Video

The Gardenias Are Out! And a Few Perfume Recipes Too

I’m so happy its getting warmer and the heady, intoxicating scent of gardenias is everywhere. So fragile, so pretty and oh what a scent! And the good news is you can buy gardenia absolute – it’s more expensive like the other floral extractions of rose, jasmine and neroli – but worth every scent (get it? cent/scent). What can you do with gardenia absolute?

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

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the beautiful gardenia

Because this floral scent is so special and so unique, you don’t need to mix it up too much. You could treat it in the way you use jasmine oil, as it has an exotic white floral scent indicative of summer evenings somewhere delightful.

Here a a couple of recipes you try with this precious oil, and my general rules for making an anointing perfume:

Pure Pulse Point Perfume

In a little dish mix these oils and anoint your pulse points or chakras – 3 drops of essential oils and dilute with a few drops of carrier oil – always patch test first!

The classic Duralex glass dish is handy to make oil blends and quick perfumes in

“An Evening by the River”

gardenia absolute 1 drop

cedarwood Atlas 1 drop

palmarosa 1 drop

” Being”

gardenia absolute 2 drops

bergamot 1 drop

“La Verite”

gardenia absolute 1 drop

jasmine absolute 1 drop

orange 1 drop

“Tropicana”

gardenia absolute 1 drop

lime 1 drop

ginger 1 drop

mixed into some coconut oil

“Femme Fatale”

gardenia absolute 2 drops

sandalwood Mysore 1 drop

Billie Holliday with gardenias in her hair

“Holiday: Madonna vs Billie”

gardenia absolute 1 drop

peru balsam 1 drop

patchouli 1 drop

Have you ever used gardenia absolute? I’d love to hear from you!

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Essential Oils in Pregnancy and Childbirth – Video

Video

Hello natural beauties everywhere. I did the live Q & A with The Mothership International on Facebook last Friday (November 11 2016). It was challenging as no one asked a question – I’m glad I prepared some notes. So I talked to the reflection of myself for about an hour and you can check it out here today. It was good to do something I haven’t done before, to challenge myself and create new brain synapses by learning something new.

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

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jasmine is great preparing for childbirth and in labour too

My Chat (with myself)

I generally talked about:

* taking the toxic chemicals out of your life

* the facts about essential oils in pregnancy

* the myths – if any?

* using your intuition

* seeking advice

* making aromatherapy easy

And in relation to pregnancy and childbirth (and perhaps more specifically):

* 1st trimester

* 2nd trimester

* 3rd trimester

* preparing for birth

* at the birth

* after the birth

I hope you gain some insight from this talk and please pass it on to anyone you know who may be interested.

Did you use essential oils through your pregnancy?

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Essential Oils in Pregnancy and Childbirth – Standby for a Live Q and A

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Hello natural beauties everywhere. I am doing a live Q & A with The Mothership International on Facebook, this Friday (November 11 2016), 10am local Sydney time. If you can’t pop in because of the time difference the video will remain on the Mothership Facebook page.

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

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As I prepare for this live chat I realise I haven’t written very much on this topic so I’ll try and follow up with some recipes and articles in the next couple of months.

Go to the Facebook page here: The Mothership International

Here’s a quick look at a quick tech run I did today so I could work out what was going on. Hopefully it will be much better on the day with some real people asking questions!

I’l do my best to limit the um and ahs …….. It’s actually quite difficult speaking live without a lot of direction.

Wish me luck!

Is there anything you’d like to know about essential oils in pregnancy? Ask me on Friday or leave a question here.

Aromatherapy Skincare on TVSN and the Powerful Solstice

Video

Hello my natural beauties, I hope you are all well at this auspicious time of the solstice. I forgot a post last week as I was preparing to do another 2 live TV spots on TVSN, as a Brand Ambassador for Springfields Aromatherapy. I’m blaming the powerful blue moon solstice for my forgetfulness, and a little bit of nervous energy too.

