Eugenia Essentials

Today the word vanilla is often used to describe something as plain, boring or maybe even bland. However, the history of vanilla is anything but! Vanilla comes from a tropical orchid and was first cultivated by the pre-Columbian Totonac people of Mexico. Totonac mythology told a story of the goddess Princess Xanat who ran off [...]

Today I decided to make a batch of lemongrass soap.  While I was stirring the batch I started thinking about the earthquake in Haiti. I could not even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose my home, a friend or family member, or even a limb in an earthquake.  As I wondered [...]

The story of the Magi has always fascinated me. Who were they and where did they really come from? There is much controversy about the origins of the Magi, whose names we have commonly accepted today as Melchior, Balthazar and Caspar.

As Christmas approaches I started thinking about two of the gifts presented to the baby Jesus by the Magi: Frankincense and Myrrh. When I was a child, I always wondered what these two mysterious gifts were and why would anyone give these to a baby?  Frankincense has been revered since biblical times and was a [...]

I love the scent of Patchouli! It is high on my list of favorite essential oils. The smell of it evokes visions of barefooted earth mothers with flowers in their hair, wearing peasant blouses and long gauze skirts. While it was the perfume of choice with the 70s hippy crowd, Patchouli never really went out [...]