Lavender Bath Salts & a Tuesday Tune

Welcome friends to NatashaInOz.com. Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting me in my little corner of the world Down Under. Today I am sharing a "recipe" for lavender bath salts!

Lavender (Lavandula) is a flowering plant from the mint family. 

       Images from google images. 

  

Essential Oil of Lavender is one of the safest and most widely used oils in aromatherapy, and as some of my sweet friends might already know, I am a BIG believer in the power of aromatherapy. It is a wonderful oil for people who suffer from depression and it calms a variety of nervous disorders including excitability and nervous tension. Essential oil of lavender has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. It was used in hospitals during WWI to disinfect floors and walls! Infusions of lavender heal insect bites and bunches of lavender repel insects. Wikipedia.

Derived from the Latin word ‘lavare’ – to wash, lavender is commonly used in soaps, bath oils and detergents. Studies have shown that the smell of lavender can even lover blood pressure. A drop of lavender oil massaged onto the temples and scalp can treat a headache. Source

There are so many ways you can have the scent of calming lavender in your home. You could burn lavender candles or place lavender sachets in drawers and closets. Essential Oil of Lavender can be used in diffusers, aroma lamps or potpourri or you could put a couple of drops of oil onto a cotton ball to place in your vacuum cleaner bag and sprinkle a couple of drops of Lavender oil onto your pillows.

If you have sore muscles, are having trouble sleeping or if you are stressed, you could try taking a hot lavender bath. This bath salt recipe is easy to make and it smells divine!

You will need 4 cups of Epsom salts, 1 cup of course ground sea salt, 20-30 drops of lavender essential aromatherapy oil and 1 cup of baking soda.

       
You will also need some PINK food colouring and about 5 Tablespoons of dried crushed lavender.

  
Drop some pink food colouring across the surface of the salt mixture and then do the same with the drops of lavender essential oil. Start with a small amount of food colouring and add more if you want a brighter colour. Mix thoroughly since the food coloring and essential oils tend to want to clump together. Using a large metal or glass bowl and a metal spoon (plastic and wood are too porous, and would absorb the scent of the essential oil), pour in the Epsom salts and sea salts and mix well.

Now add the baking soda and mix well. The baking soda needs to be added last or the mixture would clump together.Finally, mix in the dried lavender blossoms. These are added last so that all of the mixing doesn't beat them up too much. Put the bath salt mixture in an air-tight glass or metal container.

I put some in a glass apothecary jar.

I also recycled an old candle container (washed and cleaned of course!) and filled it with bath salts.

For a standard-sized bathtub, simply add a cup of bath salts to the water and allow to dissolve. Do not use bath salts with dried flowers in a tub with jets, though,  as the flowers will clog them!

Please note: Lavender oil should be used with caution since it can also be a allergen and pregnant and lactating women should avoid ingesting lavender.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a

 water bath is to the body. 
Oliver Wendell Holmes.

While you are having a relaxing lavender salt bath why not light some candles and listen to some music! Maybe some relaxing jazz? How about the late and oh so great Lena Horne?

The late Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress and dancer.

She achieved many firsts: one of the first black singers to perform at the famed Copacabana nightclub; the first black performer to sign a long-term contract with a major movie studio, (MGM) and one of the first black performers to achieve international stardom. Many people might remember her as Glinda the Good in the 1978 movie "The Wiz." Others might recall her ad for the Gap in 2007.

Lena Horne was honored by a resolution passed bu the U.S. Senate on May 14. The resolution, introduced by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and passed unanimously by the entire Senate, recognized Horne's lifelong efforts as an actress, singer and civil rights activist.

Senator Gillibrand said, "Lena Horne's legendary voice and her lifelong dedication to fighting inequality will continue to inspire future generations of Americans. While we join together to mourn the loss of an American treasure and icon, we also celebrate Lena Horne's incredible life and legacy." Source

My Sunday Song this week is the song that I think most people would remember her for.

I hope you enjoy Stormy Weather.

Do you share songs on your blog? If you do I would love it if you could share your songs each Tuesday. You can link up to any post, new or old.

I can't wait to hear your Tuesday Tune

Best wishes for a beautiful weekend,

Natasha In Oz 

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