Evergreen lotion recipe + herbal course giveaway
I'm giving away an Herbal Academy short course!
Happy Yuletide, everyone! However you celebrate this time of year, I hope you are finding yourself surrounded by warmth and merriment.
We’re in the depths of winter now, but we are past the threshold and the days will slowly, slowly, stretch a little longer every time, long nights giving way to light — the wheel of the year a constant promise. As we wind down the year, we look ahead and sow seeds of intention for the new cycle that is now starting. Reflecting and planning go hand-in-hand, what passions are you hoping to pursue and expand upon in 2024?
If your passions include herbalism, health and wellness, foraging, plants, nature, or exploring new hobbies, then I have some exciting news for you!
My friends (and teammates!) at the Herbal Academy have opened their final sitewide herbal course sale of the year – and these courses are perfectly designed to help you transform your herbal passions into the journey of a lifetime. Committing myself to the study and practice of herbalism was a decisive moment in my life. At the time, we were still living in my grandparents’ little goat shed, and I had been learning mostly from books and the elderly neighbors… But I felt I needed more — I needed structured learning and accountability, notebooks and reference studies, phytochemistry basis and guidance for different herbal preparations. So I took a deep breath and jumped. And I’m so glad I did.
So today, to celebrate new adventures in the cycle ahead and the lifelong journey of herbalism, I’m giving one of you enrollment in one of Herbal Academy’s short courses!
But first… Today’s recipe! The giveaway details will be at the end of the post 👇🏽
I had fun making this evergreen-infused lotion! It’s perfect for wintertime, with its pine aromas, and I find so much joy in going out to forage and quickly getting busy with whatever found its way into my harvest basket. To create this lotion, I based myself on one of the lotion recipes from the Botanical Skin Care Course and tweaked it slightly to include the evergreens.
Evergreen needles are antioxidant and antimicrobial, and have a warming quality that is perfect for this cold season. Any evergreen will do, including the annual Yule tree!, but avoid yew (Taxus spp.), as they are toxic. Spruce, pine, and fir are all lovely options.
For this lotion, you can use plain oil, but why use plain when you can infuse it with herbal magic? If you’ve never made a herb-infused oil before, here’s an easy tutorial:
How to make a simple herb-infused oil
The fun part of making herb-infused oils is that you can concoct them to suit your body’s unique needs! You can also blend different oils according to your skin’s specific requirements. There is room to be creative!
If you do not grow or ethically forage for your own herbs, buy them from an organic supplier. Halve or double this recipe as needed.
Makes ½ cup of herb-infused oil.
ingredients
2 heaping tablespoons of chopped dried herbs. When making herb-infused oils, it’s important to make sure that your herbs are completely dry before infusing, since any residual water content can easily make the oil rancid.
½ cup organic carrier oil of choice, such as olive oil, sweet almond oil, or sunflower oil (I love using olive oil, since that’s what’s available in my bioregion, but sweet almond oil or fractionated coconut oil are wonderful options)
directions
Spoon the dried herbs into a clean, dry mason jar and pour the oil over them, covering them by 2 cm (¾ in). Add more oil if needed.
Set in a warm, dark place and allow the herbs to infuse into the oil for 4 to 6 weeks, shaking the jar every few days.
Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Strain the infused oil, then gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much oil as possible. Compost the herbs. Transfer the strained oil into a clean, dry jar with a tight-fitting lid. Don’t forget to label it!
Infused oil will keep for up to 1 year in a cool, dark place.
Are you in a rush and don’t want to wait some weeks to have your oil ready? Try the double-boiler method to get a lovely oil in less than an hour. Here is a tutorial you can follow! Simply scroll down to Double Boiler Herb-Infused Oil.
Evergreen Lotion
Now that you have your herb-infused oils ready, it’s time to start crafting! For this lotion, I used a blend of sweet almond oil and olive oil infused with pine (Pinus pinaster) and fir (Abies nordmanniana). It makes a wonderful moisturizer to indulge in after a warm shower!
