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DIY Herbal Spa Treatments

by Organic Spa Magazine

SO15_herb lovers_book cover

This lovely little handbook, by herb gardener and expert Sue Goetz, makes it easy to DIY your own luxury spa experience at home, with recipes for a Lavender Heat Pillow, Oatmeal Soak, Sweet Feet Sugar Scrub and more. The book also offers a compendium of herbs along with common uses and origins. You will be eager to get started, with the help of The Herb Lovers’ Spa Book (St. Lynn’s Press)!

LAVENDER HEAT PILLOW
This comfortable pillow can be draped over the neck and shoulders and is perfect to bring along if you are going into a public sauna. As the environment and your body heats up, the rice becomes humid and fragrant lavender aroma will be released in your personal space.
1 cup dried lavender buds
4 cups uncooked white rice
14 x 24-inch cotton hand towel or 100 percent cotton fabric, prewashed
What to do:
-Mix the rice and lavender buds together in a bowl and set aside.
-Fold the fabric in half (right sides together) and stitch along one end and the length opposite the fold. Turn right side out and press.
-Fill the open end with the lavender-rice mixture. Stitch closed.
For general use as a hot pack on sore muscles or across the back of the neck as a headache soother:
Heat in the microwave for approximately one minute or until warm, not burning to skin. The rice stays warm and the lavender will release its aromatic, healing fragrances. Can be used repeatedly.
OATMEAL SOAK
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Oats have been used for centuries as a remedy to heal skin from rashes, bug bites, and after a tangle with poison ivy. It relieves itch and irritation, and it has cleansing qualities from the saponins present in the plant. Studies show that the phenols in the oats actually have old-fashioned oatmeal, the kind you cook for breakfast. So when you combine oatmeal with herbs chosen for their special properties, you create a rich mix that will cleanse and heal.
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup dried lemon verbena leaves
1 cup dried lavender buds
1 cup dried rosebuds and petals
What to do:
-In a large bowl, gently mix all of the ingredients together. Use your hands to help the rose and lemon verbena combine with the smaller ingredients.
-Place the mix in muslin bags and store for use at any time. This blend can also be ground to a fine powder that disperses easily in water.
To use:
Hang the bag from the tub faucet as the bath is filling up. When the water is turned off, float the herb bag in the water. To gain the full benefits, allow for a bath time of at least 15 minutes or longer.
Excerpted from The Herb Lovers’ Spa Book (St. Lynn’s Press) by Sue Goetz

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