Day by Day with Camille

This morning, I made a small amount of wintergreen sugar lip scrub, and then some peppermint-wintergreen mouthwash. In the lip scrub, I used common household items that I already had on hand; the same for the mouthwash. Olive oil, granulated sugar, and wintergreen oil make up the lip scrub.  The mouthwash is simply peppermint and wintergreen oils, and water. I added the amount of essential oils that suited my personal taste.  I chose not to add any color to either of them, but if you do, food coloring used in cooking/baking would work fine. A few dried herbs or rose petals would be a nice extra, as well, if you choose. 

Recently, I have made a few extracts and oil blends. I blended olive oil with lavender salt. Next I made vanilla extract using vanilla beans and light rum. Next I made lemon extract using lemon peel, a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice, and vodka. Blood orange extract was next, using the peel and vodka again. Next was almond extract, which used crushed almond pieces and vodka. Just today I started mint extract using fresh mint leaves and vodka. Time to ripen! 

Last night I made a concoction that Is similar to Florida Water, but with a few original twists. Since I live in North Carolina, I named it Carolina Water. I started with a base of a small amount of vodka, then added water. I used sprigs of fresh rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, and sweet mint (yerba Buena), two twists of lemon rind, as well as a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Finally I added several drops of peppermint, lavender, and sweet orange essential oils. I believe it will be wonderful to spritz on my skin to cool off during these hot summer days, or after a shower. Should make a great air freshener, too.