How I Make It

I have been studying with herbalist Darcy Williamson for several years.  I have run an organic household for many years and have sought to simplify my life and the “things” that surround me.  Darcy encourages those who study with her to find their own way of contributing to a healthier planet and the peoples who live upon it.  At one time, my husband, daughter and I looked into buying an organic farm in eastern Oregon with the idea of growing our own herbs and creating our own skin care line.  That dream faded with our recent economic decline, which was when I decided to fine-tune my dream so I could make my creations where I live, using native healing herbs, and with the resources available.

My hand and body creams contain two unique components that set my products apart:  an organic carrier oil infused with a local hand-picked herb, and a hydrosol created from local hand-picked herbs.

Infused Oils:

As an example of the process, we’ll take a look at how I make my hound’s tongue infused olive oil used in my “Queen Bee Night Cream with Royal Jelly”.  

Hound’s tongue is a member of the Borage family that likes to grow in sunny, well-drained soils.  So off I go to the open, often rocky fields with my five gallon bucket and weed-digger (called a “toad stabber” in my family). Don’t I look happy in this picture?  I am!  It’s a wonderful feeling to harvest something with your own hands that you know is going to help someone else.

(Note:   Plants are harvested with respect.  The standard rule of thumb taught to me by my herbalist friend, Darcy Williamson, with whom I’ve studied for several years, is to harvest one plant for every five in any given area.)  

Using my hot tub lid as a work table (you’d have a hot tub too if you lived in McCall – winters are long here.  I finally got one my 29^th winter here!), I pack the dried herbs into antique two quart canning jars given to me years ago by Granny Irene (who lived to be 105!).  Then I fill the jars with organic oil and place them in a sunny window where they’ll stay for several weeks.  Slowly, the dried herbs will release their properties into the oil.  I find that filling the jar a bit more than half way will yield a richly infused oil.

If I do not have the time to wait weeks for the infused oil, I fill a stockpot with the herbs and oil.  In winter, I place the mixture on top of my woodstove for about twenty four hours.  Otherwise, I place the stockpot on the simmer plate of my propane kitchen range.  Soon, the house is filled with the warming scent of herbs and oil, and memories of the day spent harvesting.

Once the infusion is ready, the oil and herb mixture is strained through several layers of cheesecloth, in order to trap the residue, into clean containers.  If necessary, the oil is strained again until it is clear and residue free.  I label the containers and store them in my dry, cool, eighty year old root cellar until I need them.

Hydrosols:

Another component of my creams is the flower/herb water, or hydrosol, that I whip into the hot melted fats in order to make the cream.  Without whipping the hydrosol into the fats, the product is a salve.  It’s a lot like making mayonnaise from scratch.

Picking up my new distiller at the Essential Oil Co. in Portland , OR.  Designer and creator Robert is to the left, husband Scott on the right.

Next, it’s back out to the field with my five gallon buckets and clippers.  Through experimentation, I found that it takes a five gallon bucket packed down (like one does with brown sugar in a mixing cup) to fill the distiller and make a good, fragrant hydrosol.  Given the expense of fuel, time, and mileage on my car, I try to harvest two full buckets on any given excursion.  Most of the time, that is possible.  The notable exception here is when I am harvesting wild rose petals.  Their waxy flatness and small size mean that I am fortunate to fill a gallon basket in a day!  

Once back at the studio, I pack the freshly picked herbs or flowers into the distiller on top of a mesh basket that sits inside the tower.  Fresh water is added to just underneath the basket.  The conical top is screwed down onto the rubber gasket (making sure the gasket is clear of any detritus that would cause a steam leak, and thereby cause you to lose precious hydrosol), and the distiller is plugged in.  

Once the pressure inside the tank reaches about 200 psi  (pounds per square inch), the steam starts down the thick pipe at the top that links the distilling tower to the condensing tower.  The condensing tower is a hollow tank lined with metal coils on the interior walls  This tower is filled with water that cools the steam as it travels through the coils.  The condensed water is the hydrosol and is expelled through a spigot into a wide stainless steel bowl where it will slowly collect over the course of eight to twelve hours, depending on the herb being distilled.

