Distilling Essential Oils with Wild Rose

When I first started learning aromatherapy, I dreamed of having my own still so that I could grow and harvest my own plants for essential oils. The most pure essential oils are steam distilled - a process which gently steams that plant material releasing the essential oil, then quickly condenses this steam giving you a generous amount of hydrosol and a very small amount of essential oil. Because of the reactive nature of essential oils, the only safe materials for constructing a still are copper, stainless steel or glass. For many years I have eyed the beautiful, 100% glass Heart Magic Distiller and I am ecstatic to say that I finally acquired one for use at Wild Rose!

Our various mint patches have been a little overwhelming this year. I needed to cut them back to prevent them from taking over, but I was reluctant to waste so much of this awesome plant (you can only dry so much for tea). This made it the perfect year to invest in a still. At Wild Rose we use a lot of Oregon-Grown Peppermint Essential Oil, and while it will be many years before we can supply our own, I thought this would be a good start.

Chocolate Mint slowly taking over the poppies.

My first distilling attempt was Apple Mint, a plant as delicious as it sounds. The sweet apple flavor of this mint cancels out any bitterness commonly found in the plant. It is incredibly refreshing as a tea and I could not wait to use it in the still.

Catnip is next!

Our Apple Mint was in full bloom and in the end I collected about 1/2oz of essential oil from about eight full distillations. Considering I have the smallest still with just a 2 Liter flask for plant material, I was pretty thrilled with the results! The Apple Mint Essential Oil is incredibly potent and much more long-lasting than other mints. It has an amazingly fresh scent that lingers on the skin for hours. I'm excited to incorporate Apple Mint and other artisan essential oils into future perfume blends for Wild Rose!

Save 20% at Wild Rose's Solstice Sale!

Happy Solstice! Celebrate the longest (or shortest) day of the year with 20% off your entire purchase using code SOLSTICE2015 at checkout. Valid through Monday, June 22nd!

Summer Scents: Cove Beard Care

Our four classic Beard Conditioner scents -  The Original, Raven, Tundra and Cove - were formulated with the seasons in mind. As Summer looms, we take a closer look at our favorite warm-weather scent, Cove.

Cove captures the sweet and refreshing flavors of Summer. We start with a base of tart and juicy cold-pressed lime essential oil. We source our oil from certified organic lime growers who then press the lime peels to extract this magnificent, green oil. There is absolutely no heat applied during this process, so the freshness of the lime flavor is left fully intact. Lime is an optimistic and joyful scent, perfect for your Summer adventures.

Lime is an amazing scent all on its own, but it really shines with a complex pairing. A bit of earthy, grounding sage essential oil is included to help balance the bright scent of lime. Sage is a stimulating and thought-provoking scent that harnesses lime's positivity for fruitful mental work.  We finish Cove by adding just a bit of refreshing and cool tea tree. Tea tree is a powerful essential oil used to cleanse and purify the body and mind. Tea tree offers clarity with a fresh undertone, though it is very subtle in the overall blend.

Cove is available in Beard Conditioner, Beard Wash and Beard Cream. We like to pair it with Limeade or Piña Colada Lip Balm for full Summer flavor.

Cove is predominantly sweet lime accompanied by grounding sage and purifying tea tree. The perfect blend for Summer; Cove inspires us to use the optimism of the season wisely.

From the Garden: Late Spring at the Wild Rose Homestead

Spring is in full swing at the Wild Rose Homestead. Here's a few scenes from the farm:

Our Rose bushes are covered in beautiful, bright blooms! We harvest just a portion of  these for our Attunement Balancing Facial Mask and Bloom Muscle Rub. The rest are left for the bees.

Our mixed flower/herb bed of poppies, mint, borage and calendula flourished every year. We also added a young apple tree that will one day offer shade.

We started the last of our veggie seeds including this beautiful Cassiopeia popcorn offered by Siskiyou Seeds. We'll be growing this in a traditional Three Sisters bed with winter squash and beans.

The greenhouse is packed full of veggies, flowers and herbs! We used the last of our excess jar boxes from Wild Rose to start sunflowers and hollyhocks.

An early June harvest of rose petals, calendula, mulberries, strawberries, cherries and red clover! Our array of veggies, fruits and herbs grow together harmoniously, improving the soil to produce more potent herbs for Wild Rose.