Author Archive
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Some of you prefer 100% pure aromatherapy essential oils to fragrance skincare for the bath products whenever possible. We understand, especially if you’ve experienced a sensitivity to some synthetic fragrances.
Our essential oils are ALWAYS 100% pure, authentic and genuine. They are NEVER diluted with carrier oils that can negatively effect the quality and shelf-life of your essential oils.
Sometimes to give you a more beautifully unique and complex fragrance blend that’s not available with only fragrant essential oils, we blend our 100% pure essential oils with high quality synthetic (phthalate-free) fragrances to create the most elegant, refreshing, and playful fragrances we all adore.
Just one sec here: Before we jump into talking about an important issue inherent with the use of essential oils in skincare products, an issue which most people don’t think about when touting the benefits of essential oils and citing the potential negatives associated with synthetic anything, including fragrances (e.g. sensitivities, allergies, irritation, etc.), let me tell you that very often, the primary culprit associated with synthetic fragrances is PHTHALATES. Phthalates are the chemical compounds which can, in some individuals, cause headaches, respiratory irritation, and other temporary sensitivities. Our highest quality synthetic fragrances are phthalate-free, for just that very good reason.
Want to know more about phthalates? Several of you have asked me about this, so I’ll include a new post on the topic. If you can’t wait to know more, shoot me an email, and I’ll share with you the scoop on phthalates, and why you can expect to see more and more quality beauty products listed as phthalate-free.
But, for right now, here’s a very important reason for using phthalate-free fragrances (rather than essential oils) when you’re out in the summer sun: PHOTOSENSITIVITY.
It’s important for you to know that just because we use 100% pure essential oils (not adulterated or blended with carrier oils which risk reducing their fragrant potency, therapeutic effectiveness and natural shelf-life), this does not mean that these essential oils are free of potential cosmetic issues when we expose our skin to the sun. → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
One word with enormous power to make the difference between healthy radiant skin that you dare to bare, and skin you’d rather keep under wraps this summer: EXFOLIATE. Yes, it’s a really big deal. You only have to try it once to notice immediate benefits. When you make it part of your weekly skincare routine, you’ll continue to notice your best skin ever – healthy, soft, smooth skin that returns the love you give it! → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
May is all about love: first love, new love, mom’s love, love for mom, love for newborn baby animals and their angels with fur kinda love for us,…. Love of all kinds as a vital force inspires us to feel happy, young and exuberant, and want to share all this luscious energy with our family and friends and smile at people we may never know other than in passing for a moment in time. → Read more
May 06
L’Amour Fou de Printemps
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
May is the perfect time to play with new spring fragrances. Everything around us seems more playful, delightful and full of intoxicating natural fragrances and joie de vivre, so welcome l’amour fou (crazy wild love) of springtime into your heart! Fragrance is all about happy little sensual pleasures, feeling fab in your skin and making beautiful memories that remain forever. Franz Kafka said “Anyone who retains the ability to see beauty never grows old.” I couldn’t agree more. Fist bumps Franz and Andre (Breton), l’amour fou man. And the best part? Crazy wild love and this genuine fountain of youth are available to you, everyday of your life. Just choose to invite them into your life today. → Read more
Bliss is a perpetual miracle. And what’s so fab about bliss is that we can discover it everyday within ourselves!
We cannot help but be reminded of the veracity of Voltaire’s eloquent expression, particularly after months of nature covered in snow and ice, green begins to expose itself once again, the initial sign of nature’s powers of miraculous rejuvenation and rebirth. April’s wet grass, blossoms beginning to form in May, fruit growing on trees, and moisture in the air tells us that spring has returned. We are part of the cycle of nature, and follow her revitalization.
Even if Mother Nature decides to snow flower-sized snowflakes in Minnesota this April, we know from experience that they’ll quickly melt when the sun comes out. Just a little reminder to be grateful for the spring when she comes to stay!
When I was a child, my grandmother used to call each April 1st with the same line “Look out the window, it’s snowing.” I’d say “Grandma, it’s not snowing, don’t you know it’s April!” She’d insist, so finally I’d put the phone down, go to the window, and when I’d return to the phone, she’s say the inevitable “April Fools.” I miss her calls every April 1st. I’ve always thought Mother Nature and my grandmother were conspiring to make me truly appreciate the beauty of spring.
What better place than a warm fragrant bath to discover your blissful rejuvenation this season? Your bath is a sanctuary for undisturbed reverie and meditation. Release all winter’s cares to be swept away by the uncontrolled beauty of your thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations. Give in to wherever they lead you…Your bath is your bath. I’d say your bath, your rules, but it’s more your bath, no rules sort of thing, a rule-free zone. Your isolation tank or a shared space, whatever you’re in the mood for. → Read more
Earth Day is today. How do YOU celebrate Earth Day?
