HERB - liniment/massage oil rub
Jenne Heise
jenne at mail.browser.net
Mon Jan 8 16:36:59 PST 2001
> Using essential oils in a carrier is not a period way of making massage oils.
> The period way is to soak all the herbs in a carrier oil such as olive oil or
> almond oil and leave them in the sun for a few weeks.
You are absolutely right about this not being a period method. On the
other hand, I'm sort of on a deadline. And I've found some evidence that
some perfumed oils may have been made by mixing expressed oils from the
plants with a carrier (Forbes, _Studies in Ancient Technology,_ volume
III) in ancient times, _if_ I'm reading it right. So, I'm willing to,
ahem, attempt to get a similar effect from using EO's.
> I have found that I can get great, strong liniments from making my massage oils
> this way. For example I sell a bruise liniment at my apoethecary each year.
> This contains St. Johns wort, Calnedular and Comfrey. I soak a couple of
> handfuls of each of these in olive oil for a week or two then strain them out
> and put more herb in. If it is too cold you can put them near a heater or on
> top of an oven when you are cooking. Don't put them in an oven, even at very
> low heat or you will turn the oil rancid.
I tried this last year with lavender, but even in a close-stoppered
container, the scent and effect faded to undetectable. Does adding a
preservative, such as benzoin, help with this?
> This gives a very effective linement and is the way that it was done during
> period, see Gerard, Culpeper, Dioscorides, the Leech Book of Bald, Bankes
> Herbal etc, all of these give examples of liniments made in this fashion.
> Caristiona
> Lochac
Caristiona-- do you happen to be the lady with the herb business down in
Lochac that I ran into at Pennsic, who had such wonderful suggestions for
period oils? I was very impressed with your information.
--
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
"Our kingdom is a garden and such gardens are not made/By singing "Oh how
beautiful!" and sitting in the shade..." --Kipling, "Glory of the Garden"
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