You're welcome, and yes, it does work nicely in bath salt form. Epsom salts are a powerful cleanser, and lovely for relieving tension. I've a big sack in the bathroom even as I write...
Have been having a think about some of the other queries posted upthread, and here are some tips on crafting infused oils from botanical materials. An infusion is the process by which a solid substance is encouraged to permeate a liquid; for example water, oil, or alcohol.
The process of creating infused oils is a little complex, and certainly takes some working with to get the hang of, but it's easily accomplished in the kitchen. A good proportion to work by is one ounce of fresh herbs or flowers, or one half ounce dried for every cup of oil.
Infusions can be made by a warm, cold, or solar method. The warm method is excellent to use when working with resins and roots...i.e. Olibanum, Myrrh, Galangal, High John etc. Mordant, you might want to experiment with this if you're unhappy with the dragon's blood perfume oil. Heat tends to release the fragrance of resins, most apparently in incense form, but helpful when making infusions too.
Here's the method:
1. Place the botanical material in a stainless steel bowl and cover with oil. Don't use mineral oil, baby oil or other fragranced products. A neutral carrier such as sunflower or grapeseed will work best.
2. Gently heat over simmering water, either in a true double boiler or an improvised water bath, a saucepan one quarter full of water. The bowl containing the herbs and oil must not sit on the bottom of the pan, but rather float in the water. It's very easy for oil to scorch ad burn, and this is why you don't want it on direct heat. Keep the oil covered, and simmer very gently for about half an hour. You'll need to keep constant supervision over this stuff. Both for safety reasons and quality control! If the oil smokes, bubbles or burns, it will smell horrible, and your infusion will be spoiled. So keep an eye on it, and don't let it get too hot!
3. Allow the oil to cool. Then strain out all the botanical material through multiple layers of cheesecloth, or a very fine non metallic strainer. Strain twice, at least, and more if necessary. If the plant material is not removed then the oil may quickly turn rancid.
4. If you'd like to enhance the infusion with essentail oils, then now is the time to add them, once the oil is strained and cool. Store the infusion in an airtight container. If you've made a large quantity that won't be readily used up, then add a natural preservative to keep it from spoiling. Again tincture of benzion is good; use one quarter teaspoon per cup of oil. Vitamin E may also be used; pierce one capsule and add the contents per every cup of infused oil. Jojoba oil is also an excellent natural preservative. It's not a true oil, but rather a liquid wax with antioxidant properties. You can blend it with other oils to discourage infusions from going rancid. Maintain the basic proportion of oils to botanicals though, even when using multiple oils.
Now, if you can depend upon consistent warm and sunny weather, extremely powerful infusions can be created via solar power. I used to love cooking things up like this back home in Louisiana, but it dosen't work so well now that I live in London!
The method is really simple...
Place the botanicals inside a jar with tight fitting lid, and pour the oil over them, making sure the plant material is completely covered. Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and leave the jar to sit exposed in the warm sun all day, and in a warm cupboard all night for two weeks. Then strain and add preservative if desired as above.
xk...the solar method above might be a good for making your meadowsweet infusion, especially considering the herb's traditional connection with midsummer. Definately don't use alcohol! Not only will it overwhelm the delicate scent of meadowsweet, but it won't exactly mix with your oil too well either...
If you're not lucky enough to live in a sunny climate though, you can still make an infusion via the cold method. I've found that this works best with fresh flower petals, i.e. rose, jasmine, wisteria. Yet it can be adapted for working with herbaceous material, be it fresh or dried.
This method takes a bit of time, so not especially helpful if you need something in a pinch! I've described this method to Gypsy Lantern in the past, and I believe that it's discussed a bit in his post upthread...
Basically, you want to ensure that your petals or herbs are clean and dry. Place substantial quantities of them in an airtight jar, and cover with oil. Again, make sure your oil is unscented. Even slightly fragranced oils can overwhelm the scent of delicate botanicals.
Let the petals or herbs steep in the oil for three days, shaking the jar occaisionally. Keep in the sunshine (if possible!) or failing that, a warm place.
After three days, strain and discard the botanical material, and repeat this whole process using fresh stuff, and covering with what is now, the lightly fragranced oil. You may need to repeat up to 5 times to get the strength of fragrance desired... But the end product is well worth the time.
Ok, hope that this stuff is helpful. As one can see I am a bit obsessed with the subject...
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