• Rare Finds: Sage petite feuille

    Sage petites feuilles or also Salvia gallica: The Riddle that Improves Memory Function Sage petites feuilles is cultivated and harvested exclusively from the field in Haut Provence (pictured above) by one of our most distinguished distillers. To the best of our knowledge our Sage petites feuilles is the only low ketone Sage cultivated according to… Continue reading

  • How to Use Antiviral Essential Oils, Commonsense Caution

    Essential Oils do work for Viral Issues, but if one is new to oils one should be guided by some commonsense cautionary considerations. First the question, how meaningful are the in vitro studies that show efficacy of oils against viruses. A meaningful answer is again guided by commonsense. If it is easy to apply the… Continue reading

  • MY FAVORITE OILS

    Often I get asked, what is your favourite oil. And I think about it and cannot really come up with an answer. So I thought some more about it and arrived at the following. There are oils I use more than others and there are oils I gravitate to. Typically these are staples as one… Continue reading

  • Blends for the Boys

    Have you followed how a large retailer was taken over by an even larger retailer recently. It appeared that all the green vegetables that previously were almost always crisp and refreshing had all of a sudden been left to themselves to come across a bit wilted. And the Avocados, that once were proudly displayed as… Continue reading

  • Chemotypes of Thyme

    Reposted from 2011 One of the better known phenomena of the Thyme essential oils from Provence is summarized by the term “Chemotypes.” The most popular is probably so-called Thyme linalool. This is aromatherapy shorthand for essential oil of Thymus vulgaris, type linalool. It indicates that this particular oil contains a high concentration of the terpene… Continue reading

  • Essential Oil Stories

    NOSTALGIA As we look back at the essential oils that caught extra attention this year I think of the Butterbur as a new entry to our repertoire and I also think of the shortages that were a telling event in 2016 aromatherapy. While the Cape Chamomile and Moroccan Chamomile shortages were certainly the ones most… Continue reading

  • The Moroccan Camomile Shortage

    Essential Oil Stories The increased popularity of essential oils has had interesting yet not always intended consequences. One of the phenomena we observed is that authentic oils are becoming more scarce. Or as one would say in more technical terms supply chains are becoming strained or even exhausted. I remember the first time this happened… Continue reading

  • Mistral over Lavender

    For a brief impression of the strong Mistral that blew on a day or two of the PIA Provence excursion please click below MOV_1862.MOV The 2016 Harvest. Special Offers Reporting back from distilling Helichrysum in Corsica and the PIA Provence 2016 Journey we would like to thank all the participants for riding along and contributing… Continue reading

  • The Human Element III

    As the business model for selling essential oils has gone from mom and pop operations to large corporations the language describing essential oils has become the language of marketing. There is a strong emphasis on brand and the “quality” the brand is meant to guarantee. However, a clear definition of what really constitutes EO quality… Continue reading

  • The Human Element in EO Authenticity Part II

    Addressing the issue of essential oil authenticity in 2016 is a tedious process. Because of the success of the large corporate players aromatherapy and essential oils are spreading to many new and enthusiastic followers. A seemingly unavoidable element is that to gain such broad success the message needs to be simplified. As a result the… Continue reading