Because this recipe includes water, it’s important to notice that its shelf-life is quite different from that of an herbal-infused oil or a body butter. To increase the shelf-life for up to a year, you may want to add a preservative to your ingredients, which is what I like to do. You can still make this lotion even without a preservative, but in that case, it’s best if you store your lotion in a cool place and use it within 1-2 weeks.
Note: if you choose to include a preservative in your lotion, be sure to pay close attention to the manufacturer’s instructions for use; these preservatives are sometimes only effective when added below a certain temperature and within a specific pH range, and need to be used at the concentration range recommended by the manufacturer — otherwise they may not fully preserve your homemade products.
ingredients
1 ¼ cups (350 ml) evergreen-infused sweet almond oil, or a combination of sweet almost oil and olive oil
¼ cup (50 ml) pine (Pinus spp.) needle infusion
5 tsp (24 g) beeswax pearls or grated beeswax
¾ tsp vitamin E oil
5 drops evergreen-type essential oil (I use pine, but eucalyptus or frankincense would be lovely here, or a combination of all three) (optional)
Natural preservative (optional) — for this quantity of lotion, I use 3 g of WW ecosafe.
directions
Start by making your pine needle infusion: finely chop a handful of pine needles, place them in a heat-proof jar, and cover with ¼ cup (50 ml) of boiling water (or a little more, in case some evaporates). Cover and let it infuse for 10-15 minutes, then strain and allow to cool. Reserve.
Combine the evergreen-infused oil and beeswax in a double boiler (or a bowl in a saucepan filled with water over low heat), stirring occasionally until completely melted.
Remove the oil/wax mixture from heat and allow to cool until the edges just begin to harden. Pour into a clean, dry blender. Alternatively, if your bowl is deep enough for your immersion blender or a hand whisk, leave it there.
Measure out your pine needle infusion. If using a natural preservative that needs to be added to the water phase, add it now and stir well; otherwise, wait until the lotion has emulsified.
Turn on your immersion blender and start blending your oil/wax mixture. Add the pine needle infusion very slowly in a thin stream. The emulsion will begin to thicken and change colour (this is my favorite part!)
Add the vitamin E oil and the essential oil (if using) while it is blending.
Pour quickly into sterilized glass jars or a lotion bottle, cap, and label.
Store in a cool place for 1-2 weeks (if using a preservative, shelf-life will be longer, up to 1 year).
And just like that, you’ve made a body lotion! Pine is one of my favorite herbal allies to work with during winter, so it was a pretty easy choice for me to include it in a body lotion…
If you’re looking for more recipes with pine, here are a couple of recipes I’ve shared over time:
🌲 Forest tea
🌲 Pine resin salve
〰️ herbal course giveaway 〰️
Now, on to our giveaway!
To celebrate Herbal Academy’s last sale of the year, I’m offering one of you access to the herbal Short Course of your choice!
These short courses are programs that dive deep into specific herbal topics, from herbal fermentation to foraging, botanical skin care to mushrooms, herbal formulation to botanical drawing… There really is a course for everyone!
Personally, when it comes to short courses, I’ve taken the Materia Media Course (my very first herbal course!), the Herbal Fermentation one, the Foraging one, and I am finishing the Mastering Herbal Formulation Course. And have a few others on my wishlist. Herbalism really is a lifelong journey, and I love adding new skills to my toolkit!
To enter the giveaway, simply take a peek at Herbal Academy’s short courses (scroll down to Herbal Short Course Collection), and leave a comment below telling me which course you’d like to win and why. Yes, I totally am using this giveaway to get to know y’all better! 👯♀️
On January 1st, I’ll select a random winner from the comments and get in touch directly (so don’t forget to include your email address when commenting!)
Good luck, everyone! 🍃
With cold full moon’s blessings,
Cat 🌝