Make your own organic deodorant using essential oils

These days, more and more of us are becoming aware of the use of man made chemicals in our toiletry products. Many deodorants contain aluminium which closes the pores and stops perspiration which isn’t healthy - the skin needs to breathe. However, none of us wants to smell of body odour. So here at Florame, we’ve come up with a couple of diy deodorant recipes using organic essential oils and flower waters. These recipes will allow your skin to breathe and you’ll smell great but they are not antiperspirants. If you perspire quite a lot or it’s a hot day and you get a bit sweaty, you will need to reapply the deodorant as necessary.

Alternatively, if you’re feeling lazy, you could just buy our ready made Homme for Men organic deodorant rollerball which is alcohol free and aluminium free. Although it’s aimed at men, it smells equally good on women.

For both of these diy organic deodorant recipes you’ll need a glass bottle (ideally 100ml) with a spray top/attachment. Glass doesn’t affect the properties of the essential oils whereas plastic does so don’t use a plastic bottle. You can buy this kind of thing at most chemists or online.

The use of alcohol in both these recipes is optional. It serves to help thin the oils and it acts as a preservative. You can get pure alcohol from any good chemist. Alternatively you could use vodka.

Organic geranium and cypress deodorant for a spicy floral aroma

1 tsp pure alcohol/vodka (optional)
10 drops bourbon geranium organic essential oil
10 drops cypress organic essential oil

Put all the ingredients in the bottle and shake vigorously until the essential oils are fully mixed in. Then it’s ready to be used. You’ll need to shake before each use to ensure the oils and waters haven’t separated.

Organic citrus and herby deodorant for a zesty aroma

1 tsp pure alcohol/vodka (optional)

10 drops bergamot organic essential oil

8 drops clary sage organic essential oil

7 drops paracymene thyme organic essential oil

5 drops frankincense essential oil

5 drops distilled lemon organic essential oil

3 drops hybrid lavender organic essential oil

2 drops petit grain organic essential oil
4 tbsp/40 ml organic witch hazel flower water

2 tbsp/25 ml organic lavender flower water

2 tbsp/25 ml organic orange flower water

Seville orange marmalade with organic essential oils

At the time of writing this it isn’t Seville orange season. However, a friend of mine has just returned from the South of France where he has a house with a large garden. In his garden there are several bitter orange trees, the fruits of which can easily be substituted for Seville oranges. They happen to be in season at the moment so he picked a few oranges for us to make our own marmalade. We put our own twist on the marmalade by adding drops of different essential oils to the jars as we were spooning the marmalade in.

Here’s a recipe for the marmalade. It makes about 10 medium sized jars of marmalade so add or subtract as necessary.

Equipment
Large saucepan
Muslin bag
V sharp knife
Lemon squeezer/juicer
Approx 10-12 sterilised jam jars
Saucer (chilled in the freezer)

Ingredients
1.5kg/3lbs of bitter or Seville oranges
Juice of 2 lemons (or 1 drop of organic lemon essential oil)
3.5ltrs/6 pints of water
2.75kg/6lbs sugar (organic preferably)

To make
Wash the fruit, cut in half and squeeze out the juice and pips. Collect the pips in the muslin bag and tie securely. Then pour the juice into the saucepan & add the pips.

Slice the peel as thinly as you can and add to the juice & pips. Simmer gently, uncovered, for approx 2 hours until the peel is soft and the liquid reduced by about half.

After about an hour, sterilise your jam jars. There are two ways to do this – sterilising solution or heat. There are lots of sterilising solutions available from good kitchen shops, chemists and department stores – in fact, if you have babies you can use the same sterilising solution that you use to sterilise their bottles.

Using the oven method, thoroughly wash your jars in hot water then turn them upside down on a rack in the oven and let them drip dry at a temperature of 140C/275F/Gas1 for around 30 mins whilst you’re making marmalade.

At this point don’t forget to put your saucer in the freezer if you haven’t already.

Back to the marmalade. After approx 2 hours, fish out the muslin bag and squeeze any juice back into the pan. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved then boil rapidly until setting point is reached – about 15mins-30mins.

To check the setting point, after 15 mins get a teaspoon of marmalade and tip it onto your frozen saucer. Leave for about 30 seconds then nudge the marmalade with the spoon or your fingertip. If it wrinkles setting point has been reached. If it doesn’t, continue boiling the marmalade for another 5 mins and try again.

