Taking Flight...

We Are Moving!

Last week Steven recapped us all about our organic ingredient lines and the inspection process for our new facility, and this week, well- it’s time to get moving! We will be working fully in the new facility by next week and the final preparations are in place.

There are many exciting things happening and announcements to make in the coming weeks and months ahead. We’ve talked about many of these things over the past 6 months on our blog, from new procurement options and direct country of origin purchasing, to updating formulas and finding solutions to everything from organic jojoba pricing to how to deal with a quickly growing business and natural products market. We also featured a candid and informative interview with aromatherapist Robert Tisserand, and of course all of our Recipe Wall of Fame series made up of the creations of many of our employees

Ingredient Spotlight: Litsea Cubeba

Litsea Cubeba is a tree-shrub native to China, Indonesia, Taiwan and in general Southeast Asia, but as an essential oil it is fairly new to aromatherapy. In Mandarin it is known as “mountain pepper”(May Chang) and to Taiwanese aborigines it is prized so much a proposed national park area is named “Magao” – The name the aborigines ascribe to Litsea.

Litsea Essential Oil has a citrusy aroma not unlike lemon and it makes a good ‘anchor’ for other citrus scents.  Litsea can also have a bit more of an ‘herbally’ exoticness to it, and will preserve citrus scents in formulations like cold processed soaps. In body care products it’s effective against dermatitis, acne, oily skin, and it also works like Citronella as an insect repellent. In aromatherapy, Litsea is antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, deodorizing, a digestive, and a sedative. Litsea is used far and wide in the fragrance industry, and the plant itself is used in Chinese medicine.

Interestingly, the essential oil of Litsea is also used in the chemical industry as a raw ingredient in the synthesis of vitamin A and violet fragrances. Here at EW we use Litsea in a variety of bases and essential oil blends as well as selling it as a singular essential oil.