lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

Welcome celebration, here at Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women was in the Onam Pookalam tradition. Onam Pookalam also known as flower arrangement or flower mandala.

Onam Pookalam is one of the major attractions during Onam festival in here Kerala. India. The People of Kerala create amazingly beautiful designs for their Pookalams and this one was a group effort here at Rasa Ayurveda Centre.

Enjoy!

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

It’s late, I’m now three days into my journey to India and a sense of exhaustion has settled over me. As I stare out of the airplane window I am filled with excitement and anticipation.

The night sky is hauntingly beautiful – the sharp contrast of the dark Arabian Sea below and the bright light of a million blazing stars all around make the scene quite ethereal.

As I breathe in the wonder of this creation I realize I am almost to the south of India, to Kerala where my adventure for natural perfumery will finally begin.

An Indian friend of mine once said, “Kerala is God’s country.” Somehow I know this is true and now, I am about to experience it all first hand. Long a dream of mine, this trip began to take shape as the oils I was blending in my perfumery carried me to faraway places I longed to know; the seed was planted and I sensed my dream would finally become a reality.

Just as creating perfume encompasses the art of layering and blending, so too will this journey be defined by the layering of its many facets. From south to north, Kerala to Delhi, Varanasi, Jaipur, Agra and beyond I will visit farmers, distillers, and attar makers and uncover the secrets of this mysterious place, its plants and its people. I have a feeling the real India will far exceed the dream.

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

The delicate scent of the Jasmine flower is both elusive and ethereal. Gracing the fields with fragile white blossoms, it asks to be hand gathered with reverence, like a call to prayer in the soft light of dawn – when the air is rich in scent and the earth is still. Jasmine Soliflore perfume is a blend of sweet and spirited orange gives jasmin soliflore its sparkling top notes.
The heart of the perfume is gently layered with flowers – jasmine grandiflorum and jasmine sambac. Base nuances of ambrette seed and tonka bean absolute lie softly in the base in support of the pure jasmine perfume.

❀Available Spring 2012

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

Aromatherapy class with Robert Tisserand was fun, challenging and ever so enlightening. Well sort of.

The days were packed with more chemistry and physiology then scent study. It was super fun and we learned tons. I loved fusing the heady principles of classical aromatherapy practice with the ephemeral beautify of natural essences.

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

The other day I was reading a beauty blog that said toners were an unnecessary part of a daily skin care regime. From my perspective that is not entirely true.

In fact, toning is an important follow up to daily gentle cleansing, helping close pores and making skin more receptive to age management serums and moisturizers.

A skin neutralizer, toning is all about balancing the skin’s pH, the measure of acidity / alkalinity or the measure of hydrogen ion concentration. If that sounds like too much weird science, think of it this way…
The pores of our skin are made up of a combination of oil and sweat glands (sebaceous and soporiferous glands) helping to keep our skin healthy, elastic and in balance.  PH is ideal at levels 4.5 – 5.5, but pH levels are in a constant state of change.

With age, illness, exposure to chemicals and synthetic substances and of course, hormone fluctuations, our skin pH changes. When we are born our skin’s pH is considered neutral at 7.0 and as we age our skin becomes more acidic, especially in the teenage years.

At normal pH levels, there is a slightly acidic layer called the skin’s acid mantle, a result of sebum production and pressperson on the skin. This layer is our body’s first defense against bacteria invasion, protecting the skin from life’s daily challenges and exposure to bacteria and fungus.

Skincare regimens which take pH balance into account are by far the most effective for regulating sebum production and helping expensive age-management products to be more effective.

An obvious example of skin which is out of pH balance is teenage acne- here the skin is too acidic and can be brought into balance with a neutralizing toner to help regulate the sebaceous glands in secreting sebum.

As the skin ages and becomes less elastic it may also becomes drier; you can aggravate your dry skin by using harsh soaps and cleansers that actually strip away the protective acid mantle balance.

From there, the underlying fatty tissue begins to disappear resulting in the appearance of sagging skin. As the skin becomes less supple, wrinkles begin to form, it is more easily injured,  heals more slowly and tends to dry out more quickly. Dry skin can be rebalanced with specific toners which help regulate sebum production.

If you are lucky enough to have perfect skin, then great, but even you will benefit from using a toner to counteract the negative effects of soaps, alcohol based cleansers, age, and environmental pollutants.

So how do you know what toners are right for your skin? Read labels and stay away from products which have a long list of harsh ingredients such as alcohol.

I personally use organic hydrosols and look for natural ingredients like rose and helichryshum for dry to normal skin and lavender and tea tree for acne skin. Some of my other favorite nourishing ingredients are petitgrain, jasmine, chamomile and neroli.

Most product manufactures recommend a protocol specific for your skin type and condition. Remember, to avoid the eye area when using toners and cleansers and if you are allergic to plant nectars, take a pass.

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

Ambergis, Treasure or Trash?

It is said that truth is stranger than fiction and when it comes to the scent of Ambergris that it truly the case.

It is hard to imagine this high-priced, heady essence found in some of the world’s most precious perfumes comes from sperm whale vomit.

Now, before you swear off Ambergris for a lifetime, it would be a good idea to take in the mysterious aroma for yourself. At once sweet, earthy, musky and marine-like, the ancient Egyptians burned ambergris as incense while diverse cultures through the ages have used it as an aphrodisiac.

Interestingly, giant squid beaks have been found stuck in lumps of Ambergris, causing scientists to theorize whales use Ambergris to lubricate their intestines. And why lubricate? So the foreign objects eaten by the whales pass freely through their systems – easy in, easy out.

Grey/black lumps of Ambergris can be found floating on the sea and on the shores of the world’s oceans, but most of the substance is harvested in the Caribbean. To try this treasure, visit Ambergris.

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com

Welcome to my first blog entry – the beginning. I will feature fabulous skin care tips, aromatherapy education, natural perfume, and nourishing lifestyle enhancements that scientific studies claim to unlock the fountain of youth.

muse

The muse is natural and organic lifestyle choices. I will share bath rituals for your daily soak, essential oil blends that will lift your spirit, organic and things that I just love. My purest focus is the middle way, a way that embraces both science and the natural with respect to our planet.

So log-on on and tweet-in, as I demystify all the information on age-management, science and skin care, while featuring some really fabulous things, places and people.

lucymillerpure.com is a post from: lucymillerpure.com