When setting point has been reached, take off the heat and rest for approx 10-15mins then spoon into your jars. At this point you can add your essential oils.

We left 5 jars as ‘normal’ marmalade then to two jars we added 1 drop of organic lavender essential oil to each; to another two jars we added 1 drop of organic cardamom essential oil to each and to the last jar we added 1 organic drop of clove essential oil.

The organic essential oils not only add a unique flavour to your marmalade but it also means that you’ve got lots of different flavours to enjoy, rather than just one - and with so many jars to eat, it's great to have a variety pack!

Rhubarb crumble ice cream with organic lemon and ginger essential oils

As we slowly start to warm up this Spring, why not try your hand at making your own ice cream. It tastes fantastic and is great fun to make, just as long as you don’t keep dipping your spoon into the mixture and eating it before anyone else has had a chance to try it – believe me it’s very tempting!

Rhubarb crumble ice cream is scrummy and a great way to use up any excess rhubarb you may have in the garden. When you add Florame’s organic essential oils into the mix you’ve got a winner on your hands.

To make this recipe you will need an ice cream machine as making ice cream without one is a real faff. However, if you don’t have an ice cream machine then borrow one from a friend or buy one second hand. Unless you intend to use it several times a year, it’s not worth the expense of buying a new machine.

The following recipe makes about 1.2 ltrs (2 pints) of ice cream so enough for about 12-14 scoops or 6-8 servings.

Equipment
Ice cream machine with bowl frozen (read your instructions)
Mixing bowl
Blender/food processor
Measuring Jug
Baking dish
Shallow baking tin
2 ltr (3.5pint) lidded plastic box that you can store the ice cream in in the freezer

Ingredients
ice cream:
1 lb (450 g) trimmed rhubarb

8 oz (225 g) sugar

2 drops organic lemon essential oil

15 fl oz (425 ml) whipping cream

1 tbsp water

crumble:
3 oz (75 g) plain white flour
2 oz (50 g) butter (room temperature)

2 oz (50 g) golden sugar or light brown muscovado sugar

1 drop ginger essential oil

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C) & put your empty plastic box in the freezer

To make
First make the crumble. Mix the 1 drop of ginger essential oil into the butter using a fork. Then combine all the ingredients together in the mixing bowl and using your hands to rub the butter into the flour, so that the mixture comes together to form small, pea-sized balls of dough. Sprinkle this evenly into the baking tin and set aside.

Cut the rhubarb into ½ inch (1 cm) lengths and place them in a large, shallow baking dish sprinkled with the sugar and a tablespoon of water. Place the dish on a lower shelf in the pre-heated oven and put the tin containing the crumble mixture on the shelf above. The crumble needs to be baked for 10 minutes, then removed from the oven and left to cool.

The rhubarb may need a further 15-20 mins cooking before it is completely tender.

When it's cooked, take it out and leave it to cool a little before pouring it into a food processor or blender. Process until you have a smooth purée, then pour it into the jug, cover and transfer to the fridge to chill for about an hour.

Now return to the cooled crumble and using your hands, break it back up into small, pea-sized pieces.

Once the rhubarb purée has chilled stir the cream into it then pour into the ice-cream maker and add the two drops of organic lemon essential oil. Churn until the mixture has the consistency of softly whipped cream.

Hand stir in the crumble pieces then spoon into the plastic freezer box. Cover and freeze for a minimum of 2 hours, or until the ice cream is firm enough to serve.

Rhubarb Fool with organic lemongrass oil and rose flower waters

This is a really yummy seasonal Spring pudding which looks fab and is easy to make. Our twist is add a dash of organic lemongrass essential oil and organic rose flower water.

The following makes enough for 4 so add more or less as necessary.

Equipment
Four Sundae glasses or large wine goblets
Whisk
Sieve
Saucepan
Mixing bowls x 3
Chopping board
Sharp knife

Ingredients
700g/1½lb rhubarb

1 drop of organic lemongrass essential oil

100ml/3½fl oz water140g/5oz granulated sugar

110g/4oz icing sugar
2 tbsp of organic rose flower water

150ml/¼ pint crème fraîche

150ml/¼ pint mascarpone cream

To make the Fool:
Wash, trim and chop the rhubarb into even chunks approx 3cm long and put into a saucepan with the water, granulated sugar and organic lemongrass essential oil. Cover and simmer for about 10 mins until pulpy.

