Aromatherapy Newsletter: Fall 2021

Greetings Everyone!

We have been super busy this summer and fall because we were fortunate to be blessed with the best Monsoon season that we have had in decades.  It is the first time in two years that the plants are not suffering from extreme drought stress.  In general the yields of essential oils are lower this year, but the aromas are sweet and wonderful.  We have beautiful new batches of oil and hydrosol from Douglas Fir, White Fir, Subalpine Fir, Pinyon Pine, Ponderosa Pine, White Pine, Calabrian Pine, Chaparral and Pinyon Pine co-distill, Yerba Santa and Pinyon Pine co-distill, Mexican Arnica, Snakeweed, Sand Sage, White Sage, Bursage, Conyza, Spearmint, Cleveland Sage, Arizona Juniper, Organic Lime Peel, and we are distilling Blue Spruce as I write. 

View all Essential Oils here >>

View all Hydrosols here >>

There is so much to say about each of these plants and the beautiful nature of the places that they come from that I have felt inspired to write more lately!

A super bloom of Golden Eyes on the Mogollon Rim after our spectacular Monsoon season

The Vermilion Cliffs, in the foreground, and Marble Canyon and the Echo Cliffs in the background, taken from the Kaibab Plateau.

New Aromatherapy Articles

I had the pleasure of writing two articles this summer. The first is titled ‘Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Arizona’, published in the London based IFPA journal, In Essence, Volume 20, (Issue 1) Autumn/Winter 2021.  It is a retrospective of my 30 years experience (or evolution) in working with the native plants of Arizona. (Click here to read the article).  It was lovely working with the staff and editor and I encourage you to check out the many valuable offerings on the IFPA website at https://ifparoma.org.

The second article is titled ‘Essential Oils from the Arizona Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands’, published in AIA journal, Aromatherapy In Action, Volume 4 (Issue 3) October 2021.  Very little has been written on this subject and I will be posting this on our website in June 2022.  It was also lovely working with the editor and I encourage you to also visit their website at https://alliance-aromatherapists.org.

Both of these organizations offer outstanding educational opportunities and a greater connection to the world of aromatherapy!

A Special Offer

Max and Meizy in a field of Goldenrod on the Mogollon Rim

This season we also did a distillation of Velvety Goldenrod (Solidago velutina), a high elevation species from the Four Corners region.  Solidago is from the Latin ‘solidus’ meaning ‘whole’ or ‘solid’, referring to this plants many healing qualities, and Velutina means ‘velvet’.  Goldenrod essential oil is known for its calming, anti-inflammatory, carminative, anti fungal, diuretic, expectorant, skin healing and kidney tonifying benefits.  The aroma is difficult to describe as it is both bright and dry.  I personally have found this oil to be very uplifting, even though it does not have a perfume aroma. When I have felt emotionally and/or physically stressed, one drop, diluted and rubbed into the temples, palms of the hands and over the abdomen, has had the ability to completely turn around the day!  We have just a few 5 ml bottles, which is not enough to put on the website or even print a sheet of labels for, but we would like to make these available to you (with a hand written label!).  If you are interested, please email us at info@phibeearomatics.com, and we will email you an invoice.  The cost is $40.00, which includes domestic shipping. 

Arabella in a field of Delphiniums (Delphinium geraniifolium) on the San Francisco Peaks.  

We hope that you all have been able to enjoy the beautiful colors, aromas and mysteries in nature this fall, and we also wish you the best of health.

Clare and Max Licher

References:
https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-benefits-of-goldenrod-essential-oil/

https://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Yellow%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/solidago%20velutina.htm