We love to admire the unique artwork each year when the Wildflower Festival poster comes out. This year’s subject is the cute spring native Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii var atomaria) with Dance Flies. Check out those pollinator-attracting spots!

Be sure to visit the Mountain Rose booth for free organic tea and lots of herbal goodies to explore.

Hope to see you out there this Sunday…

Click here to learn more about the festival!

Share/saveNo Comments

Have you heard of the “no ‘poo” movement? It’s definitely not my favorite term, but the philosophy behind it is worth exploring. It refers to the droves of people turning away from using expensive commercial shampoos and conditioners. These products often contain harsh synthetic fragrances, sodium laureth sulfate, propylene glycol, and other creepy ingredients that come from mystery labs around the world. We trust that these products will make our hair gorgeous and drench ourselves in weird chemicals without knowing how they affect our overall health. Plus, think of the millions of plastic bottles that end up in the recycling bin, or worse, from all of the hair products we use.

But…you HAVE to use shampoo, right?

Nope!

We’ve been told to “lather, rinse, and repeat” for decades now – and with dreams of healthy, shiny, flowy, bouncy perfection, we have complied. But what happens? The first day after a wash, your hair is kinda frizzy and dried out. On the second day it’s looking pretty good. By the third day it’s a crazy greasy mess again and time to shampoo. This cycle happens as your scalp desperately tries to maintain balance. Most shampoo strips your hair of sebum, which is the natural oil produced by sebaceous glands to help condition and protect each strand. When it’s completely washed away, your glands sound the alarm bells and produce even more sebum to compensate for the sudden loss of protection. Using gentle cleansers and washing less often allows your body to function the way it was meant to…

Going “no ‘poo” is a different experience for everyone, depending on your natural hair and scalp condition. I have very fine, curly hair with a normal to dry scalp, so the transition was super easy for me. I started using the Chamomile Rose rinse recipe below just once a week. My hair immediately looked so much healthier and had more body and shine. Suddenly, instead of one good hair day a week, my hair was consistently awesome with less frizz and no scalp irritation at all. I know other people with thicker or oily hair go through a not so fun ”balancing” phase where the sebaceous glands continue to produce more and more sebum in anticipation of that regular shampooing. If you can stick it out, the process will eventually find homeostasis and revert back to a normal sebum production rate. This usually only takes a few weeks and is well worth the wait. Just think of all those neglected hats waiting in your closet!

Ready to try it out? These herbal hair rinses are amazing. They are so easy to make and will leave your hair feeling soft and your scalp clean and revitalized, but not stripped or dried out. Use once a week to replace your shampoo for good and allow your natural oils to condition each strand from root to tip.

Chamomile Rose Rinse

1 ½ cups organic Chamomile tea, brewed strong

1 cup organic Rose Petal tea, brewed strong

1 tbsp baking soda

The deep golden yellow produced by the chamomile flowers makes this a wonderful choice for light colored hair or to enhance natural highlights in darker hair. My hair is dirty blond and I really notice a lightening effect like a sunny glow to my hair when I let it soak in for at least 5 minutes before rinsing out.

Rosemary Cacao Rinse

1 ½ cups organic Cacao nib tea, brewed strong

1 cup organic Rosemary leaf tea, brewed strong

3 drops organic Peppermint essential oil

1 tbsp baking soda

Rosemary is a classic herb for hair health. It brings circulation to the scalp and stimulates the follicles. It is also known to enhance the richness in dark colored hair. The naturally conditioning cocoa butter fats found in cacao nibs will leave your hair feeling soft, and the chocolate colored infusion is perfect for all shades of brown hair. Peppermint oil adds an invigoratingly clean scent, and is great for oily or sensitive scalps.