Strain through the sieve and reserve the juices in a bowl and set aside. Put the pulp in a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

Put the mascarpone in a mixing bowl and whisk in the icing sugar. Then gently fold in the crème fraîche, the organic rose flower water and half the rhubarb.
Spoon equal amounts of the remaining rhubarb into your four goblets and spoon the fool mixture on top. Allow to set and cool in the fridge and serve.

Rhubarb lemonade from reserved Fool juices
This is a lovely, refreshing, long drink. To the reserved Fool juices, add the juice of 1 lemon and then freeze the mixture until a hot summer’s day. Then defrost in a jug, add sparkling water and enjoy!

Homemade rhubarb liqueur with organic essential oils

April is rhubarb season and doubtless you've seen those glorious sticks of pink in your local greengrocers. Rhubarb is a diverse plant that can be used both for puddings and in savoury dishes (it goes rather well with duck). However, it also makes a rather tasty liqueur and as we always end up with a glut of rhubarb from our crowns, making rhubarb liqueur is a good way to use up excess sticks.

I'll be adding a couple more rhubarb recipes over the next couple of days but here's our rhubarb liqueur recipe with organic essential oils. It's really easy to make and tastes fantastic - just remember, if picking your own, NOT to use any part of the rhubarb leaf as it is poisonous.

Equipment

Demi-john or large, wide mouthed sealable jar

Funnel

Ingredients

500g of rhubarb – chopped into pieces small enough to get into the demi-john or jar
1ltr of vodka (save the empty bottle for use later)
250g of granulated sugar
1 drop of organic clove essential oil
1 drop of ginger essential oil
2 drops of organic lemon essential oil

Put all the ingredients into the demi-john. Store in a cool dark place like a wardrobe, bathroom cupboard or pantry. Shake every day for a week until the sugar has dissolved. Then shake once a week for about 3-4 months. Strain into the cleaned and saved vodka bottle.

Chill in fridge & serve on its own as an after dinner drink or mix with ginger ale as a long, cooling summer cocktail. Fab!

Home made organic lemon curd with organic essential oils

Lemon curd is one of my favourite toast and crumpet toppings. It’s really easy to make at home and, for added zing, why not add a drop of organic distilled lemon essential oil to the mix?

Traditionally for this recipe you’d use the same amount of lemons as eggs but we decided to experiment in order to incorporate our distilled lemon organic essential oil and, amazingly, it worked rather well so here goes:

This is enough to make approx 4 small jars or 2 large jars (mayonnaise size) so add more, or less as required.

Equipment
Lemon juicer
Grater
Small mixing bowl (for beating eggs)
Whisk
Medium to large mixing bowl or double saucepan
Double saucepan or saucepan large enough to hold mixing bowl
Jam jars (sterilised)
Sterilising solution (optional)

Ingredients (try to use organic if possible)
Grated rind and juice of two unwaxed lemons
4 eggs, beaten
100g/4 oz butter
450g/1lb granulated sugar
1 drop of organic distilled lemon essential oil

To make:
First, sterilise your jam jars. There are two ways to do this – sterilising solution or heat.

There are lots of sterilising solutions available from good kitchen shops, chemists and department stores – in fact, if you have babies you can use the same sterilising solution that you use to sterilise their bottles.

Using the oven method, thoroughly wash your jars in hot water then turn them upside down on a rack in the oven and let them drip dry at a temperature of 140C/275F/Gas1 for around 30 mins whilst you’re making the lemon curd.

While your jars are being sterilised, heat enough water in your saucepan so that when you put the mixing bowl in it, the water will rise approx two thirds of the way up the sides of the bowl. The water needs to be at simmering temperature for the duration of the curd making.

While the water is heating, finely grate the zest of your two lemons, then juice them. Beat the eggs and measure out your sugar and butter.

Once the water is simmering put the medium sized mixing bowl inside the saucepan then add all the ingredients at once, including the organic distilled lemon essential oil.

Stir the ingredients together until the sugar and butter have dissolved and continue to heat, stirring from time to time until the curd thickens. During the heating process you may see blobs of white in the mixture – this is egg white separating so just stir this back into the mixture to maintain an even, rich, golden yellow colour. Once the curd has thickened to a jam like consistency – basically, if you think it’s thick enough to spread on toast - then it’s time to remove it from the heat and pour or spoon into your jam jars and seal.

Allow to cool to room temperature then store in the fridge.

