I have known Suzinn Weiss for well over 20 years and she seems to grow more creative and vital as time goes on. Though originally from the east coast, she headed west for college and took to the light and open spaces. After earning an MFA at Parsons in New York, she moved to Portland, Oregon, and there began her love affair with gardening. She turned her artist's eye to designing lush landscapes and it was the amazing fragrances that rose up from these gardens that inspired her latest venture. For Blooming Dream, Suzinn creates small-batch body oils and natural perfumes in oil or alcohol bases, using organic, fair trade and sustainable materials wherever possible. Her wonderful efforts have been rewarded with many fans (of which I am one, of course), as well as a silver medal at the 2014 San Francisco Fragrance Salon for Top Artisan Perfumer and a gold medal at the 2013 Seattle Fragrance Salon for Best Ingredient Combinations. I jokingly call her a "plantaholic," but it is her love and appreciation for the beauty and healing power of the natural world that makes her fragrances so special. If you're looking to support small, artisanal businesses this holiday season (who isn't?), Blooming Dream is an excellent choice.
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In my ongoing tribute to the scented geranium, I want to share with you my deep love of Aesop products, many of which contain this wonderfully pungent essential oil. I've written previously about my skincare regimen from Cosmedix, but Aesop also makes hair care, body wash, masks (and even pet shampoo!) that I simply can't resist. Their website opens with this quote from Carl Jung: "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." And, indeed, their products are deeply illuminating. Not only do they smell fantastic but they work incredibly well and are made with the finest natural ingredients and very few preservatives. The company doesn't make any outlandish claims, instead espousing the belief that beauty is the result of "a balanced life that includes a healthy diet, sensible exercise, a moderate intake of red wine, and a regular dose of good books." Who can argue with that?
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My friend Scott recently gifted me with an interesting bottle of cleaning solution. I’m very into using natural products like baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar for cleaning (see more here), but I also want something that smells naturally good, so I often add essential oil of lavender or geranium to these concoctions. Looks like the people behind Thieves products have something similar in mind. They make a special blend, combining oils of cinnamon, clove, lemon, eucalyptus and rosemary for a fresh and rather medieval scent. Turns out they took a cue from some 12th-century thieves who were able to rob the dead victims of the Plague without becoming infected. How? By rubbing themselves with a concoction of aromatic herbs, including cinnamon, clove and oregano. Needless to say, Thieves products work wonders on airborne bacteria, helping to fight mold, mildew and musty odors. Check out their website for great tips on cleaning, and to learn more about their products, which can also be used for cleaning your own insides.I'm off to Turks & Caicos tomorrow for some fun in the sun and I'm very excited to have a little vacation time. G and I have not left the country since our trip to Southeast Asia last winter. I'll probably post a few times from there but you'll have to forgive me if I'm not quite as prolific. Even gluttons need a break now and then...xoxo
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Would it surprise you to know that I'm a lazy slob when it comes to cleaning my own house? And for the last god-knows-how-many years, I've been lucky enough to pay someone else to do it. Money I consider extremely well-spent. But now that I'm  a country mouse in my own little house, living in a town where the only cleaning person a neighbor of mine could find was an unreliable meth addict (is there any other kind?), I've been forced to take things into my own hands. Before you go all Betty Friedan on me, let me say that I get plenty of help from the husband. And I also rely on a host of natural cleaning products.
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