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

Me in my dressing room

It was an early start in hair and makeup with my beautiful friend Jason, then off to the studio to do 2 live shows, each an hour long.

Live TV is a bit nerve-wracking because there’s no saving grace. Anyway suddenly you’re on camera thinking “I hope I remember what to say’.

Then its over and the world keeps turning.

My friend took this screen shot:

And that was the second show and it was all over, again. I’ve got 2 more days this year – in spring and summer (southern hemisphere).

And speaking about hemispheres, the north just had the summer solstice and the south just experienced the winter solstice – yay! It seems that this was a cosmological blue moon in Sagittarius, rather than a calendar blue moon, with powerful movements for us all. I’m not an expert so I’ve included a couple of links:

Mystic Mumma

Collective Evolution

My summary is:

if you’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately there may be big breakthroughs coming up
a new chapter, or time in your life, may becoming a reality on a very deep level
end relationships that are not serving your higher purpose
acknowledge your spiritual conscious for this may be the driver of your new paradigm
be willing and courageous to forge ahead with a new way of life

I’ve just planted some basil and it seems to be dong quite well

My body oil blend for this time is:

For a coat of your body use 3 teaspoons of carrier oil in a little dish and, add 7 – 8 drops of essential oil. It’s always best to patch test first, before you apply all over.

***** Always put the drops of essential oil into the bottle or dish first, then add the carrier oil. It gives the scents time to create a synergistic fusion.

For a 50ml bottle of oil add 25 drops and see my articles “Ratios for Blending Essential Oils – A Reminder of the Basics” and “Aromatherapy – It’s Easy as 1 2 3”

“Blue Solstice”

Frankincense 3 drops Keywords: meditation, truth, preservation

Basil 1 drop Keywords: clarity; open your mind

Black Pepper 1 drop Keywords: go forward and fulfill your destiny

Petitgrain 3 drops Keywords: potentiality

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Check out my YouTube channel too, thanks.

Collective Evolution

Mystic Mumma

Roses Are Always the Queens

Video

Hello lovers of beauty and scent! I have recently experienced some beautiful roses – the old fashioned kind you might find in a suburban garden. The shape and colours are as diverse as the magnificent fragrance emanating from the petals. Here are a few of my finds …

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

Last week I was in Goulburn, a country town about 2 hours south-west of Sydney. It has beautiful architecture and a gorgeous park right in the centre. There is a lovely rose garden in the park, and I set about smelling all the roses that were blooming. It was a warm autumn day and these apricot roses were divinely fragrant ….

A different rose, in the same park, about 2 years ago

A beautiful bunch of small roses at my friends house a couple of weeks ago were so beautifully perfumed- often the little roses don’t have a scent.

Little roses, big scent

When we acknowledge the beauty of a rose, we acknowledge the beauty within us.

The rose is the Queen.

Embrace roses and rose essential oil to enhance your experiences.

You are the Queen of your life – play this audio to remind yourself!

A bunch of mixed roses in a cafe. The large pink rose had a mild scent but the little white ones didn’t

And finally, the rose leaves us another gift when she returns to back to where she came from – the rosehip. This fruit grows after the flower has died, and gives us wonderful rosehip oil – the perfect skin moisturiser.

Rosehip in a back lane in Sydney

Thank you roses.

Myrrh Doesn’t Really Want to be an Essential Oil

Video

Hi aromatic geniuses! I was making a perfume today and a few drops of myrrh is in the recipe. I realised last week I’d run out, and had to rush to the shop to buy a little bottle, late Friday afternoon. Anyway, patience is a virtue when it comes to myrrh.

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

Here’s the thing….. myrrh is a resin that’s tapped from the tree. It is then steam distilled into an essential oil for us to use in our healing lotions and potions.

But the older the little bottle of myrrh gets, the thicker and more gooey the oil gets.

myrrh resin – pic via Pinterest

Initially the deep red oil, distilled from the deep red resin, is thin and easy to use.