Roast meat glazed with organic essential oils

Most of us enjoy a traditional British roast every once in a while. However, usually we just season the meat with a bit of oil, salt & pepper and some herbs. Our suggested ’10 minute meat glazes’ will add a really tasty extra dimension to your roasts, thanks to the use of organic essential oils. When we say 10 minutes it’s because we’d recommend that approximately 10 minutes before the joint is due to finish cooking, whip it out of the oven, glaze the outside with one of our suggested glazes, then pop it back in for the last 10-15 mins before taking out and leaving it to stand.

Equipment
Saucepan
Whisk or spoon
Teaspoon

Ingredients
100g granulated sugar
50 ml water
1 drop of organic essential oil

The glaze is actually a sugar syrup. To make, heat the water in the saucepan. Once the water has reached boiling point add the sugar. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved then add the drop of organic essential oil. Let the syrup reach boiling point and continue to boil until the syrup thickens a bit to a syrupy consistency – you’ll feel it on your whisk. Put a little bit on a teaspoon, let it cool then taste. If the flavour it too strong for you simply add more water and sugar until the flavour is to your taste - the golden rule is always two parts sugar to one part water to maintain the syrupy texture. If the taste is not intense enough for you, add a further drop of essential oil.

Obviously feel free to experiment with your own choice of organic essential oil flavours but below are some of our suggestions (and favourites):

Roast lamb – either organic peppermint essential oil, sweet basil essential oil or fine lavender essential oil.

Roast beef – either organic black pepper essential oil or juniper essential oil

Roast chicken or turkey - either organic sweet orange essential oil, distilled lemon essential oil, lemon balm essential oil or bergamot essential oil

Roast pork – either organic fine lavender essential oil or clary sage essential oil

Roast gammon – either organic clove essential oil or juniper essential oil.

Roast goose or duck – either organic sweet orange essential oil or organic tangerine essential oil

Where lavender or orange has been suggested, you could substitute the essential oil for an organic flower water of the same for a slightly more subtle flavour. So instead of using tap water to make the syrup, use either organic lavender or orange flower water

If you’ve made too much syrup for your roast, then simply put the excess in a glass jar and pop in the fridge until the next time you need it. It’ll keep for up to 6 months.

Organic aromatherapy to combat travel sickness

As we head into the start of the long weekend breaks, some of us will embark on a long road, plane or train journey. Unfortunately for many of us this can cause travel sickness or motion sickness.

These feelings of nausea are caused due to mixed messages being received in the brain – the eyes saying one thing but the inner ear balance saying something else.

Children tend to suffer more than adults - just over half of children (58%)* suffer with travel sickness - and although many grow out of it as they get older, nevertheless a lot of adults suffer with travel sickness, some to a debilitating extent. Statistics reveal that as many as 1 in 3 adults (28%)* suffer with car sickness, over a third with air sickness during turbulence (33%-50%)* and in rough seas 100%* of passengers will suffer with some form of sea sickness, however mild.

Travel sickness is more common in pregnant women and women who are menstruating. People who suffer with migraines are also more prone to travel sickness.

For many sufferers, travel sickness means having to take pills or wear pressure point wristbands. However, we’ve got two neat little natural devices that could help reduce feelings of travel sickness – our organic & sustainable mint-lemon wooden diffuser and our travel sickness roller ball.

Florame’s mint-lemon wooden diffuser should be put in the car 24 hours before the start of your journey to allow enough time for the organic essential oil blend to be drawn up the wooden stick into the ball and diffused into the atmosphere. The oil is drawn up by capillary action. Place the wooden stick into the top of the essential oil bottle and gently push down until approximately 2cm of the stick is immersed in the bottle. As the wooden ball dries out, slowly push the stick down further and so. After about 4-6 weeks the stick and bottle will need replacing.

The wooden holder has velcro backing so can be placed in a suitable area of the car where it’s easy to get to in order to change the bottle.

In addition to helping to prevent car sickness, our organic mint-lemon wooden diffuser will also make your car smell gorgeous!

Our travel sickness roller ball is ideal for those travelling by air, sea or road. It’s a very handy size and can easily be packed in a handbag, pocket or glove box. Just before embarking on your journey, massage the roller ball on your pulse points especially the temples, the inside of your elbows and your wrists. Then reapply as and when necessary.

Other steps you can take are to ensure you don’t read or look down for long periods of time when travelling, that you face the way you are travelling and that, where possible, the area around you is well ventilated.

