We hope 2012 brings all you wish for. 

Love and Hugs

Bridget & Steve

 Shea Butter

The Shea tree grows wild on the savannahs in West Africa; it is well suited to its growing environment as it can withstand long periods of drought.  It takes 8 – 12 years for the tree to produce fruit & reaches its peak around 40 years & can continue to 150 years.  The sweet tasting fruit resembles a small avocado or plum, the stone is about 2cms long & contains the shea butter.  For centuries the local people have used the fruit & stone for food, medicinal, decorative & cosmetic purposes, especially for protection against the sun & wind.

Shea butter properties & uses are:

·    Stimulates the formation & growth of new skin cells

·    Mildly anti-bacterial & anti-inflammatory

·    Fantastic moisturiser for the skin

·    Good for dry, sensitive, baby & black skin care & skin prone to eczema & psoriasis

·    Protects the skin from drying out due to its moisture retaining properties

·    Protection from the sun, it has SPF of 2-3

·    Healing & helpful with damaged & scarred skin

·    Safe for use during pregnancy & for preventing & treating stretch marks

·    Good for dry hair & dry, irritated scalp

·    Excellent softening properties making the skin soft & supple

·    Edible & used in food products

The wonderful Calendula officinalis (Pot Marigold) is renowned for its powerful healing properties.

Even looking at these bright beautiful flowers will “clear the head, improve the eyesight & encourage cheerfulness” according to a 12^th century herbalist.  The properties & uses of Calendula are:

·   Soothes skin irritations, wounds & burns.

·   Antiseptic & antibacterial

·   Safe for babies & children

·   Excellent moisturising properties to the skin

·   Stimulates the circulation

·   Blood cleanser good for boils, eczema, acne

·   Good for bruises, sprains & pulled muscles

·   Immune booster

·   Eases digestive ailments

·   Antifungal

·   Helpful with irregular menstruation & PMS

·   Helpful with vaginal yeast over growth, e.g. thrush

·   Soothing effect to the emotions

Calendula can be used internally or externally

 Happy June Everyone,

The sun is shining and the bees are buzzing, we love this time of year & spend many a spare moment watching the goings on in our garden.  All our seeds have sprouted and the Thyme and Geranium are covered in flowers which the bees absolutely love.  Nature is so wonderful providing us with food for our belly, skin & our souls. 

So to celebrate everything June & summery we have chosen 3 people from the entries to our prize draw over the last few months to receive a bottle of Invigorating Foot Lotion, to keep those feet cool & soft all summer long.

Congratulations to

Sally Bennett from Otley

Mary Phillips from Lincoln

Kizzy Bramley from Brighton

Much love from

Bridget & Steve

x

It is spring equinox on Sunday 20^th March, our day and night become equal & we are reminded of the balance between light & dark, inner world and outer world, male & female, conscious & unconscious. The wheel of the solar year continues into this very active period and everywhere natures is going wild with new growth, new beginnings & possibilities.  I love this time of year, such beauty and signs of growth & potential.  Everything looks fresh & the colours are so bright & clear.  We are so lucky to be alive & live on this beautiful planet, but we are reminded the force of nature can be strong, as much as she creates she can destroy.  Mother Nature isn’t responding in anger to our disrespect, purely this is her evolution, just as we have an evolution that isn’t clear to us.  We do not know what the future holds, we do not know what is going to happen in the next minute but we fool ourselves that we are in control.  When I think of control, two things come to my mind.

1. Buddhist teaching;

If you want to know who you were in your past life, look at your present circumstances.

If you want to know who you will be in the future look at your present actions.

2. I was dog sitting for a friend one new years eve, my friend was travelling south for a party.  I had been given a box of Booja Booja chocolates as a thank you and was just opening them as the phone rang.  It was my friend, her vehicle had broken down and she was sitting on the side of the motorway waiting for assistance.  In these particular chocolates they have a Booja Gram, some wise words, as I read them, I laughed heartily and shared them with my friend, it said;

Relax; nothing is under control

We only have a tiny amount of control of our lives but only if we live fully in the present moment and act not react.

I have been really touched by things I have read about how the people of Japan are coping with the disaster that has befallen them, and it is so inspiring, they are picking themselves up, dusting themselves down and getting on with it, working as a community, not individuals.  Again we are reminded in nature to be flexible, resilient, forgiving & focused on our purpose of life. The plants know their purpose and sometimes they are taken away from this by weather or external factors, but they return to this purpose as soon as they can. Nature also teaches us the wheel keeps turning and that the dark is just as important as the light. Things you may have been incubating over the dark period of the year now are ready be brought into the light, journey forth & embrace your journey to become whole.

