My favorite pairs of Hydrosols usually change with the seasons.
In spring in Southern California, I choose a combination of Oil and HydroSoul that ‘allows’ my skin to adapt to the increase and decrease of temperatures as well as humidity, or lack of it, in the air.
Typically, our weather in the spring is cool in the evenings and early mornings. Along the coastal regions we are also plagued with what’s locally referred to as “May Grey” and/or “June Gloom” which is very normal. And when both months are cool, with heavy grey skies I just want to pack up and move to the desert!
These months stay cool and grey because SoCal is considered a semi-arid climate, a combination of increasing desert heat, and cooler ocean temperatures beginning to rise create a marine layer, a heavy morning cloud cover that can last all day.
I always feel sorry for people who come to our beaches in June hoping for searing sun and heat, and end up spending their vacation swaddled in polar fleece and sitting by the hotel fireplace drinking hot chocolate.
My spring and summer routine vary. Since my skin is mature and sensitive, I love the fragrance, normalizing capabilities and cooling action of the following three combinations – and I do switch around!
Lavender Facial Tonic HydroSoul
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Pomegranate Repair Serum
Immortelle Facial Tonic HydroSoul
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Neem Immortelle Purifying Infusion
Tulsi (Holy Basil) Facial Tonic HydroSoul
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Chilean Wild Rosehip Seed Oil
The skin registers shifting emotions at any time of the day or night and does provide a very accurate reading of how we feel that we may not even be aware of.
I'd like to add the skin is a very ‘emotional’ organ and at any time of the day or night will give you a quick reading of what’s going on emotionally that you may not even be aware of. I like to add a Clay Mask to my daily or weekly routine to purify pore openings as well as to ‘pull’ out emotions. Our skin is our external nervous system, and works with the organs of digestion to release metabolic impurities.
Pomegranate Repair Serum is an extraordinary combination of fruit, seed and berry oils known for their revitalizing effect on skin. This unscented (other than the natural aroma of essential fatty acids), nutrient-dense therapeutic treatment adds powerful antioxidant benefits to skin, with a high polyphenol and conjugated fatty acid content. It offers a holistic solution for blemished, congested skin, mature and aging skin, dry, dehydrated, flaky, irritated, sun-damaged and sunburned skin. Pomegranate Repair Serum has exceptional moisturizing and nourishing properties. Its visible effect on mature and aging skin, hyperpigmented skin, dry and cracked skin, irritated, sun-damaged and sunburned skin is truly remarkable. Daily use increases vitality, elasticity, and suppleness while providing an elegant and silky feeling.
When paired with Lavender or Immortelle HydroSoul it restores my skin to a blissful glow.
Chilean Wild Rosehip Seed Oil is pure unscented rosehip oil hand harvested in Chile. I traveled to Chile a few years ago to watch the harvest of rosehips off of the bushes and I can tell you it is not easy! Rosehip bushes have thorns and the men that harvest these precious berries wear heavy protective clothing from head to toe, and use a very gnarly looking hand rake to remove the berry from the bush, and they do so with impressive precision so as to not damage the rosehip.
Rosehip seed oil is a remarkably light-weight oil that penetrates skin rapidly, and in the world of aromatherapy is actually considered a ‘dry’ oil because of the completeness with which it absorbs. Its unique profile of vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids make it a profoundly nourishing treatment for the skin.
For centuries, it has been used to care for skin that is damaged, scarred, burned, flakey and irritated. While rosehip is a special oil for truly every skin type, it’s especially revered for its ability to beautify skin that is scarred or hyperpigmented. It restores, rejuvenates, and illuminates like no other singular oil.
In treatment Rosehip Seed Oil is my choice oil for skin that is:
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Hyperpigmented
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Sun Damaged
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Scarred
Neem Immortelle Purifying Infusion is a daily treatment oil that will assists the skin in decongesting clogged pores, and reducing signs of redness and sensitivity.
This unique and powerful oil is crafted to pacify heat and purify the skin. It is a simple but rich combination of infused and cured oils. Immortelle flowers are infused in organic extra virgin olive oil for 6 weeks, drawing out all the amazing lipid-soluble elements of this regenerative herb.
In the ancient Ayurvedic process of curing, Neem leaf is gently cooked in a base of organic sesame oil and a neem leaf tea-like decoction, until the water from the tea dissipates, leaving both the water and lipid-soluble elements of the herb within the ‘cured’ sesame oil. We combine this herbal cured-oil infusion with a traditional western-herbalism technique, where fresh immortelle flowers are infused into organic extra-virgin California-grown olive oil. In a finishing touch, we top these two complementary infusions with a few drops of immortelle (Helichrysum italicum) essential oil. This deeply harmonizing blend cools, purifies and nourishes.
Experiment around with the Hydrosols that you like, you can’t make a mistake by choosing any combination.
- Evan