Then, in all its power, it starts to harden up. Commiphora myrrha (or Commiphora molmol), really just wants to be a resin. So when I was making my perfume I had to take the plastic dropper out of the bottle, soak it in boiling water to clear the resin from it, and use an eye dropper to get a couple of drops. (This is after waiting for about 5 minutes for one drop to comes out of the bottle – ugh!).

Check out my video on myrrh, and how I feel about The Man with Two Brains:

the resin of myrrh

It is related to frankincense, as they belong to the same family, Burseraceae, but they really behave differently, Frankincense is quite happy being an oil thank you very much.

Myrrh is the healer of wounds. This makes sense when we look at its strength and its overwhelming desire to get back to its natural state. By healing a wound (whether emotional, spiritual or physical), we are returning to our natural state of health.

Do you use myrrh oil? Or do you prefer to burn the resin as an incense?

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Be The Queen of Your Life

Video

Hello natural beauties! I have just done a couple of live TV shows on TVSN in Sydney, as Brand Ambassador for Springfields Aromatherapy, and their beautiful skincare. This week we featured the Rose Collection, so it was easy to talk about beautiful organic Bulgarian rose oil.

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

My dressing room for the day – feeling nervous

Live TV is nerve-wracking! The presenters are professionals and can turn it on quite quickly. I, on the other hand, found it challenging to be succinct and precise while going with the flow. Anyway it’s over now – phew!

I talked about rose oil as being “the Queen of Oils” due to its complex molecular structure and the fact that it is a “premium” essential oil. It is very expensive because the production of the Attar of Roses, or Rose Otto (meaning steam distilled rose oil), is very labour intensive. It can take 5000 kgs to make 1 kg of essential oil – or more – depending on the harvest, the size of the flowers and other variables. After all this is a natural product and we are subject to the ebb and flow of nature.

Rose is the Queen of oils

Using the Queen of Oils sends a positive energetic message to your soul – I am the Queen of my life. When I treat myself as a Queen, I am not the only one who benefits. I have more to share with others when I acknowledge my divinty.

My good friend Darryl, The Vitalist, took a sound grab from the TV. Thanks Darryl:

In my practice I use rose oil:

help the body deal with excess heat
help dry, mature, and sun damaged skin
help a client deal with grief
help a client process difficult emotions
allow the heart to open
acknowledge a client’s success or fears around a challenge ahead

More beautiful roses from my recent trip to New Zealand

As rose oil is expensive it is usually sold in a 3% blend in jojoba which is perfect to use straight on your skin as a perfume. If you are fortunate to have a pure rose oil then even 1 drop can be enough to soothe your soul, uplift your emotions, clarify your mind and help you feel abundant in many ways.

Me and Sarah on set

After the shows I was met by Springfields owner Rodney, with chocolates and flowers from the new Springfields garden. I hope to follow this story more closely as time goes on as Rodney has started the process of preparing the garden, which will grow the plants that will be hrvested to make botanical extracts for the skincare products. I’m excited about that!

Rodney from Springfields with dahlias and lavender from the new garden

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

Check out my YouTube channel too, thanks.

Have you ever used rose oil? What are your experiences?

The Persian Garden – Cruising on the Celebrity Solstice with Eucalyptus Oil – Video

Video

Hello friends! I missed a post last week all caught up in summer in Sydney, parties with visiting DJ’s and singers, and the beach. This week I share a moment in time on the cruise ship the Celebrity Solstice, where I was excited to discover a eucalyptus infused steam room and sauna, sailing home from New Caledonia.

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

The theme of this little video is “aromatherapy is easy” …

And just to prove it here is a pic of my good friend DJ Wayne G (DJ WAYNE G) from San Francisco, playing tunes on New Years Day:

Me and Wayne at the start of a party

And me with other incredibly talented friends, singer and recording artist Peyton (Peyton Music) and travel writer and blogger Amanda (Adventures All Round). It was dark so I had to do a few little adjustments including some stars and fireworks too …

Friends

Thanks for your time! Have you been to a spa on a cruise? I’d love to hear about it.