Love and oms

Bridget

xx

During January we heard of quite a few people passing away, some where close friends and they are really missed, each time I had news of a passing I also had news of an arrival & this reminded me about the ever present cycle of life.  In Anam Cara – Spiritual wisdom from the celtic world by John O’Donohue he talks of a presence that walks the road of life with you, it shadows your every thought & feeling.  It came out of the womb with you & although this presence surrounds you, you may still be blind to its companionship.  The name of this presence is death.  We must remember that it is the death of our body & our soul continues the cycle & it is really another part of the journey, as important as our birth. 

There are also little deaths or changes that take place in our body, did you know that the skin loses about 30-40,000 dead skin cells almost ever minute, and the skin sheds a layers of these dead cells every 24 hours and renews itself about every 28 days.  It’s quite amazing really, this happens and mostly we are unaware of it, apart from noticing how dusty our living areas get.

The skin is our largest organ and has 3 major functions:

Protective - your skin’s main job is to insulate and protect the body against invasion by bacteria and other foreign things.

Sensory – the skin can sense 5 different kinds of stimulation: touch, pressure, heat, cold, and pain.

Regulatory – the skin helps to control body temperature by distributing heat through the skin and by preventing dehydration.

So it is really important to care for your skin, not just to keep it looking youthful but for your general health & wellbeing. 

When I teach Yoga I talk about seeing your body as your best friend, listening to it, as you would a friend, and caring for it as you would your friend.  I think we sometimes forget how important this is, we seem to spend more time & money on our cars and houses, but our body is our home for this lifetime & has needs.  Good food & fluids, air (breath) & sleep and also to be nurtured.  I would highly recommend regular massage or body treatments to keep your whole being healthy; it’s not a luxury but a necessity.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. 

They must be felt with the heart.

Love & oms

Bridget

x

So how are you all going?  We are nearing the end of January already, it will be spring soon, not that I want to wish my life away.  Business is quieter now but my yoga classes are in full swing so I have been focusing on those.  There is always so much to do, I often find myself wishing there was an extra 24hours in a day to get everything done.  Time is a funny phenomenon, we are ruled by these ticking things and we are required to do things at certain times.  I have always struggled with having to be places at certain times and when I allow my body to work by its own clock my mind and body are more harmonious.  I think the cycles in nature are more important than that of a ticking clock, I really struggle to get up in the dark, and want to sleep more in the winter yet in the summer I have so much energy and am active for longer hours. 

On the 1^st of February it is Imbolc, a pagan festival & this symbolises the season where Mother Earth cleanses the debris making ready to embrace the new year’s growth. Everything is beginning to stir, young tender shoots are beginning to appear & yesterday I saw catkins on the trees.  It is a great time to clear & clean your space & mind for new growth & beginnings.  Seeds/ideas that you planted at winter Solstice are now germinating, nurture them well.  My namesake the Goddess Bridget (Brigid, Brigit) is honoured at this time, her attributes are intuition, inspiration, divination & the keeper of the sacred fire, the spark of life. Make time for meditation & being creative through crafts, writing, drawing & painting, Clear & tidy the garden & plant new trees & bushes, sow herbs seeds indoors so you have plants to plant outdoors later. Every Imbolc myself and my friends make Brigid’s  Cross by weaving coloured wool or material around 2 sticks made into a cross & decorate with other natural things we find on our walks like feathers.  These crosses represent the all seeing eye of Brigid to watch over us in the coming year.  We hang them on our doors & the ones from last year are burnt to release the old year and make way for the new.

Whats new with Rowan Moon products?

I have been looking at some of the products & ways to make them even better & have made 2 changes.  About a year ago I came in contact with Sea buckthorn & have been reading & using it on myself & family & think it is fabulous.  It really is a gem, packed with vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids & Palmitoleic acid which is a natural component of skin that plays an important role in skin regeneration.  Sea buckthorn balances & nourishes the skin helping to restore elasticity & firmness & is an antioxidant, helping to lessen the effects of free radicals, therefore slowing down the ageing process.   If you want more information on Sea buckthorn, check it out on the internet.  I use Sea buckthorn berry extract in our Beautification Night Cream & now I am adding it to our Sheer Silk Moisturising cream enhancing this already lovely cream to keep your skin soft, peachy, smooth & youthful.

Secondly we have improved our fabulous Eyebright Eye gel by adding Siberian Ginseng, a totally natural product to tighten the delicate skin around the eyes & to reduce the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles. The synergy of the ingredients in this gel will help to reduce puffiness & lift sagging skin to leave the skin around the eyes smooth & youthful.