Nettle Lavender Rinse

2 1/2 cups organic Nettle leaf tea, brewed strong

5 drops organic Lavender essential oil

1 tbsp baking soda

Nettle is a wonderfully strengthening tonic herb for hair. Its high mineral and vitamin content nourishes all hair types. Lavender essential oil is calming and helps normalize both dry and oily scalp conditions, and its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory nature makes it a nice choice for irritated or sensitive scalps too. This formula is perfect for all hair colors and types.

Rinse Directions

- Using a covered pot, decoct your herbs for 10-15 minutes. I generally use 1/4 cup of herbs per cup of water.

- Strain out the herbs and combine your herbal infusion, essential oils, and baking soda together in a glass jar. You want the baking soda to be completely dissolved and well mixed.

- Allow to cool to body temperature.

- Pour over dry hair or soak hair in the mixture for at least 5 minutes. Massage the scalp gently using a circular motion.

- Rinse out with clean running water.

- You can follow the herbal rinse with an apple cider vinegar rinse if you’d like, which is a really popular method, but I usually skip it.

Feel free to experiment with other herb and essential oil combinations. For more information and guidance about what herbs are good for hair care, check out Naturally Healthy Hair by Mary Beth Janssen.

Enjoy your natural tresses!

Share/save6 Comments

A lovely view for us today…

The grassy field across from Stewart Pond in the West Eugene Wetlands is turning amethyst with statuesque Camas (Camassia leichtlinii) flowers.

Share/saveNo Comments

Looking for a last minute Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift?

How about a little pampering just for yourself?

Our luxurious and botanically rich Herbal Facial Kit is so easy to use and leaves your skin wonderfully soft and glowing. Handcrafted with organic herbs, pure essential oils, fine cosmetic clays, and pure rosewater, this kit is perfect for everyone.

Each kit comes packaged in a decorative reusable box made out of recycled board stock that’s covered in a tree-free wild grass paper, and then finished with a sweet little twig closure. Perfect for storing your facial kit ingredients or any other treasures you may have.

Complete with step-by-step instructions, each kit comes with enough supplies for 5 facials and includes some of our very favorite Mountain Rose Herbs facial care products – all made by us in small batches:

Herbal Steam – Open pores with skin nourishing plant oils.

Cleansing Grains – Gently exfoliate dead skin and clear pores.

Green Clay Mask – Absorb toxins, stimulate circulation, and deep clean pores.

Wild Rose Facial Oil – Moisturize, protect, and balance your skin.

Rosewater Toner – Invigorating astringent to tighten pores and seal in moisture.

You can find the Herbal Facial Kit here!

Share/saveNo Comments

So many hearts have been touched by Oregon herbalist Cascade Anderson Geller over the decades.

She was a bright beacon in our community, shedding light to guide her students by, as well as illuminating problems that needed healing in the natural world. With her sudden passing on Saturday, we must now carry on her fierce dedication to protecting the earth and deep love of green beings.

Rosalee de la Foret wrote a touching piece today in memory of Cascade’s generous wisdom as a teacher and activist. You can read it here. We are also releasing this beautiful video from our storytelling night at Rootstalk in her honor. It is truly a blessing to be able to share this special moment with all those who knew Cascade, as well as those who feel a connection with her words and work.

Share/saveNo Comments

Here’s a shot of Mason working on a new sign for our recycled garden booth!

We are so excited to debut it at the upcoming Mother Earth News Fair! We took an old door skin, traced a stencil of our logo, hand painted it, and the last step now is to cut around the mountain.

If you are able to attend this inspiring sustainable living fair - and we really hope you can - be sure to stop by our booth to check it out in person! Plus, Mason will have some free herbal goodies for you to take home. See you there!

Share/saveNo Comments

We have a special gift to help you celebrate Herb Day this year!

In honor of this extraordinary community event, Mountain Rose Herbs will send out a free online packet called Herbal Medicine Making 101. Simply visit this link, enter your email address, and select the “Herb Day Newsletter” box. If you already subscribe to our regular newsletter, you are good to go! Then on May 4th we will send you an email filled with free lessons including…

How to Make Tinctures

Herbal Oils & Salves

Infusions & Decoctions

Medicinal Vinegars

Syrups

Liniments

Infused Honey

and more!

