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A few weeks ago, the lovely Ana Gutch of Body Food ALL Natural invited me to participate in a very special fragrance and tincture making workshop she was conducting in Antipolo. Ana does not hold workshops often, so I was like a kid anticipating summer vacation when she offered me the class.
Ana is a teacher by profession, so you can imagine what a joy it is to learn from her. She breaks down knowledge so that it feels accessible and painless to put into practice.
Her first love is making beautiful cold-pressed soaps that are seriously some of the best I’ve ever tried. My sister-in-law, Gabbi, was right when she said, “Ana’s house must smell like love.” It really does.
During the class, we were invited to play with an assortment of essential oils and layer them into oil or alcohol based fragrances. There was even one point where Ana challenged us to work with a base scent by giving us coconut oil with a drop of patis (yes, patis!) to create a scent that was actually nice. Honestly, it wasn’t easy but some of my classmates did a great job!
I made an oil-based fragrance using fennel, coffee, vanilla, sweet orange, spearmint, and lime. Yes, tons of work went into it! But I honestly love how it turned out: both refreshing and warm.
Our second session was about creating alcohol or oil tinctures using fresh and dried plant and flower materials. These tinctures can be used in cooking or as skin toners for various ailments.
We had to pound away to get the purest juices of the leaves we harvested ourselves. Quite therapeutic actually.
Here are some other snaps from this wonderful afternoon:
Thank you, Ana for once again welcoming us into your home and sharing your passions with us.
I invite you to discover BODYFOOD All-Natural by clicking on their banner on my site partner column on the right.
You can also follow them on Instagram, email Ana at bodyfoodallnaturalhq@gmail.com, or through her mobile: 09178821223
Hi CatJL, may i ask if you can refer me a good skin whitener?
What an absolutely beautiful post Cat! Always admired people who are gifted in the art of mixing plants, florals, fruits and veg (and wait… patis too?) for everyday use. Genius! The photos are gorgeous too!
Thank you for your kind words! I definitely need to practice!:D