Christmas 2008
Don't ignore your own needs
Sparkle through the festive season

BEING healthy involves correctly balancing our emotional, spiritual and physical aspects.
Particularly at this time of year, we sometimes need help to mitigate the effects of stress on our lives.
With the party season now in full swing, it’s easy to get lost in everyone else’s demands and ignore your own needs.
Your family and friends can’t be truly happy if you are not; so treat yourself, embrace the ‘silly season’ and shine with these helpful, nature-derived Tinderbox products.
Rose Radiance: A fantastic face and body spritzer to pep you up between parties.
Precious Eye Cream: An organic cream to improve the skin’s firmness and elasticity, reduce puffiness and soften fine lines.
Aphrodisi Perfume: Wear to attract a lover’s desire. Contains real Jasmine essential oil.
Equanimity Spray: Often when the family gathers, old “stuff” comes up and things can get a bit tricky! This heart-opening smell will drive away the negativity and protect you from conflict and aggression.
Holy Incense: Containing the traditional Christmas scents of frankincense and myrrh, this natural incense sparks the divinity in each of us.
Festive Blend: Add 5ml to 100ml of water and spray on the tree and presents for that authentic Christmas smell.
Stock Cube Substitute: The perfect ingredient in stuffings. Also adds zest to casseroles, soups and savoury dishes.
Easy Stocking Fillers: Cream Perfumes ($12.50): Blossom, Sandalwood and Visionary. Gourmet Range ($5.50-$8): Seasonings, salad dressing, mustard and stock cube substitute with no artificial additives of any kind.

Frankincense
Festive oil calms the mind

FRANKINCENSE has a woody, spicy, haunting smell, a little bit camphoric, but very pleasant. It is pale yellow-green in colour.
It originates from the Middle East. A milky juice exudes from the shrubby tree and hardens on contact with the air, resulting in an oleo gum resin, from which the oil is extracted by steam distillation.
The word is from the French word 'Franc' meaning 'luxuriant' or 'real incense' and together with Myrrh, it was the first gum to be used as incense.
Also known as Olibanum, Frankincense was used by the ancient Egyptians as an offering to the gods and as part of a rejuvenating face mask. It was also used to fumigate the sick, in order to banish evil spirits.
The Hebrews valued Frankincense highly; it was one of the gifts offered to the baby Jesus.
Frankincense was a key herb used by the ancient Egyptians to mummify and thus preserve dead bodies for tens of thousands of years. We can see why it is considered so anti-ageing for the skin! It is still used for its skin-preserving properties in cosmetics.
Frankincense is one of the oils that can really calm and soothe the whole body and mind. It eases all aches and pains, clears the lungs and acts as a skin tonic.
Frankincense is excellent for use in meditation, contemplation, prayer and ceasing mental chatter; it allows the Spirit to soar.
On the respiratory tract, it clears the lungs and helps with shortness of breath, asthma, bronchitis, laryngitis, coughs and colds.
It can ease heavy periods, is a general tonic to the uterus and has a calming effect during labour. It is also helpful for rheumatism and has a positive impact on the urinary tract.
Frankincense oil is said to help rejuvenate an ageing skin, is a skin tonic and is effective with sores, carbuncles, wounds, scars, stretch marks and skin inflammation.
For rejuvenation, there can be no better idea than to have a Frankincense Essential Oil massage. It has a very peaceful and calming effect on the mind, thus it helps to perk up and revive the lost energy. 
 

COMMON USES

Burners and Vapourisers
Frankincense can be used for bronchitis, colds, coughs and voice loss, as well as to calm the mind, reduce anxiety, cultivate internal peace and place past obsessive states into perspective.
Blended Massage Oil or in the Bath
Frankincense oil can be used in blended massage oils or diluted in the bath for colds, coughs, bronchitis, rheumatism, chilliness, poor circulation, exhaustion, nightmares, heavy periods, respiratory problems and mucus congestion. It also has a good astringent effect on the skin and perks up older, more mature skin and helps wounds, sores and ulcers heal.
Wash or use as a Compress
To promote healing and prevent ugly scarring on wounds, add a few drops to the water when washing the wound. For cracked skin and bed sores, apply gently (suitably diluted) directly on to affected areas or use as a compress.
Therapeutic Properties
Antiseptic, astringent, carminative, cicatrisant, cytophylactic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, sedative, tonic, uterine, vulnerary and expectorant.

What Herb is That?
Stinging Nettle
Stinging and soothing, this herb has two sides

THE WHOLE plant is downy, and also covered with stinging hairs. When the sting pierces the skin, the venom is instantly expressed, causing the resultant irritation and inflammation. Meet Stinging Nettle.
The burning property of the juice is dissipated by heat, enabling the young shoots of the Nettle, when boiled, to be eaten as a pot-herb.
It is a strange fact that the juice of the Nettle proves an antidote for its own sting, and being applied will afford instant relief.
According to tradition, Caesar’s troops introduced Roman nettle into Britain because they thought that they would need to flail themselves to keep warm, and until recently “urtication”, or beating with nettles, was a standard folk remedy for arthritis and rheumatism.
Nettles make a fine nourishing tonic as they are rich in iron, which they take from the soil and the aerial parts are good for anaemia - the high Vitamin C content in the plant helps ensure that the iron is properly absorbed by the body.
Nettle clears the uric acid from the system so it relieves gout and arthritis and their astringency stops bleeding. As a useful diuretic it can be used to treat benign prostate enlargement and is also relevant for pre-menstrual bloating and urinary tract infections, where it helps flush the bladder of harmful bacteria.  
Nettle is a rich source of antioxidants and a good source of Vitamins A, C, D, E and K.
Nettle is a supreme herb for its rich mineral content: calcium and magnesium for bone building; potassium that combines with iron to transport oxygen to the cells; phosphorous to stimulate brain cells; chlorine to aid digestion; sulphur to build strong nerves, and purify blood; copper to protect the lungs from infection; and silica.
Silica is an essential mineral for healthy hair, skin and teeth and to protect against baldness.
Nettle makes an effective conditioning hair tonic that prevents the hair falling and renders it soft and glossy. To stimulate hair growth and prevent dandruff, herbalists would recommended combing the hair daily with expressed Nettle juice. Its reputation as a hair growth stimulant remains.

Fact File

Name: Stinging Nettle
Latin name: Urtica dioica
Actions: Astringent , diuretic, tonic, nutritive, stops bleeding, circulatory stimulant, promotes milk flow, lowers blood sugar levels, prevents scurvy.
Did you know? It was once believed that a fever could be dispelled by plucking a Nettle up by the roots, reciting the names of the sick man and his parents.