Blog - Wild Rose Herbs

Spa night is a regular ritual here on the homestead, and our favorite iteration of spa night is SPOOKY SPA NIGHT. We decided to share our hottest tips for a successful, scary and luxurious spa experience at home.

HOT TIPS FOR SPOOKY SPA NIGHT

Start After Dinner

Any time we try to incorporate dinner into our spa night plans, time gets away from us, the movie starts late and we inevitably get too tired to treat ourselves right. We like to invite friends over after dinner and make popcorn or have another easy snack around instead.

Make Fancy Drinks

Fizzy water, herbal tea and wine are some of our stand-bys, but we also wanted to share our favorite Tulsi Hot Toddy recipe as well:

Tulsi Hot Toddy

Watch our how-to video for this recipe on Instagram

Ingredients:

1 tea bag or 2-3 teaspoons tulsi, AKA as holy basil (Ocimum sanctum) tea (from Mountain Rose Herbs)

2-3 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp honey (Our favorite is this Blackberry Honey from Hummingbird)

1-2oz fresh pressed apple cider

1-2 oz brandy or bourbon (or more apple cider for a virgin version); For a great local brandy, try Clear Creek Distillery's Apple Brandy made in Hood River, OR

Optional but recommended additions: Cinnamon sticks, ginger, and very sparing quantities of whole clove and nutmeg

Directions: Pour 6oz boiling water over the tulsi tea bag - and other herbs such as cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg, if desired - and cover and steep for 5-10 minutes. Add brandy or apple cider, lemon juice and honey. Garnish with a lemon slice and enjoy!

Choose 2-3 Skincare Activities

We always apply facial masks and serums for spa night. Our current favorite is our Refresh Stimulating Facial Mask followed by Renewal Serum. We start with face washing and mask application before the movie starts so that once the treatment is on we can relax. Once the mask is dry, we take a short intermission to rinse, apply serum and make popcorn! If we're feeling ambitious, this is when we paint nails with our favorite polish.

Pick the Right Movie

We love scary movies - though honestly, these range from sci-fi to comedy, but all have horror in their DNA. Here's our top picks for spooky spa night:

Ash: The Hunger (the Bowie rapid aging scene is particularly poignant on spa night), The Shining, The Devils and The Witch.

I'm convinced that 90% of the budget for The Hunger was spent on cigarettes, white drapes, fans and doves.

Jakob: Scanners (early Sci-fi horror from David Cronenberg), Suspiria (the Italian, Dario Argento original), Dead Alive (early Peter Jackson zombie comedy splatter)

Less Scary Picks: Rocky Horror, Beetlejuice, Disney's Halloween Treat

Whatever you choose to do on Spooky Spa Night, remember to relax and enjoy your at-home spa!

Read more

Wild Rose is operated on the traditional lands of the Winefelly tribe of Kalapuya people near so-called Eugene, OR. This year we have decided to raise funds for NILI, a local nonprofit committed to the preservation of indigenous languages.

As with many other indigenous peoples of Oregon, Kalapuyans who survived the first wave of colonization were forcibly marched to either the Siletz or Grand Ronde reservations. Forced relocation was devastating to the numerous and diverse indigenous cultures of the Northwest. Representative of ongoing settler colonialism and indigenous genocide throughout North America, this method of colonization displaces people from their homelands and attempts to homogenize diverse cultures through erasure and integration. NILI's work is essential to revitalizing the many indigenous languages and cultures nearly lost to colonization.

"NILI supports and strengthens language preservation and revitalization efforts.  With tribal, academic and community partners, NILI establishes  collaborative, on-going projects which meet the specific needs and desires of each language community. Integral to NILI are teacher training, curriculum development, language documentation and appropriate uses in technology. NILI provides outreach services on issues of language endangerment and advocates for language revitalization issues." -NILI

We are grateful for the opportunity to support NILI's crucial work to strengthen and revitalize indigenous languages. NILI started at the University of Oregon as the result of requests for native language teachers. Today the project has grown to address the critical language preservation needs of indigenous peoples worldwide.

 "NILI serves the UO, the Northwest and tribal communities nation wide. It works with tribal partners in many areas including curriculum design, distance learning and materials development while simultaneously meeting the articulated needs of tribal communities. NILI is among a handful of programs that plays a role in attracting, retaining and educating indigenous students at UO. NILI is an established program that directly supports indigenous students and their communities. It meets multiple UO goals. It supports: 1) graduate and undergraduate education; 2) diversity; and 3) external relationships with tribal communities." -NILI

Please join us in honoring Indigenous Peoples' Day and earn a 20% off coupon when you make a purchase today only!

