HERB - liniment/massage oil rub

[tbean@one.net.au]

> > 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?
Yes using a preservative like benzoin does help with this as does adding large 
amount of Vitamin E, if you want a different sort of preservative. However if 
you are having trouble with the scent remaining you may not be soaking the 
herbs for long enough. I find that depending on the weather I sometimes have my 
herbs soaking for up to a month, but as you mentioned this plays hell with a 
deadline.
> 
> > 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.

The person that you were speaking to at Pennsig was Bliss of Teine, she works 
with me on our Apothecary. Each year at Rowany Festival we set up an apothecary 
with an ever expanding number of products that are all made using period 
methods. Currently we have a bruise cream, a rose handcream, a peppermint 
footcream (this is a little indulgence I can find evidence for the way we make 
the cream but not for the use of it on feet) a lip cream, cough and cold syrup. 
headache and hangover syrup (very popular after a night at the tavern), four 
different sorts of massge oil and a number of other products. All of them have 
proved to be very effective otherwise I will not sell them. We expand our list 
each year. We also sell books that I have trascribed from the originals. At 
this stage the two that I have are both based on Herbal Medicine and Astrology. 
So if anyone wants them please let me know and I can send you a copy, they work 
out at $5.00 each plus postage and handling. I am also currently working on a 
urynall one. These books are very small but I have found them useful.
Caristiona
Lochac
> 
> -- 
> 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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