Rose Petal Facial Cleanser

Rose is very softening to the skin.  Anything that can soften will lessen the appearance of wrinkles and pores.  The roses bloomed early this year due to the heat, but as a result I harvested many more flower heads than usual rather than watch them wither on the vine.  As a result I experimented with making a facial cleanser that has no soap.  You might like to try this for yourself or a gift.

Rose Petal Facial Cleanser

Fill a glass jar with dried or fresh rose petals and cover with distilled witch hazel.  Use a chopstick to stir the mixture to remove any air bubbles, then add more witch hazel so all petals are covered. If you leave the petals uncovered they will go brown within a couple of hours.

Seal the glass jar with a screw top lid, label and date. Leave the jar to infuse in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks. Strain and pour into dark glass bottles.

If you find the scent from fresh rose petals is not strong or even non existent, it might be worth adding some dried rose petals and re-infusing for two further weeks after you have strained the fresh rose petals. The fragrance is much more concentrated with dried petals than with fresh.

To Use: Apply to your face with soaked cotton balls.

This recipe can also be made with dried or fresh elderflowers when they are in season.

Herbal Gifts for Mom and Dad

I have not done one of these in a while, but knowing that herbs make the perfect gift for both mom and dad, I thought some blatant self-promotion was in order.

Here are some of my suggestions for gifts for your mother and father on their upcoming special days!

FOR MEN

My father and brother-in-law are both grill kings, so with them in mind, I crafted a set of 5 blends for grilling, including marinades and rubs.  It sells for $10.00 and the shipping is low.  You can check out this item at Grilling Collection.

I also put together a Man Gift Basket.  I call it the Master of the Universe collection.  It comes in a copper pail with utensils and herb blends for grilling and cooking.  It is the perfect ensemble for the man with everything who is not afraid to dabble in the kitchen.  With everything including priority mail shipping it comes to around $45.00 depending on where you live.

We also have a few regular products that a man might like.  In addition to individual herbs mixes, we have an aftershave made with sage and lavender, and foot salts.


FOR MOM 

We still have several of our special box sets for an herbal facial or herbal pedicure and a portion of the proceeds from these goes to Susan B. Koman for the Cure!  Each contains a variety of herbal products for treating your face or feet with full instructions for giving yourself a spa treatment at home.  And they are a bargain at $17.00 and $15.00 respectively.

If you want to make mom breakfast in bed you could try our herb infused muffin mixes.  Or perhaps you want to make pancakes -- we have a gift set that includes cinnamon pancake mix, Cinnamon Spice Tea, and a jar of herbed honey, I call it Breakfast in Bed.  And it sells for 9.95.

You can give your gift a special touch with a hand made herbal greeting card, complete with an herb tea bag enclosed.

We also have bath salts and scrubs, bath sachets, and herb pillows to treat headaches and aid sleep (especially appropriate if you are the one mom is losing sleep over!)  You can also browse our loose herbal tea selection.

If you can't decide at all what to do, perhaps a sample of our herbal offerings is what you need.  We have small samplers of each of our main items (Herb mixes, Herb Seasonings, Scented Bath, or Herbal Tea) and they sell for only $4.95.  For a limited time we have created a sampler of samplers which includes five of our 16 samplers (our choice or yours) for $25.00. 

I hope this has given you a few ideas for your mother or father gift shopping this season.  As always you can browse all our products on our web page: http://www.backyardpatch.com/