Click Here to Sign Up!

More about Herb Day:

The eighth annual Herb Day will take place Saturday, May 4, 2013. Herb Day is an international celebration of herbs and herbal products that is packed with events aimed at educating and sharing ideas about the many ways herbs bring joy and well-being into our daily lives. We celebrate herbs in food, beverages, medicine, beauty products, and crafts, along with the art of growing and gardening with herbs. Herb Day is a grassroots movement and its events belong to everyone who chooses to participate. Although May 4th will be the focal point of our celebration, we encourage you to commemorate Herb Day any time of year!

The HerbDay Coalition consists of the American Botanical Council, United Plant Savers, the American Herbal Products Association, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and the American Herbalists Guild.

Share/save3 Comments

This is really terrifying…

The first genetically engineered salmon – dubbed “frankenfish” – could be in grocery stores and restaurants as early as 2014. The FDA is expected to approve this genetically engineered salmon after a 60-day public comment period – which ends today!

Consumer and environmental activists oppose genetically engineered “frankenfish” for many reasons, including the potential danger it poses to human health, to the environment, and to the U.S. fishing economy.

Share/saveNo Comments

Well, well…a bit of time has passed since the Rootstalk Festival happened back in 2011, but we are SO excited to finally bring you a new video series from the event featuring some of our favorite herb walks and storytelling moments. These videos are fun and informative, and really make our hearts smile to experience this wonderful gathering all over again. Such sweet memories!

Next up is herbalist jim mcdonald’s entertaining exploration of a favorite spring herb: nettle! There are so many different ways to use nettle and you’ll probably learn some new preparations from jim during this in-depth 25 minute video. He’ll teach you about nettle sting therapy, share his secrets of raw spiced nettle treats, his favorite herbal combinations for nettle infusions, using nettle seeds, and more interesting tidbits. Plus, he also gives a great description of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and how nettle can be helpful. There might even be a surprise guest star herbalist in the crowd…

Thanks to LearningHerbs.com for putting this together for us all to enjoy!

Share/saveNo Comments

Rosemary Gladstar writes, “Spring is here! It’s time to come out and play. To review our lives, and make new plans…to dream alive! It’s also a time of renewing and re-nourishing our precious bodies.”

In this free online class, Rosemary will cover the importance of wild greens, both nutritionally and energetically. Dandelions, plantain, nettle, chickweed and many more favorites will be covered, as well as her favorite ways to prepare wild greens, and ethical wild harvesting.

We hope you’ll join us Thursday night for this free online event in celebration of the upcoming 11th International Herb Symposium, which Mountain Rose Herbs and LearningHerbs.com are excited to sponsor again this year!

 Plus, you could win these goodies…

You won’t want to miss Rosemary’s wisdom or the amazing giveaways during the teleseminar including this herbal gift set from Mountain Rose Herbs: Tea-to-Go Glass Infuser, Evening Repose Tea, Peace Tea, Blossoms of Health Tea, Dandelion Tincture, Elder Berry Tincture, and Skullcap Tincture!

Sign Up Here!

Wild Greens & Spring Remedies Teleseminar

Thursday, April 25th 2013

8:30pm Eastern

(7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific)

Share/saveNo Comments

Look who’s leafing out!

We have two little Ginkgo trees that welcome visitors to Mountain Rose each day. They’re just starting to send out the first fan-shaped leaves of the year, and when a breeze whistles through, it looks like they’re waving hello.

Share/saveNo Comments

Did you know that it takes 60 whole roses to produce just one drop of essential oil?

The pure potency of each drop makes these precious ingredients powerful tools for aromatherapy and healing. Check out this fascinating infographic we created to outline the production of essential oils and hydrosols, from fresh living plants to distilled aromatic concentrates.

Click on the picture below to enlarge…

Share/saveNo Comments