Hydrosols

Daucus carota/Wild Carrot Seed - pH 3.8-4.0

Aroma and Taste:

On the mild side, as with all seed hydrosols. Warm, earthy, almost sweet, in a bitter-chocolate kind of way.

A comforting, human-type, musky aroma that appeals to men and women alike. The taste is on the dry side but with the same earthy warmth found in the scent, particularly appealing and complex.

Stability and Shelf Life

Very stable;should be good for two years or more, although some reduction in aroma intensity will be evident before that time.

Properties and Applications

Wild carrot seed will cleanse and support the liver , gallbladder, and kidneys, being mildly diuretic and specific to these organs.

Use as part of a detoxification or cleanser; combine with clay to clean the bowels and use as part of an illness recovery especially after viral infection or gastrointestinal complaints

Carrot also makes a good addition to colonics, being beneficial to the overall flora balance and healing and calming to irritations in the smooth muscle tissue.

It soothes skin rash, inflammation, and damaged skin; is calming for eczema and psoriasis;and is wonderful combined with yarrow, both for the synergy of the properties and for carrot's ability to mask yarrow's odor.

Carrot seed is healing to the face after extrazctions, dermal abrasions or peels and promotes the growth of healthy new skin cells.

Combine it with lavender and apply it both before and after sugar wax hair removal, or use it on its own for razor burn; men love it as an aftershave.

An overall tonic and restorative, carrot seed can be used to help the body adapt to the changes of the seasos, perhaps by virtueof the fact that it comes from a seed and so is specifically attuned to the rhythms of the earth's cycles.

Delicious in soups, juices-especially vegetable juice-salad dressings, and sauces.

Reference: Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy: Suzanne Catty

Cupressus sempervirens/ Cypress-pH3.5-3.7

Aroma and Taste:

The aroma is quite delicate, somehow dry and warm smelling. Taste is bitter and dry, more green than woody, almost a little soapy when undiluted.

Stability and Shelf Life

Moderately stable, usually good for up to fourteen months but can last longer.

Properties and Applications:

Very diuretic both topically and internally; use for treating water retention in tissues and joints. Moderately astringent and stypic, it has a tightening effect on tissue and is useful in skin care for some acenic conditions, thread veins, and couperose skin.

Cypress supports the venous system and improves circulation, both in topic and internal use, and may be applied to varicose veins, used undiluted in a compress, or diluted in a sitz bathfor hemorrhoids in combination with witch hazel and/ or chamomile .

Combine with rosemary CT cincole or sage and spray on tired or heavy legs for relief and energy or add to a foot bath to reduce swollen ankles. It seems to have a balancing effecton on blood pressure, but this may be due to its ability to balance fluid levels in the body as a whole.

Cypress and juniper berry are two of the most important hydrosols for cleansing and detoxifying the system and will greatly iincrease the excretion of urine.

If you do a three-week course of water, be prepared to run to the bathroom mant times a day, particularly in the first week, as the body will release lots of retained fluid.

Stimulating to the liver and kidneys, cypress is useful for gout, arthritis pain, cystitis, edema, phlebitis, and the effects of overindulgence .

Fot these conditions, both topical and internal applications should be combined on a daily basis for at least one three week-cycle, after which time the condition should be reassessed and the protocol repeated only if necessary.

I have one client who found her psoriasis improved dramatically after a three-week course of 50 percent cypres and 50 percent juniper berry hydrolates taken internally, however this requires more testing.

Women may find that drinking cypress in the week before their period helps prevent some of the hormone-related water retention and moddoiness associated with PMS.

The respiratory sustem will benefit ftom cypress's antitussive and expectorant qualities. even more when it is used in combination with Inula (elecampane).

Use when there is much fluid or mucus in the system, in unhalations, internally, and by sniffing a few drops ata time into each nostril, then blowing it out. It is mildly analgesic undiluted, but for nasal use dilute it 50 percent in distilled water.

In the kitchen, use cypress in recipes and sauces for venison, game, and lamb or in marinades, where it adds a flavor better than any hickory smoke.

AVOID in the first trimester of pregnancy or in case of kidney disease,because of its diuretic and detoxifying properties.

Reference: Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy: Suzanne Catty

Coriandrum sativum/Coriander Herb-and-Seed and Coriander Seed-pH3.5-3.7

Aroma and Taste:

Dramatic difference between the herb-and-seed variety and the seed-only-variety, as one would expect.

The herb-and-seed variety smells and tastes strongly cilantro that one has to look hard for the seed flavor underneath.

Even diluted it is very intense and tends to bulldoze over any subtle flavors, although it blends well with the strongly herbaceous hydrosols like fennel or basil if used in a low percentage.

The seed-only variety is much softer, with a very delicatenondescript odor but a sweet and intense flavor much like the ground seeds. Diluted, the flavor is very nice.

Stability and Shelf Life: Unknown

Properties and Applications

An excellent overall digestive tonic. The seed variety works better on gas, bloating, and mild constipation resulting from eating habits.

The potential for the herb-and-seed variety is in the area of chelation therapy. Fresh cilantro herb has been shown to chelate heavy meals, particularly lead and mercury, from the body.

i would like to see some testing on the effects of the hydrosol in removing heavy metals, as this would be an amazing and inexpensive way to achieve this therapy.

Reference: Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy: Suzanne Catty

Comptonia peregrinal/Sweet Fern- pH 3.8

Aroma and Taste

A mildly fruity, very green and dry herbal scent with an unusual undertone.

The taste undiluted is herby sweet, with a strong taste of bitter cherries, really yummy.

Diluted, the cherry fades and the herb moves forward.

All in all a truly delightful and delicious drink.

Stability and Shelf Life

Unknown, certainly lasts one year or more, and based on the pH and initial trials, probably two years or more.

Propertities and Applications

Moderately antibacterial and astringent; use undiluted as a mouthwash for toothache, sore gums, and cankers; it works amazingly well-even better when combined with immortelle.

Like bay laurel, sweet fern clears the lymphatic system, and I would choose this over bay for internal use in cases of malignant lymph nodes or tumors.

In cancer treatments, combine with sweet gale and use at 50 to 70 percent dilution topically as a compress,or internally take up to sixty millilitres per day diluted in water, in combination with any other treatments being used.

There are a number of reported cases of cows being cured of tumors after grazing on sweet fern. Of course. in cases of cancer, please do tell your doctor about any natural treatments you are using.

The plant is actually a subschrub, not a fern, and it shows up in areas of depleted soil that have been lying fallow some years, helping revitalize the soil with its nitrogen-fixing roots.

Historically it was used for poison ivy, which grows in similar locations and also as a topical compress to draw out boils and abcesses.

For poison ivy or poison oak, apply neat tea tree oil all over the area, then bind with cloths soaked in sweet fern hydrosol.

It is imperative not to scratch poison ivy or it will go systemic and affect the entire body, including mucus membranes, which is highly unpleasant.

Reference: Hydrosols: Suzanne Catty