If the herb being distilled is oily enough (sage, lavender, mint), essential oil will also be yielded along with the hydrosol.  Roses take a much larger distiller and a bumper crop of petals in order to yield essential oil!  That’s why it is so expensive when used in perfumes and other products.

Built in the 1930's, this house was once the home of pig farmers and wood cutters.

In the middle, is the actual creation of the cream.  Coconut oil and beeswax are slowly melted in a stainless steel double boiler.  Once melted, I slowly add a stream of herb-infused oil and stir until the colder oil is incorporated into the hot melted fats.  On another burner, I am slowly heating the hydrosol in a stainless steel pan until it reaches somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 degrees, at which time I add a very small amount of borax.  When both the fax mixture and the water are at 150 degrees, it is time to begin whipping the water into the oil. 

You know the old saying, “oil and water don’t mix”?  Well, that’s almost true.  You just have to whip it hard enough and long enough!  Eventually, they will come together.  To accomplish this I employ two immersion blenders – I plug them both in, and when one overheats, I set it aside and pick up the other one.  As soon as a drop of hydrosol hits the clear golden melted fats with the blender on, a transformation begins… clear gold becomes creamy gold and I fall in love all over again.  Eventually, creamy lotion begins to collect at the sides of the pan and blender.  Nearly there!  A little while longer and I test pour a jar to see if the lotion has “set”.  If it has, then out comes the stainless dipping and pouring cup and I pour the lotion into awaiting jars as quickly as I can so that the lotion sets up in the jar and not in the pan.

The filled jars then travel from the kitchen counter to the workshop counter where it is usually my husband, Scott, that “pretties” up the jars.  He’s the one who places the labels on so straight and nice, applies the shrinkee tops, and makes all things good.  

Making the Night Cream:

My night cream contains royal jelly, which is an organic food item produced by honey bees.  As such, it is a delicate procedure to join the royal jelly with the hot fats and oils.

Just like in the other creams, the beeswax and coconut oil are slowly melted in the stainless double boiler.  Hound’s tongue infused olive oil is added in a slow stream until incorporated with the melted hot fats.  Here’s where the difference is…

Rather than whipping in heated hydrosol, the royal jelly is placed in a wide, flat bowl.  Using my immersion blender, I very slowly add a tiny bit of the hot fat/oil combination.  Then I very slowly add a tiny bit more… and so on until I have a “safe” level of fat and oil saturated royal jelly.  Only then is the royal jelly combination ready to add into the main vat of heated oils and fats.  Believe me, my heart has been broken more than once when I added the fats too quickly to the royal jelly and – cooked the jelly.  Yup.  It turns to globs of golden translucent jelly in an instant if you move too quickly.

It is very rewarding to add a thin stream of the royal jelly combination to the main body of fats and oils and see the creaminess develop around the immersion blender.  There is no way to finesse your way around this cream.  It is either perfect, or you start over!

While I start off my lip balm by using my standard combination of coconut oil and beeswax, I add two unique ingredients:  cottonwood bud infused in olive oil and propolis.

As in my example of infusing hound’s tongue, I fill a mason jar half way with cottonwood buds and pour olive oil over all.  As the oil takes on the properties of the cottonwood buds, it changes from the dark green of olive oil to a deep ruby red.  The end result is a rich, beautiful oil that lends the reddish-brown tint to my lip balms. 

Propolis is another organic food item made by honey bees.  It, too, is fragile and has a lovely earthy clove-like fragrance.  Adding it into the formulation is fairly simple yet requires patience.  I simply pour the brown, granular propolis into the hot fat/oil combination and let it infuse for a time.  When it’s ready, I strain the now depleted propolis grains from the oil mixture and hand pour the mixture into all those tiny tubes.  Each batch makes approximately 130 tubes of lip balm.  I set all the tubes upright on the counter, take a deep breath and use a steady hand while pouring.

Toners:

Toners are blessedly simple to make.  The hard part is all behind you with the creation of the hydrosol, which I described in an earlier paragraph.  My toners are a straight forward blend of two parts alcohol-free organic witch hazel, and one part hydrosol (either one hydrosol or a blend).

Thea’s Bee Beautiful was born, and I feel privileged to be able to make these wonderful lotions and potions for you!