Head Banger's Balm : Newest Complete Product to the Nomadica Apothecary Line!

I completed the newest product to the line yesterday on a mad herbal spree which included the design of the label (all of my product labels are hand drawn and designed by myself). What a wonderful way to spend a rainy day! I sold seven of them that night and have enough left over to fill the other existing orders for the product. By the end of the night however I got two more orders for Head Banger's Balm so I guess I'll be making a new batch this week along with the others that are on que in the apothecary!

Head Banger's Balm is a salve infused with oils of feverfew, skullcap, and meadowsweet and combined with aromatherapy oils of lavender, peppermint, and rosemary - intended for cranial massage for relief of tension headaches. We could all use a little tension taming, I'm sure - especially around the holiday season. I hope all of you who have already or will be receiving one of these new balms really enjoy them and finds relief from pain and tension built up in the head, neck, and shoulders! Plus its a great excuse to get someone to give your gourd a good rub down, or motivate you to take some quiet time to do it yourself! Happy holidays, and keep your eyes peeled for all the wonderful new products coming out of the Nomadica Apothecary this week!

For now it's all and dreaming and drill bits.

The days aren't long enough to accomplish what I want in my desired time-line. There just aren't enough days of the week - and I am impatient. Just ask my roommates how nuts I go on my days off. I only have two days a week to get everything done that should take me an entire week. But, sigh, the rest of the week I work to realize the dream of someone else. So many projects bubbling in this dome, scratched across three calendars, rattling around in my head and nagging me in my sleep. Oh, the woes of a passionate woman! Don't feel bad, I wouldn't have it any other way. Stagnancy makes me ache for crunch time.

THIS weekend, I've committed myself to starting and finishing all of the preparations that need to be mailed (and with any luck they will be mailed tomorrow!)- priority to the Valentine's day package "commissioned" from me by Angelena Vargas. She gave me total freedom and so far as the time of this blog being written, this is what I imagine it will consist of (who knows what it will morph into by the time the day is done, these projects have a tendency to shape themselves).

- Damiana infused, warming massage oil.
- Lovers Tea
- Love Spell Herb and mineral bath

Angelena also has a long-time-coming "gypsy box" as she refers to it, that will be full of magical items and personal herbal confections such as feathers, talismans, desert dream salve (mugwort and chaparral infused oil, with essential oils of sage and rose, to encourage lucid dreaming), a hand bound book for keeping track of her own magical practices (and she is a very powerful witch indeed, whether or not she affords herself the title), and a solid perfumed cheek rouge, naturally tinted with beet - I call this one "Beetnick." Oh, the cleverness of me!


Photos of the finished projects will follow - maybe tomorrow? Along with "before" photos of the trailer. It will be in a state of "before" for quite a while. Check back soon!

Medicine Show

There have been lots of lovely smelling things brewing in the kitchen lately. I just finished my 200 hour herbal apprenticeship and the evidence of my final project has littered the counters and stove top for the larger part of the last several days. Now the second addition of the "Boss-Mom Botanical Collection" is complete and better than ever! And it will be shipping out to Arizona shortly to the Boss herself and her little bolt of thunder for the both of them to enjoy. Being the inspiration of the line comes with proper benefits, naturally.

Let me backtrack. Desert bound in February, I planned to swaddle and hoped to provide herbally inspired relief f one month to a dear girlfriend of mine who had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma a third of the way through her first pregnancy. I zealously proposed to compile a regiment of herbs to aid in cancer treatment that would not interfere with pregnancy, and herbs to aid in pregnancy that would not interfere with her chemotherapy (yes, folks - she was receiving regular chemotherapy sessions all the way through her pregnancy.) I packed my car full of all of the herbal medicine books I owned, along with all of my medicine making gear, and headed south west.

Long story short, when I got to Tucson, even though she was a good sport about my big intentions, it became quickly clear to me that what my friend needed most was someone to drive her around, watch True Romance and The Ellen Show with, occasionally pick up some McDonald's, and, of course, make lots of fun, luxurious, sweet smelling items to pamper her and her baby. Duh, Carla - this little lion of a lady had been in and out of hospitals, poked and prodded, quite literally sliced open, and pumped full of poisons so toxic that the hospital attendants had to wear space suits just to handle her used bedpan.

So, my project changed to the "Boss-Mom Botanical Gift Set" made once in Tucson, and since amended in Austin, Texas after some helpful feedback from "Boss-Mom" herself on the first batch (the name of the line is inspired by Carlee's desire to be referred to as "Boss" rather than "Mom" by her son, Max).

Here's the finished line, including *amendments and NEW additions!

Rose&Geranium Anti-Bacterial Baby Butt Rub:
Avocado Oil, Apricot Kernel oil, Calendula, Chamomile, Rose petals, Bee's Wax, Geranium EO
*Replaced avocado oil for sweet almond oil and olive oil. Replaced chamomile with St. John's wort. Added rose and tea tree EOs.

Sleepy Boy Herbal Milk Bath:
Hops, lavender, chamomile.
*Added dehydrated organic milk.

Baby Butt Pow(d)er:
Arrowroot powder, baking soda, calendula, slippery elm, yarrow, tea tree EO, lavender EO.
*Added comfrey, replaced lavender EO with rose and orange EOs.

Coconut Chamomile Mama&Baby Oil:
Avocado oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, apricot kernel oil, jojoba oil, chamomile, lavender, calendula.
*Chose not to make this again.

Baby Oil:
Jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, lavender EO, chamomile EO.
*Chose not to make again.

Boss Mom Belly Balm:
Coconut oil, lavender flowers, bee's wax, rose and lavender infused distilled water.
*Chose not to make again, but used as an inspiration for Boss Mom Cream.

NEW! Lymphatic Relaxing Bath:
Epsom Salt, red clover, lavender, grapefruit EO, Texas cedar EO, geranium EO.


NEW! Colic Tea: Fennel, catnip, chamomile.


NEW! Courage Oil:
Grape seed oil with EOs of jasmine, cypress, vetiver, rosewood, chamomile, clove, frankinsence, and clove.


NEW! "Let them eat Cake!" Rose-Mint Cream:
Chamomile infused coconut oil, jojoba oil, rose infused distilled water, bee'swax, rose EO, peppermint EO.
(everyone that sampled this at the final class said it smelled like mint ice cream or cake)