Christmas is coming , and surely there’s nothing sweeter than a handmade gift. Edibles are always well received , but if you’re anything like me you stuff yourself like a turkey in December anyway, so I thought I’d focus on a few, slightly more original, non edible gift ideas over the next few weeks- which naturally smell great too!
I love a bath sachet or bath tea as it smells wonderfully evocative and you can hang it just under the hot tap so that the warm water brings out all of the lovely soothing oils and spices- perfect for chilling out after you’ve overindulged on the mince pies or if you’ve just been working too jolly hard.
One of my favourite bath melts is one called “Ceredwen’s Cauldron” by Lush- it’s a beautiful and exotic combination of oats, coco butter, lavender and sandalwood; all wrapped up in a red muslin bag. The beauty of it is that once the oils have done their work and soaked through into the water, you’re left with a soothing and gently scented scrub to polish your skin and buff away dead skin cells.
The following recipe produces a very similar and luxurious effect, for a lot less money too! It’s great fun as you can customize your bath soak to suit the occasion- in this case we’ll put in “Christmassy” things like spices and Frankincense- but for Valentine’s Day, for instance, you could use Rose petals, Jasmine oil, and Lavender.
“Spirit of Christmas” Luxury Bath Sachet
You will need:
- A small cup of crushed oats (porridge is fine!)
- Some dried spices- whole cloves and a good pinch of dried ginger/cinnamon work well.
- Essential oils- Lots of Sweet Orange, a little Frankincense and Pine/Cedarwood.
- Optional: I also used the contents of a Cranberry and Orange herbal teabag.
- A small red, green, or gold organza gift bag (you can get these very cheaply on-line if you buy a pack of 20 or so) Otherwise a cut out circle of a fairly porous and attractive fabric of your choice.
- A pretty ribbon to tie up your bath sachet and to decorate it.
Method:
It’s super quick! Just mix your cloves and dried spices with your oats, and then sprinkle on a generous quantity of your essential oils. If you’ve got a nice Cranberry Herbal tea bag then mix this in as well. Now pour your scented oat mixture in your organza bag, or tie it up in a circle of pretty porous fabric. Finally tie a beautiful ribbon on the neck of the bag to make it really special.
That’s it! Now you’ve got a great hand made present to give to mums, grandparents, sisters, aunts, and friends…
Tip: It’s best to make them at the last minute as the essential oils will be at their most vibrant this way!
The Author:
From a very early age Sylvan Brown has been fascinated by fragrance- spending a rather alarming amount of time smelling all of the Yankee Candle wax tablets in Trelawny Garden Centre, Cornwall, or wherever she could find them, and annoying the *Guardians* of essential oils in health shops across the UK; and so after years pursuing an informal obsession with scent, she decided to blossom into a full time professional perfumer.
Photo. Darth Zuzanka