(main image created by NACDI)

This blog was originally posted in 2022 and has been updated for 2024.

Read more

Something intriguing is happening to the fragrance industry. After decades of saturating the market – and our necklines – with overpowering synthetic and toxic ingredients, natural perfumery is having a huge comeback. From ancient Sumer where the first archaeological residues and perfumery containers have been found dating back to ~4,000 BCE, through Egypt and Palestine / Israel in 2,000 BCE, and distilled in the advanced perfumery techniques of Unani (Greek-Arabic) practitioners at the turn of the first millennium, natural perfumery has an impressive history.  As crafters of natural frangrances, we're thrilled to see this shift back to the art’s herbal roots (and flowers, and leaves). Synthetic fragrances are not only filled with chemicals that cause skin irritations, they also project far beyond the wearer causing headaches and repulsion – the exact opposite response we are hoping to achieve.

Moonlight Botanical Fragrance contains jasmine—traditionally seen as a lush and floral heart note, and a plant with a long history of use in perfumery

Perfumery is an ancient craft that only recently included any synthetic ingredients. Much like the traditional art and science, we use techniques such as infusion and maceration – as well as distillates and super-critical extracts – to formulate complex and satisfying scent blends. We will continue to honour this tradition by crafting formulas that are entirely plant-based, all natural and rich.

Raven Botanical Fragrance is rich in Vetiver, a long-lasting earthy, woody and grounding base note popular in natural perfumery.

Benefits of Natural Scents

° Natural ingredients require minimal processing

° Free of petroleum products that are harsh on skin and the environment

° Minimizes skin irritations and reactions

° Intimate scent projection - only for yourself and those in your vicinity

Check out our full range of natural colognes and perfumes below:

Wild Man Natural Cologne - our first and best-selling scent!

Solstice Botanical Fragrance features tonka bean butter - a deep and woody-sweet scent with natural staying power.

Meadow Botanical Fragrance combines bright lemongrass with sweet coconut - a light and fruity formula.

Classic rose and cardamom combine with mandarin in our best-selling Passion Botanical Fragrance.

Further Reading

The perfumer’s garden: scent and well-being in some Greek and Roman sources: Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes: Vol 44 , No 2-3

Ya’qub b. Ishaq Al-Kindi – Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi

Two Texts on Scent: Aristotle and Theophrastus — Ancient Medicine

Read more

Minimalism in the practice of herbalism can be seen as a historical necessity — traditional herbalists have long focused on using plants selectively, prioritizing those most abundant and effective in their local environment — as well as part of a therapeutic strategy and philosophy.

This strategy and philosophy, historically represented in the phrase the Vis medicatrix naturae, or, the healing power of nature, highlights the long co-evolutionary process of human and plants, and also is informed by the reality that our bodies have the potential to heal themselves — especially in conjunction with natural agents.

When supporting the skin's inherent healing mechanisms, "Skinimalism," goofy marketing-speak, and a portmanteau of "skin" and "minimalism," does nonetheless highlight some important concepts in natural skincare that dovetail nicely with the traditional practice of herbal medicine.

Plants are complex enough

Plants in and of themselves are already quite complex, often containing some 10,000 phytochemicals in a single plant, that all work in concert toward a therapeutic effect.

Simple and Sustainable

The skins integrity, barrier health, and appearance are better supported by minimally processed natural products like plants and plant extracts than by complicated lab-based synthetic chemicals, born from an unsustainable and toxic fossil fuels industry.

Stacking functions

Using formulas that typically contain one to five plant extracts, often in oils that have healing properties as well, Wild Rose is also able to 'stack functions,' combining several herbs which each have many properties beneficial to the skin. For example we regularly use the herb known as Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) which has both anti-inflammatory, vulnerary and antimicrobial actions, as well as gotu kola (Centella asiatica) which has properties that help tone vasculature and reduce inflammation.

Below are a few products that harness the simplicity, efficacy and sustainability of traditional herbalism to usher your skin back into optimal health.

Renewal Botanical Serum contains whole plant extracts and oils to support skin health and absorption, naturally.

Refresh Stimulating Facial Mask is formulated with gunpowder green tea and jasmine petals.

Clarity Blemish Treatment contains Oregon grape root extract, one of our favorite antimicrobial herbs.

*This content is for informational purposes only and doesn't constitute medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before making medical decisions.

Read more

Garden update for summer of 2025

Read more