hives all over his face & his eyes swollen shut. This doctor gave him a single dose of a remedy - can't remember what it was as this was nearly 30 years ago. He was fine within minutes. I gave him the same remedy over a period of 3 days or so, 2 times a day, and that was it. It never occurred again. It absolutely amazed me. For anyone who says these are 'placebo' reactions, I would like to hear an explanation in regards to animals who also have similar very quick reactions to homeopathic medicine.

Instead of plantain, you can always use a different plant until you figure out your allergy to plantain, depending on what your issue is. There is also a narrow leafed plantain, which might be an option for you.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes, we all have our allergies, for one reason or another. That's due to an imbalance in a person's physical & even emotional life. If we treat the imbalance, the allergy ultimately disappears. My youngest son blew up with allergies, completely unexpectedly, one year as we were driving in the car. Scared the living %#! out of me. I drove him straight to our homeopath when I saw the hives all over his face & his eyes swollen shut. This doctor gave him a single dose of a remedy - can't remember what it was as this was nearly 30 years ago. He was fine within minutes. I gave him the same remedy over a period of 3 days or so, 2 times a day, and that was it. It never occurred again. It absolutely amazed me. For anyone who says these are 'placebo' reactions, I would like to hear an explanation in regards to animals who also have similar very quick reactions to homeopathic medicine.

Instead of plantain, you can always use a different plant until you figure out your allergy to plantain, depending on what your issue is. There is also a narrow leafed plantain, which might be an option for you.

I have had hayfever for about 10 months of the year since I was about 9. I'm now 57. Pretty much any plant/pollen will set me off, particularly when it's windy and it's blown all over the place.

 

[Savage Daughter]

I have had hayfever for about 10 months of the year since I was about 9. I'm now 57. Pretty much any plant/pollen will set me off, particularly when it's windy and it's blown all over the place.

You definitely have something going on there which is an imbalance. Find a homeopath in your area who you're comfortable with, someone who you can really talk to. In all the years I have been going to homeopaths, I have found initial consultations can take anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. They really get into everything about a person which makes them who they are, their habits, their sleep patterns, their diet, their affinity for certain foods, unresolved emotional traumas etc. They go into depth. Also keep in mind that they all charge different fees. Much like doctors, they have the right to be paid for their services, which I know many people deride & complain about. If this type of treatment was widely covered by medical insurance, like regular doctors, this wouldn't even be an issue. In my own country, it can be written off as a medical expense. Check into this for your own country.

Just like finding a good GP / MD / surgeon you're comfortable with, finding a homeopath / acupuncturist / herbalist / naturopath you're comfortable with is crucial.