I’m interested, because there seem to be infinite ways to celebrate a day all about the planet on which we live, and conversely, without which, we couldn’t live, at least not yet, and certainly not in the same manner.
Years ago, I saw part of the film “The Martian” while my young daughter was watching it on Netflix, and I have to say, Mars is not for me.
The verdant landscapes, trees with abundant leaves, and flowers in bloom this spring hold the potential to transform our spirits.
In Minnesota, we deal daily with temperature and climate pendulum swings. Is it spring, is it winter, is it spring, is it winter…?
Mushy snow that melts nearly on contact with the pavement mid-April leaves us waiting to unveil our charming (let’s hope so) personalities to our neighbors at our mailboxes, walking our dogs,…
By the way, isn’t it fabulous that several animal shelters currently report that they no longer have dogs awaiting forever homes? Since we’re in extended COVID 19 isolation, it’s the absolute best time to train a new family dog! The secret’s out. And from what I’ve seen on daily walks, our neighborhood dogs are getting oodles and oodles of walks!
Back to Earth Day…Based on our empirical knowledge and faith, we know and believe that spring will eventually come, as it always does. We’re adept at leaping from freezing winter temps, wind chills that threaten to push down my heavy Volvo trunk on top of my head while reaching for my purse inside (yeah, that’s right it did just that, and it was as frightening and painful as you might imagine when it happened at Costco), and a slippery mess of a rain-snow mix to 70 degrees the next day.
It can also feel a little like “En attendant Godot”, waiting for Godot or Mother Nature to brighten our yards and our spirits. Come on Mother Nature, please hurry on over to Minnesota with your powerful feminine charms, we want to see daffodils, tulips, irises popping up! I’d even be immensely grateful for a hosta or two pop up along the boulder wall and alongside my mailbox, even if soon to be munched on by our resident family of 10 or so deers already trekking through from our backyard to the front and roaming on over across the street to the woods behind.
I’ve been staring at colorful silk flowers (now fading) in pots outside my front door all winter, because I can’t bear life without color. Still, I don’t for a sec believe they’re real, and I’m sooooo….ready for flowers that grow in the earth! → Read more
Apr 02
Jump into Spring Colors
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Winter drab be-gone. Perk up your thoughts, dreams and creative imagination with beautiful spring floral colors from palest pinks, roses, lilacs, mints, sea foams, melons, butters, and cocoas to the brightest fuchsias, limes, cherries, sunshine yellows and tangerines. Your favorite fresh spring colors are all here! → Read more
Mar 26
Topical Detox
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
You’ve heard lots about detox during this transitional time of year, from winter to spring, for those of us who live in four season climates. Whenever we transition from one season to another, it’s a great time to detox. Out with the old, in with the new.
Why not combine an internal detox (like our easy Dandelion Detox) with a topical detox (with one of our Gentle Exfoliating Sugar Scrubs) Red Note has the perfect gentle exfoliating sugar scrub YOU and YOUR SKIN will love!
First of all, why is topical exfoliation with a gentle sugar scrub so important to your detox ritual from the outside in? → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
SEASONAL FRAGRANCE PHILOSOPHY, in a few words:Your favorite fragrances become your signature, and there’s no need to change your fragrance wardrobe from season to season, unless of course you want to!
I will forever remember my mother’s perfume as she prepared for a night out with my father. It was part of her essence, a woman celebrating a romantic evening. As she hugged me before going out, the smell of her skin became one with my own.
Like the fragrances I wear today, my mother’s fragrance remained on the fabric of her clothes. Trying on my mother’s clothes hanging over her chair was like wrapping myself up in her arms.
Today my teenage daughter wraps herself lovingly in my bathrobe, and tells me it smells like me.
Your fragrant self is a gift of love to you and to those whom you cherish, now and forever. It is the stuff of treasured memories, an expression of YOU.
That said, maybe you change how you feel from season to season? Do you feel a sense of renewal and joy when spring rolls into town? Are you ready to change your fragrance up a bit to express how you feel now?
There are fragrances that seem to naturally herald the first gentle caress of spring, flowers and fruit growing from the fertile earth. The light floral and fruity fragrances of the following 4 fragrances celebrate a gentle transition to spring.
Express your new spring self, and always feel free to call for a personalized consultation if you’d like to play and explore a fragrance that beautifully expresses who you are right now! → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Transitions are a natural part of life. Acknowledge and embrace transitions and the changes they bring as part of the mystery of life that offer you an opportunity to expand your horizons, try new things, learn and grow. Remember last week’s blog post about jumping into new experiences and changes without fear? Mother Nature herself is changing it up and setting the example for us to follow! → Read more