Imbolc Blessings

Bridget

x

Happy New Year to you all, it didn’t seem too long ago when we were welcoming in a new millennium and now a new decade.  So much changes and yet so much stays the same. 

Our government has seen fit to raise VAT, but we are so reluctant to put up our prices.  It seems that our raw ingredients are forever increasing in price due to difficult harvest, low yields, exchange rate changing & increased demand, but we are hoping to stave off raising our prices as long as possible.

We have made a few changes and additions over the last few months.  Notable we have added organic Aloe vera to our cleansers. Aloe vera is a very effective antiseptic but also soothing to the skin, so making these cleansers even more effective and gentle.

We have added our Beautification Night Cream to our range.  It is truly unlike other night creams as it is light and easily absorbed and packed full of skin loving vitamins, minerals & active ingredients, so keeping your skin looking & feeling gorgeous.

We really appreciate your feedback, comments and thoughts on our products but also on all areas of our business.  We are learning & growing and loving it all.

Have you made any new year resolutions? Or even broken them already.  Mine is to be more communicative, so I am going to endeavour to write regular blogs.  I really love networking, sharing ideas and stories with others but sometimes I become very insular, shying away from being in the world especially if I am feeling fragile or lost.  The more time I spend at home working the more isolated I become.  I am lucky that as I teach Yoga I have regular connection with a community of people, but I feel we have lost part of our community.  We live in boxes, drive in boxes look at boxes, hey sometimes we need to escape those boxy places and get some irregular shape activity.  I feel very blessed to have little pockets of community where I live & with my work and my interests.  I always remind myself that we humans are not islands & need a tribe, a community to remind us of who we are & help us grow and evolve.  

Love & Oms

Bridget x

Why not host with a Pamper Party?  We guarantee a fun & relaxed event, different from the rest. We will give you & your friends free mini facials & share our secrets on how we make our products about our ingredients and how to use and enjoy our products & we have many beauty & relaxation tips & techniques to share.  We will help you chose the right product for you but there is no obligation to buy.  As way of showing our appreciation to the host we offer a 10% of sales in products.

Or for the full monty try Pamper Party Plus, not only will we be offering the above but we can arrange for massage therapists & reflexologists to give treatments to you and your friends for a small fee.  This is tailored to your requirements & could be for a girl’s night in or a hen’s event or just to be pampered & relaxed in the company of your friends & in a homely environment.

Please contact us to arrange your event.

Email info@rowanmoon.co.uk

Ph: 0113 2560861

How to give yourself a Holistic Facial
Step 1 – Cleanse
Gently press the face with a warm (never hot), soft cloth to open pores and soften surface skin cells. Massage cleanser gently into your face and neck. Remove gently with damp cloth or cotton wool pad. If wearing make-up, a second cleanse maybe necessary. (First one to remove makeup, the second to cleanse the skin).

Step 2 – Exfoliate
Do not exfoliate blemished skin(lots of spots), to avoid spreading infection. Squeeze a small amount of exfoliant onto fingertips and GENTLY massage onto damp skin using a small circular motion, paying particular attention to T-zone if necessary. Remove with damp cloth or cotton pad

Step 3 – Mask
Choose your cleansing clay mask & apply a generous amount of mask onto the face and neck. Relax for 5 -10 minutes,the mask should be still tacky. Rinse off with plenty of tepid water and a soft cloth.

White Clay Cream Mask – This is the most gentle & is suitable for all skin types especially for sensitive, mature & delicate skin. A combination of Rosewood & Frankincense & Organic English Lavender essential oils have been added for their gentle calming & rejuvenating properties.

Red Clay Cream Mask – Red clay has a high iron oxide content which enhances the skin’s condition & appearance. It is suitable for all skin types especially sensitive & couperosed (reddened) skin & also helpful for clearing black heads & open pores. We have added tonifying Organic Juniperberry & Grapefruit & balancing Vetivert essential oils.

Green Clay Cream Mask – Green clay is the most absorbing of the clays & suitable for all skin types especially acneic, oily & neglected skin. It is helpful for dealing with blemishes, black heads & open pores. Cypress, Mandarin & Fennel essential oils have been added for their cleansing & tonifying actions.

Placing slices of cucumber on the eyes is very refreshing and revitilising, you can also use used and cooled chamomile or black tea bags

Step 4 – Toner
On a cotton pad gently tone the face with a Floral Spritzer Toner.

Step 5 – Moisturiser
Apply a small amount of moisturiser with your finger tips to damp skin.

Step 6 – Your skin & mind are happy, relaxed and refreshed.