Snow Lotus Essential Oils

The Snow Lotus collection of artisan essential oils represents my professional standard of excellence for oils intended for clinical and home-care aromatherapy.

 

As I began working with the oils in the 1980s as a medical herbalist and acupuncturist, I became aware of the need to have absolutely pure and highest-quality oils for my clinical practice and seminars. This initiated what has become a more than twenty-year journey around the world in search of traditional grassroots producers.

 

My search was for distillers that worked in the time-honored artisan way, living with the very source of the plant materials. In my estimation, there is no better way to collect the distilled fragrant essences of our earth, Gaia, in all of its amazing aromatic diversity. This endeavor also supports small indigenous family businesses across the globe in a web of relationships that are eco-sustainable and based on fair trade.

 

Snow Lotus is now a part of the widening global movement for a wholesome economy based on planetary support of cultural and biological diversity.

 

To ensure ongoing quality control, I still personally source and select the oils directly from the producers who grow or wildcraft, and then distill the plants, rather than obtaining them from the open market. As a result, the oils remain exactly the same as when they were first distilled in their place of origin: genuine and completely unadulterated.

 

In addition, I will specifically select only full-spectrum essential oils whenever possible. The plants are steam distilled in the traditional manner for an extended length of time, using low-temperature steam and low vapor pressure. Only these time-tested techniques manage to produce the most exquisite oils possible. These oils will retain almost the entire range of the plant's chemical components and will thereby closely maintain the whole rich spectrum of fragrance found in the living plant itself.

 

These small, full-spectrum artisan distillations are in sharp contrast to the large-scale commercial operations that produce chemically standardized oils intended simply as cheap fragrance materials for the perfume and food-flavoring industry.

 

Whenever possible I will only select oils distilled from organically-grown or ethically harvested plants. Eco-wild oils, as we call them, are from plants wild-crafted with concern for regional biodiversity and sustainability. These are arguably even more potent therapeutically than any obtained from cultivated plant sources.

 

In the case of absolute extracts, such as Rose, Jasmine and Champaca absolute, I select only those of impeccable quality, and preferably from organic plant sources. Our absolutes are entirely safe for the same types of applications as the essential oils themselves. Those absolutes available at a 10% dilution are in a base of pure jojoba oil, a thin, penetrating oil that itself nourishes and revitalizes the skin.

 

Essential oils have profoundly enhanced my life in many different ways, as well as added a rich new dimension to my clinical practice. It is my pleasure and honor to be able to share these fragrant jewels of the earth with you. Please enjoy them and benefit from their remarkable healing effects on body, soul and mind!

 

Helpful Hints, Cautions and Disclaimers

 

• Check with your holistic health-care practitioner about using essential oils topically during pregnancy and postpartum. In general, uterine stimulant oils, such as Angelica root, should be avoided.

 

• Store essential oils and absolutes away from heat and light, with the cap firmly closed. This way they will keep for several years. Room temperature is fine, and refrigeration is generally not necessary except for the citrus-family oils, such as Lemon, Lime, Mandarin, Bergamot, Petitgrain and Pink grapefruit after about a year.

 

• Because they are highly concentrated, when used topically essential oils should always be first diluted in a vegetable carrier oil, cream or lotion. 5-10 drops of essential oil to 10 ml of carrier oil is the standard dilution range (a 2-4% dilution). The best carrier oils are thin oils such as apricot kernel, hazelnut and rice bran, as they allow the greatest absorption through the skin. Up to 20% jojoba oil can be added to a vegetable oil to increase absorption and shelf life.

 

• Essential oils are intended for environmental and topical use only. Never take single or blended essential oils internally and avoid contact with the eyes and mucous membranes.

 

• Check with your health-care practitioner about using single or blended essential oils topically during pregnancy, postpartum and with specific medical conditions (e.g., epilepsy) present.

 

• Always keep essential oil bottles out of reach of infants and children.

 

Definitions for Plant Sources & Cultivation or Collection Methods

 

cult = cultivated

w/c = wildcrafted: ethically wild-harvested according to ecological sustainability

org = organic: usually third-party certified

sel = selective: the highest quality conventional, no pesticides but some fertilizers

 

In order to provide you with the highest quality oils available, we reserve the right to change the country of origin without notice.