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

copryright SR Banks 2015

The Isle of Pines and Pine Oil

Video

Hey lovely friends, on my recent trip to New Caledonia I was fortunate to visit the tropical island paradise of The Isle of Pines, “Kunyie” in the native language. There were many kinds of pine trees including Araucaria cooki, Araucaria heterophylla, Araucaria columnaris (the pines which Captain Cook named this island after), Pinus pinaster, Pinus radiata and more – up to 14 kinds of pines on the beautiful isle.

So it got me thinking about pine essential oil, Pinus sylvestrus ….

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

And here are my thoughts on film –

This island is sometimes referred to as

‘île la plus proche du paradis (“the closest island to Paradise”).

Wikipedia

Araucaria columnaris or cooki? Not sure ..

Paradiso majorana

Stone totems protecting a scared site in St Maurice Bay

Pinus radiata

My tropical island sojourn was one I’ll never forget.

Have you been to The Isle of Pines?

How do you use pine essential oil in your life?

copryright SR Banks 2015

Vanilla Weddings in the South Pacific – Video

Video

A vanilla wedding in the South Pacific? How about hundreds of them every year? Forge on to discover how organic vanilla is grown on the tropical island of Lifou in New Caledonia, with my mini movie and gorgeous pics!

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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Barnes & Noble Booktopia AU Amazon UK

and many other stores worldwide as an ebook and paperback

**************************************************************************************************************

The vanilleraie on Lifou

On my recent trip to New Caledonia I found a small organic vanilla plantation in the Botanic Garden on the island of Lifou. Watch the story unfold ….

In a nutshell:

Mexican vanilla was introduced by the missionaries in the 1800’s
The plantation is growing each year as more vines are planted – cuttings are taken from the original vines
It takes about 7 years from planting to produce beans
The plant flowers in October to November
The flowers are not scented
This is the beautiful vanilla flower
As the plants are an introduced species the local insects and birds do not pollinate the flower – this has to be done by hand
The male organ in the flower is gently touched to the female organ – this is the pollinating process
Pollinating must be done in the morning as the flowers close in the afternoon
Once the flower has dried and died, the vanilla beans grow

The young vanilla bean

When the time is right the beans are picked and plunged into boiling water for 3 minutes
The beans are dried in both sun and shade for 3 months then placed into aging boxes to develop – just like wine
Lifou currently sends all its harvest to Noumea but is aspiring to export worldwide when the crops are more bountiful

My wonderful guide

It was so hot and the tour continued onto other beautiful sights, like a tribal hut and he Cliffs of Jokin. I wish I had asked a few more questions but the tour party pressed on. And I can’t believe I forgot my guide’s name. The heat got into my brain!

The Cliffs of Jokin

The picture does not do the water justice – it was a stunning turquoise blue. We also spotted a shark swimming around.

Remember to treat yourself first, then everyone will benefit.

copryright SR Banks 2015

suzannerbanks

scent . intention . consciousness . essential oils

Blog Archives

The Gardenias Are Out! And a Few Perfume Recipes Too

Video

Essential Oils in Pregnancy and Childbirth – Video

Video

Essential Oils in Pregnancy and Childbirth – Standby for a Live Q and A

Video

Aromatherapy Skincare on TVSN and the Powerful Solstice

Video

Roses Are Always the Queens

Video

Myrrh Doesn’t Really Want to be an Essential Oil

Video

Be The Queen of Your Life

Video

The Persian Garden – Cruising on the Celebrity Solstice with Eucalyptus Oil – Video

Video

The Isle of Pines and Pine Oil

Video

Vanilla Weddings in the South Pacific – Video

Video

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