Where have all the Flowers gone?

Well, perhaps not quite what the song intended, but that's a question often asked by ourselves and our customers. We always used to include flowers in our soaps and shampoo bars, but opinion is sharply divided between those who like them and those who don't.

But why do we add them in the first place?

Well, flowers add a certain amount of colour and texture to the finished bars, and they make them look more 'homemade', something we at Essentially Natural like as our soaps are all handmade of course. But they also act as a mild exfoliator, helping to gently remove dead skin cells and other debris.

But some of our customers, especially those who use the soaps as shampoos or to heal scalp conditions, do not like the flowers getting into their hair as they use the bar.

So we are again producing some of our soaps and shampoo bars without flowers. We have our Rose & Cocoa Butter asoap without added rose petals, and now our Chamomile shampoo bar,  which can, of course, also be used as a beautiful, healing soap in its own right, again without the added chamomile flowers.

So which do you prefer? Is this a generational question or just a case of personal taste?

Please do let us know in the comments. If there is enough demand, we may start producing more soaps without flowers to give you more choice, so please do give us your thoughts.

Updated post:
Today's tip shows you how to make your own natural air freshener.

Creating your own organic, natural air freshener is easy and also fun. All you need is a small mist spray bottle, water and your favourite essential oils. And, perhaps, a little bit of magic to make a blend you'll be proud of.

I prefer to use boiled water, but if you don't, warm the bottle slightly before adding your oils as this helps dissipate them.

You   can use single oils, such as orange, lemongrass, blue spruce or pine, or lavender, or you can blend these according to the scent you like, oils to suit the season, and your own mood.

Fill the bottle with water, add the essential oils (no more than 20 drops, depending on the size of the bottle of course), and spray away.

Peppermint will help deodorise, eucalyptus will help with summer colds, lavender is a perfect all-rounder, and rose geranium is a good substitute for rose which costs more than gold these days. It's also a good balancing oil and especially liked by women.

The oils should not be sprayed directly onto wood or furniture - just use a bit of commonsense. The droplets will fall onto carpets and will help to refresh them. But for a really effective carpet cleaner, fill a bottle with a sprinkler top with bicarbonate of soda and add your essential oils, sprinkle on the carpet and then vacuum off after leaving for ten minutes for the oils and bicarb to do their work.

If you have pets or babies or are a smoker, you could always try our Stay Awake! organic essential oil blend to keep your living room smelling fresh and to give you that little bit of get-up-and-go for getting the household chores done.