*Holisticheathtools.com

Organic hibiscus iced tea

The Jamaican name for Hibiscus Tea is Agua de Jamaica or Water of Jamaica. On a glorious sunny day there’s nothing quite so refreshing as a glass of organic hibiscus iced tea. It makes a great alternative to the standard black iced tea we’re all used to in the UK and its sensational rich ruby red colour makes it a very appetising drink to look at.

In order to make it, as well as some hibiscus tea, you’ll need some sugar, ice and ideally a lime but otherwise a lemon would suffice.

To make it, brew yourself a pot of organic hibiscus tea, using 1 dessert spoon of tea per person and let it infuse for 5-10 minutes.

Whilst the tea is infusing, get a tall, good sized glass jug and add 1 teaspoon of sugar for every dessert spoon of hibiscus tea. Cut your lime in half and slice one half thinly to use as glass decorations later. Pare the other half and set aside the peel to use as a garnish later. Then squeeze the juice into the jug over the sugar.

When the organic hibiscus tea has finished infusing pour it into the glass jug and stir so that the sugar dissolves. Top up with cold water and leave to cool completely for half an hour or so. Add ice to the jug and stir again. Add more sugar if necessary then sprinkle the top of the jug with the lime peel for garnish.
Pour into slim jims or large wine glasses and decorate the glasses with your slices of lime.

Simply gorgeous and very refreshing.

Homemade organic Easter eggs with organic essential oils

For many people Easter is a complete choc-fest – especially for children. However, buying Easter eggs can be pricey so why not consider making your own which you can flavour with your own choice of organic essential oils and personalise with your own piped icing? If you have children you can get them involved in helping you make them as well.

This recipe makes four Easter eggs so just adjust ingredients as necessary if you want to make more or less.

Equipment
8 x small egg moulds – available online or at specialist kitchen shops

Paper towel

Heat proof bowl that fits comfortably on top/inside one of your saucepans

Saucepan of simmered hot water (but not boiling)

Cooking/jam thermometer

Pastry brush

Spoon

Tray (or similar) covered in greaseproof paper

Ruler or flat edged knife e.g. pallet knife

Baking paper

Icing piper (optional)

Small glass (optional)

Ingredients

300g/10½oz chocolate (70% cocoa solids & organic if possible)

Organic essential oil of your choice – we recommend fine lavender, sweet orange, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, palmarosa, rose and peppermint but it’s your creation so experiment away and why not try combining some oils? Nutmeg and ginger make a lovely combination as do orange and ginger, and lavender and rose.

Flavourless oil e.g. sunflower/vegetable

Icing for decorating the eggs (optional)

Instructions

First wipe the inside of each mould with a piece of paper towel. Then dampen another piece of towel with the sunflower oil and polish the inside of each mould with the oil. This ensures a high gloss finish to the chocolate and also helps to release the set chocolate from the mould.

Then break the chocolate into small, even pieces and melt gently in the bowl over the saucepan of hot water. When melted, add in one drop of your desired organic essential oil & mix in. Taste the mixture to see whether you need to add more essential oil then place the thermometer into the chocolate and heat until it reaches 43C/110F. Take off the heat and cool to 35C/95F. Now it is ready to use.

This heating/cooling process is called tempering is used in chocolate coating & moulding. Tempering separates the cocoa solids and ensures the set chocolate will have a high gloss and smooth finish.

Pour spoonfuls of the chocolate into each mould. Swirl around until coated using the pastry brush if necessary and then remove the excess chocolate. Leave to set on the tray. Fill each mould in the same way.

Wait for approx 20-30 minutes for the chocolate to set then use your ruler/pallet knife to draw a clean edge across the mould which is essential when it comes to sticking the two sides together.

Then fill the mould with chocolate again and repeat the process. You’ll need to do this about 3 times to get a good layer of chocolate in each mould.
Leave to chill in a dark cool place until completely set.

Then carefully un-mould the egg halves and place on a clean surface taking care not to handle the chocolate too much as it will start to melt from the heat of your hands.

Heat the baking sheet, place the edges of two egg halves on it for a few seconds, then gently push the edges together so they stick and hey, presto! You’ve got an egg.

You can then decorate and personalise the eggs if you want to. Sit an egg in a glass or small cup to use as a stand while you pipe your desired message on the egg. Then wrap your eggs in cellophane and give them away.

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